It’s crucial in today’s market, to spend your money and time wisely. With only so many hours in the day to find and source cars at auctions, sometimes those profitable vehicles slip away from you. And it’s no surprise that auction prices keep creeping up, making you wonder who can afford to buy these vehicles? Finding the right vehicles with the proper tools and strategy can help you meet your profit and inventory goals.
There will be bad days and good days for you at auction, but there is a way to always have good days. After speaking with hundreds of dealers over the course of my career, I have put together the following tips to help guide you through your journey of finding those desired, profitable vehicles.
- Align your auction-souring efforts with your retail profit objectives
Take the emotion out of buying cars and use sound data find the vehicles that fit your current needs. Focus on finding the cars that will make a profit for your dealership. Find the cars that will sell fast, not sit on the lot. It’s about finding the cars at auction that will turn, make profit on so you can go back to auction and purchase more profitable vehicles. - Expand your auction network
Stop only going to local auctions. Get out of your comfort zone and attend online auctions from the comfort of your desktop, tablet or phone. Review images and vehicle condition reports to feel at ease at purchasing cars from all over the country. Attending auctions that aren’t local to you gives you the opportunity to search for vehicles that are outside your primary market area. - Reduce your cost for finding and sourcing profitable inventory
The average number of combined hours spent on research and prepping for auction by all employees at a franchise dealership each week is 33.7 hours. You can reduce your time and cut your cost with technology that helps you find profitable inventory. Building out a strategy and collaborating with your team to find the vehicles at auction that will make you a profit, while giving you back your time can set you apart from your competition.
Don’t miss my Digital Dealer 25 session, “Today’s Biggest Auction Buying Problems and How to Avoid Them” on Wednesday, October 17, 2018: 9:00 AM – 9:50 AM, where I will talk in depth about issues and the ways you can avoid them.
About Patrick Janes
Patrick Janes brings more than 27 years of automotive industry knowledge to team vAuto. As the Business Development Director for Stockwave, vAuto’s wholesale sourcing solution, Patrick knows first-hand the biggest risk to ROI is buying inventory at auction, having previously managed day to day operations for nine years as a dealership General Manager. Before his dealership experience, he spent the first half of his career working with dealers across the country in several field offices for an OEM.
For the last three years, Patrick served as a vAuto Performance Manager, building a solid understanding of customer needs and expectations. He has seen first-hand an exciting new generation of technologically savvy used car managers and owners that find Stockwave saves time and enables a more strategic approach to the acquisition process. Patrick received his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Bradley University.