Thread: newbie looking for avenues of advise~~

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I'm generally skeptical of inaugural posts like this one, there is so much naivete in it that it's hard to take seriously. You're either being somewhat devilish in poking the bear, or you don't know what you don't know............likely somewhere in between.

That being said, the essence of your post in defining your objective is completely backward. It's infinitely more likely you'd spend $30k to have a product that would, hopefully, fetch $15k. People with years and years of experience, coupled with their "intelligence", find it difficult to sum up an all inclusive answer to you query. Each of the above responses attempts to give you some insight, and are generally accurate, but each represent just a singular slice of a MUCH larger pie. Generally speaking, anyone who makes any amount of money on a car sale in this segment of the hobby does it by applying some special talent they possess. And I dare say it is EXTREMELY rare to double their money.........and those are the best informed, most talented performers.

We have one member here who demonstrates the art of flipping hot rods. His special talent, from my observations, is that he is a highly accomplished painter with plenty of time on his hands, relatively speaking, as he's retired from a life of successful business ownership. And this observation I'm sharing is just a portion of what he does. He will often buy a nearly complete car for less than the cost of the parts to build it. He'll apply his painting talents making the car much more desirable, and then market it in the higher potential sales venues (rarely if ever at auction btw). I don't know what he makes on each deal, that's his business, but I'd bet you dollars to donuts it's not doubling his money in.

I have another buddy who has a talent for recognizing what's popular, and is one hell of a sales guy. He's willing to drive a couple thousand miles if necessary to take a car he's selling to a high profile event (just for example, Goodguys Del Mar) to find a "fat cat" buyer. In other words, he works for his money. I've seen him routinely turn a $5k profit (not considering travel expenses), on a $30-50k sale, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. And he's a guru at that sort of thing. One of his favorite phrases is "you make your money on the buy, not the sell...". In other words, you don't buy parts and labor at retail and expect to make money. Some other "intelligent" rodder has to eat the depreciation.

So there you go, another thin slice of pie................but there's oh so much more to know. Not trying to discourage participation in the hobby, and asking questions is a good way to learn, but don't think you'll outsmart the rest of the players in the game when you're just getting in it. Life rarely works that way.

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

.......So there you go, another thin slice of pie..........but there's oh so much more to know. Not trying to discourage participation in the hobby, and asking questions is a good way to learn, but don't think you'll outsmart the rest of the players in the game when you're just getting in it. Life rarely works that way.

Uncle Bob jumped in with exactly my thoughts, but I was giving you the opportunity to explain to the group what your approach is, and what you bring to the table in the way of tools, experience and special talents before commenting on specifics.

My father-in-law was a used car wholesaler, mainly buying from individuals "right" in the days before computers and cell phones when the Sunday paper had a dozen pages of used car ads, then selling to his buddies at dealerships during the week, making a couple of hundred on each one, and rarely more. He had a great love for Model A's, and his sale of one that he had restored set the record 30 years ago for highest price paid nationally, and it held for several years. When we chatted about it he shared that he'd "...just broke even" on that sale, spending a bunch to make it perfect, and then barely getting his money back on a record setting sale. It's hard to do better.

Jerry points out the intangible value of the hobby, and there's something to be said for that. I truly love building, whether it's a car project, a piece of furniture, a toy for grandkids or putting salvage windows in the tree house. It's what keeps me going, but none of it is done with an eye on potential profit. It's a present to myself in what are said to be the "golden years" of retirement.

Originally Posted by rspears

It's a present to myself

And truer words can not be found!