eBay-GM Partnership Spurs Memories

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With all the hoopla lately about the new GM-eBay Motors promotion, it reminded me about my brief stint as a used-car dealer.

Back in the early ’90s, our local county had its biennial auction that included a variety of used desks, chairs, office equipment and several used cop cars. My dad mentioned that those cars went for cheap, and that if a person had the money to invest, they could make a tidy profit by reselling them. I had a little money saved up, and being the starving college student that I was at the time, I saw a golden opportunity to make a few bucks.

My dad and I came up with a deal that I would bid and pay for the cars, and he would take care of the brake-light inspection, smog, licensing, etc., and handle the resale of the cars. For his work, we decided to split any profits 50–50. We went to the auction and found a few cars that looked good if the price was right. I bid and ended up winning two of the cars—one for $250, the other for $300. They were your typical police cars, complete with souped-up engines, heavy-duty bumpers and spotlights. Of course the decals and lights were taken off (rats!), but everything else was left alone.

After getting them registered, inspected, licensed, etc, it was my dad’s job to sell them. He found buyers for both within a week, and each car was sold for $1,000. After all the fees that had to be paid to get the cars ready to be sold, we made about a $1,000 profit to share. Not bad. If only all the junk I buy at auctions would resell that well!