I wrote an article on this blog a couple years ago about how used car prices are going up for small fuel efficient cars.

It was the last time gas prices were spiking. It was crazy because almost overnight prices on big ol gas hog Belch-Fires dropped like a rock.

Seriously, you could have bought nice Suburbans for a few thousand dollars. (Dang, if only those 100 MPG carburetors I’ve been reading about were happening!)

But to make a profit, you had to buy them super cheap because you would have had a hell of a time selling them for a high price then.

The interesting thing is that its not just fuel-efficient car prices that are rising this time. It seems that all used car prices are going up. If you don’t believe me, then click here to check it out. Go ahead. It will open a new window, so check it out, and then come right back.

No doubt Cash For Clunkers (abysmal failure that it was) is partially responsible for this.

Take a bunch of cars off the road and what do ya know? Prices go up!

Demand + Scarcity = Higher Prices = Duh!

Yep, regardless of their “good intentioned” meddling (assuming they were good intentioned), unintended consequences are a bee-otch, aren’t they?

But whats going on now is that a large portion of new car buyers are now buying used cars.

Yessiree, all those snooty new-car-only rich-sters that could never do something as lowly as buying a used car – are now whipping out their checkbooks to buy a nice clean late model used car instead.

So what can you, the guy that buys and sells cars for profit, do about this? Are prices too high for you to make a profit? Are you screwed? Is it time to make money doing something else?

Hell no, but you have to buy right.

But you always had to buy right!

And this comes as no surprise if you’ve been buying and selling cars or anything for more than a month or two.

Please bear with me veteran used car sellers, but…

You always make your money when you buy the car – and that is what I mean by “buying right.”

Of course technically you don’t make jack-squat until you sell the car, but my point is that you can’t expect to buy a used car for whatever you feel is “fair” and then sell it for a profit. Oh you might luck out sometimes, but that is no way to consistently make good money buying and selling used cars.

Let me clarify what I just said: “buy a used car for whatever you feel is fair.”  As you become familiar with the prices for your target vehicles, you will definitely acquire a “feel” for what is a good price or not…and you’ll know this in a split second.

The main thing is that you learn how to buy right.

Buying right means that you bought the car for a low enough price that you have plenty of room to do whatever needs to be done to prepare the car for selling and still make a decent profit.

Buying right also means you bought the car cheap enough that you can sell it for a price that should result in a fast sale.

Yes, buying and selling used cars for profit is as viable a way to make money as its ever been.

But if used car prices are so high, then how can you still make money?

Because there will always be individuals that sell their cars for less than what they could get for them.

And as I’ve discussed in other articles on this blog and in The Lazy Way To Buy And Sell Cars For Profit, the same goes for real estate, boats, RV’s, and pretty much anything you can think about.

Aside from ignorance of prices, or a lack of caring what they sell their car for (and you will be surprised to find how often this happens), when a seller has a strong enough need, or motivation to sell, then those are the sellers that obviously sell for less…and those are the same kind of sellers you need to learn how to locate and buy from.

Have you noticed if used car prices are going up in your area? Instead of emailing me, please leave your comments below so you can share with everyone else.

Adios amigos y amigas.

Steve