The used car business has always been an interesting business opportunity. If you’re interested in cars there are lots of ways to make a full, part or sideline income from new and used cars. You don’t need to be able to drive or even own a car for some of them! Here are a few ways you could make money from new and used cars and related services.
Cash From Your Car With These 5 Car Business Opps
Buying and selling cars. The used car business has always been a place to make money. But to make money from it in a recession, and with sky-high fuel prices too, you need to target the right kinds of cars to deal in. Small vehicles that are cheap to run, good with fuel and low on tax are the best ones to go for. But to sell well they should have a good specification and a good service history as well.
Take a look at buying from a local ‘real world’ auction and then selling on eBay. But some dealers now even buy underpriced/poorly promoted/misdescribed vehicles on eBay and sell them on using other channels.
Car detailing. This could start out as a nice little sideline or weekend business. All you need are some buckets and sponges and a selection of car cleaning products and away you go.
But here’s a tip to turn this into a real moneymaker – offer a top quality service using top quality cleaning and detailing materials. There are owners of high-end luxury and sports cars, and classic cars, who will pay several hundred pounds a time for a high quality detailing service. And it’s a regular business too.
Car deliveries. For this opportunity all you’ll need is a driving licence and some spare time. Most businesses that deal in cars – dealers, garages, auctions and car hire companies need vehicles to be delivered to other parts of the country on a regular basis. Contact them and offer your services.
But this is important: Rather than do this as a job at a low wage, offer it as an all-in service at a fixed price. It’s a much better way to make a good income from it.
Personalised number plates. Some people will happily pay hundreds or even thousands of pounds for number plates that reflect their name, car type or perhaps something amusing.
Here’s how you can cash on in this trade for yourself: Check with the DVLA website to see when new registrations become available each year. This usually happens twice a year in June and December, three months in advance of when the numbers can actually be allocated to new cars on 1 September and 1 March. Look for registrations that make up popular names, car types or are otherwise interesting and reserve them for yourself. Then, aim to sell them to proud owners at a mark up – eBay is one way of doing this.
Car parts on eBay. If you’re interested in eBay selling then this is a really interesting niche to try out. The market for used car parts – everything from door mirrors and headlights to bumpers and boot lids – is massive. So find out what the most popular and profitable parts are by researching on eBay. Shop round your local salvage and car breaker’s yards to find those parts. Then auction them off on eBay.
Here’s a more detailed blueprint all about how to get up and running selling used car parts on eBay