Acquire High-profit Vehicle With a One-two Punch

Imagine digging through spreadsheets to look for a vehicle’s Scarcity report. The current state of auction buying is just that: digging through information until you find what you need to make a decision. Sounds like a lot of work and time spent, right?

Some of you reading this post know that I like to take great ideas from dealers and use them as inspiration for webinars and presentations. This blog post isn’t any different! I reached out to my friend, Craig White, pre-owned director at Ourisman Lexus of Rockville. He told me he used to have a third screen on his desk just to look up the Autotrader Scarcity Index on a vehicle while he was hunting for inventory at auction. He would combine that with a low Market Days Supply, and he’d have a one-two punch to acquire a vehicle with high profit potential.

Most of these vehicles were not part of his core inventory; he was looking for ways to source inventory in vehicle segments and price bands that his dealership’s past sales would not have triggered. “The very first car I found on the report when I was working at a Lexus store in Metro Atlanta was the 2013 Subaru BRZ,” Craig told me. “It was one of the most sought-after vehicles in the market — you could buy them from $13–15K and you would have buyers lined up at the door before the car even got to the dealership.”

Bring on the data!

When acquiring vehicles at auction, it is important to look at multiple metrics, like Scarcity, Market Days Supply and rBook™ Adjusted (for Odometer) Average Market Price. The more data, the better! If you’re buying for a multiple-market dealer, this information is so important for each market, it could make or break you. You really must do your homework and understand how each metric can affect a particular car. For example, the Market Days Supply for a White / Parchment 2016 Lexus ES 350 is much lower than it is for a Black / Black car in Florida and other “sunshine” markets. If you do well with Black / Black vehicles, go buy them in Florida, not at your own local auction where the competition is at its highest. Finding these small nuances in the market can really affect your turn rate and increase your profitability very quickly.

What’s in it for me?

Having the data will save you hours of scanning through search results to find the right vehicle. Not to mention that if there is a vehicle coming through the lane that wasn’t on your buy list for some reason, you could snap it up!

You asked for it and we are giving it to you!

We listened to you, the buyer, and found a solution that will help everyone. I am pleased to announce that the Scarcity Index is now available in Stockwave! Simply contact your Performance Consultant and get it turned on today!

Special thanks to Craig White for giving his personal experience using Scarcity reports. When you get a quote like this, it says it all: “I’m so fortunate to had my Performance Consultant, Scott Sadler, as my adviser when I was in Atlanta. We still stay in contact through email, LinkedIn and texting to share ideas. I am always comfortable passing along why vAuto and Stockwave make the ultimate and only tool I would ever use.”