Stop Polishing Your “Hope This Makes Money” Cars

That’s Not a Strategy - That’s a Gamble

If you’re a car dealer, read this twice: The old margin is gone and sourcing inventory is way harder.  You know it. Your team knows it. Your BDC, VBC and floorplan managers definitely know it.

There was a time - not so long ago - when you could roll into the auction, pick up a decent unit at MMR, drag it back, throw some recon at it, and have it off your lot in 60 days with $2,000 to the good. Easy. Predictable. Repeatable. And, you could drop a plug-and-play API onto your website or CRM, toss out some randomly generated instant cash offers to private sellers and keep the lot full.

Fast forward to today?  You’re lucky if that same auction unit squeaks out $800 net - after buyer fees, recon, transport, floorplan, depreciation, and the inevitable price drop because another store two towns over dumped three more just like it. And now the big-box and online dealers have taken over winning the private party ICO game - unless you are willing to out (over) spend them and shrink that coveted channel margin too.

For three straight years, margin compression has eaten the “good old days” alive. Inventory costs more. Auctions squeeze harder. Holding costs sting. The market can swing on you overnight. And yet, every day, thousands of dealers are still out there - polishing their “hope this makes money” cars.

• Crossing their fingers that MMR holds up.
• Crossing their fingers that the reconditioning won’t go sideways.
• Crossing their fingers that they guessed right on a unit they own 100% of the risk on.

Smart Dealers: "You Don't Have to Own Them All"

Here’s the thing: you don’t have to play that "single-path" (Buy & Hold) game anymore. There’s a better lane, a better strategy called, "Dual-Path Acquisitions."

✅ Owned: Buy it ➜ Recon it ➜ Hold it ➜ Pray ➜ Sell it ➜ Maybe profit.

✅ Consigned: Bring it in free ➜ Recon is revenue ➜ Seller carries any depreciation ➜ You just sell ➜ Pocket commission + recon + backend

Same customers. Same car. Same lot. Just twice the chance to win - and none of the “hope this makes money" polishing while you wonder if next week’s auction drop will kill your month-to-date gross.

And, today's private sellers aren’t dumb. They have Google, AI, Facebook, Craigslist. They know what their car is really worth. Give them all a fair, dual-option offer to consider:  “We’ll buy it OR we’ll consign it for you - whichever puts more money in your pocket.”  They trust you. They choose you. You win the inventory without tying up or risking your capital.  Pinch me - seems too good to be true.

The Dual-Path Acquisition Strategy

This isn’t rocket science. It’s just smart. It’s just Retail My Ride. "You don't have to own them to sell them and make good money" - zero capital outlay, zero floorplan expense, zero recon costs, zero margin compression (earn fixed margin).

It doesn't replace, it expands - your reach and conversion rate. You completely retain control over your mix of "owned and consigned cars" - same selection criteria, same internal processes, same buyers - fully integrated into your BDC and VBC.  A car...is a car...is a car.

This is exactly what we’re doing at Retail My Ride - building a real exit from margin compression, low conversion rates, and higher market risks. Giving modern dealers a seller-centric lane to source retail-ready cars without playing roulette with their cash or floorplan.

So yeah, you can keep polishing those “hope this makes money” units. Or you can step into the new lane, where sellers get a real choice and your bottom line finally breathes again.

Your move.  Learn more and join our unique vehicle sourcing network at AcquireMoreCars.com. Or call us at 833-795-CARS (2277).