New Yorkers Get Financially Creative By Car Flipping

Everyone knows what house flipping but what about car flipping? What is it and why do 1.9 million New Yorkers say they're jumping on the trend?

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Car flipping essentially the same concept as house flipping which is when a person purchases a home and then turns around and sells it for a profit.

According to GuntherKia.com, people are snatching up cars, especially electric vehicles, and then flipping them for a really sweet profit. 

We've all heard that a car's value drops the second it drives off the lot and in reality, a vehicle's value drops about one-fifth during the first year that it's on the road. However, ask any car flipper and they'll tell you the very same thing people house flippers - the market is hot for the sale of vehicles - like, really hot. People are so desperate to get their hands on the vehicle of their dreams that they're willing to shell out insane amount for it. 

Since the pandemic, the price of used vehicles has increased by 53 percent and car flippers have discovered that there are people who are willing to pay thousands of dollars above the retail price of a vehicle in order to ensure that they get their hands on it.

Case in point - a car flipper recently listed a pretty much brand new 2022 Hummer EV1 on Facebook Marketplace for $220,000 and got a bite on it even though the retail price of the same vehicle, brand new, is $105,000. In other words, someone wanted to make sure nobody else got their hands on it that they overpaid and by a lot.

One of the reasons car flipping, of electric vehicles specifically, is so hot is because there are a bunch of issues impacting the market. From a shortage of lithium batteries to supply chain issues, to slow production of vehicles, everything is impacting the market and car flippers are unashamedly taking advantage of it all.

In a survey of  3,012 people who either are or want to be car flippers, an eye popping 1,928,158 MILLION New Yorkers said that car flipping is something they will be getting to, if they haven't already. What's more is that the average person surveyed said if they could flip a car for a profit of 41 percent of its original value, they'd be happy.

If someone has the means to buy a hot vehicle and immediate turn around and resell it for a 41 percent profit, good for them.