Inventory and recon

What is wholesale?

Wholesale is dealer-to-dealer trade, usually through an auction, as opposed to retail selling to a consumer.

Wholesaling is the exit for cars that do not fit your lot: too old, wrong segment, or recon that exceeds what the retail price can carry.

Taking a small wholesale loss early usually beats retailing a car at 120 days. The floorplan interest, the price drops and the capital tied up cost more than the loss you were avoiding.

Related terms

ACV

ACV is what a vehicle is genuinely worth to you today at wholesale, and it is the number a trade should be booked at, whatever the customer was shown.

Days on lot

Days on lot counts how long a vehicle has been in your inventory, and it is the single best predictor of what it will finally sell for.

Dealer-only auction

A dealer-only auction is a wholesale marketplace open to licensed dealers, where most independent lots buy inventory.

General information for US dealers, not legal advice. Rules change and vary by state, so confirm specifics with your state agency or counsel.