Might start a business. What do you think?

[70burntorangeT/A]

One day i mentioned to my buddy that looks at these cars with me that we should start a finder service and get finders fees for hooking people up with these cars we look at. Well turns out he knows how to build websites and he wants to build one. We know where roughly 1200+,- antique cars are located and he wants to set this up. What do you guys think? Anyone know the going rate for finding cars for people? Would love to hear some feedback (positive or negative)

We would post 3-4 pics of each car (if the owners allowed us to) and if someone was interested we would let them know how much the car was. If they were still interested we would charge them a fee for telling them where the cars were located

[8657hemi]

It sounds like you could do it with a very little investment. Maybe just the monthly web hosting fees. I think you should do it. You could hit up the seller for a small commission if the vehicle sells and also the buyer for a finders fee. Maybe you could get advertisers to even pay for the hosting fees on the site (shipping companies, etc.). Other than your time, it could pay for itself. What do you have to lose?

[TorOrange]

Also think its a great idea Theres one that Offers 500 I think for finding cars for them.
So you could do around the same pricing wise, and you cant loose much over this but I'm sure it would be worth the time

[70burntorangeT/A]

Also think its a great idea Theres one that Offers 500 I think for finding cars for them.
So you could do around the same pricing wise, and you cant loose much over this but I'm sure it would be worth the time

We were thinking of having 2 different fee's. maybe 100-200 dollars for cars that we deem "parts cars" and 3-400 for cars that are "restoreable". I dont want to be charging someone 500 dollars to find them a 74 pinto wagon, but on the other hand i dont want to only charge 100-200 for finding someone something like an RT charger, or big block chevelle.

[TorOrange]

Whoops sorry forgot to mention this was a company restoring cars paying 500 finders fee for the rare cars they wanted. I think you got it all set up in your head and think you should do it  The prices look good aswell.

[quapman]

Keep in mind that some folks are not willing to pay a birddog until/unless a deal is actually done. I don't know too many who'd pay $$ for just a location or phone number.

[hpe600rt]

why pay you when you can find anything on the net for free

[aris_unlimited]

I've already done something "close to" that. I've bought a couple of classics in need of restoration for dirt cheap, and sold them for a profit without doing any work on them at all.

[70burntorangeT/A]

Keep in mind that some folks are not willing to pay a birddog until/unless a deal is actually done. I don't know too many who'd pay $$ for just a location or phone number.

We have thought about this issue a lot and we figured this would be our biggest problem. But then there is no real guarantee that they would pay us after they purchased the car. We would have to hope that they held up their end of the deal.

[Cooter]

I personally wouldn't pay anybody to find me a car....But then again, I can find them myself so I guess the point is moot.....The person selling the "Rare" car will most likely advertise the hell out of it to make sure the person buying WILL find it....I'm Afraid E-Bay has beat you to the punch on this one....

[MEK-Dangerfield]

There are the rare people(usually older), who aren't Internet savvy. They still sell through the paper and signs on the window of the car.  It just might be difficult to stumble onto someone like that who needs your help.

[quapman]

Sorry, I left out an important detail. You could make a simple contract with the potential buyer and get both parties to sign, then get it notarized. Covers everyone and should stand up in small claims court.

If you can make it work, go for it!

[Challenger6pak]

I would check local laws to see what is considered an auto dealer.  With what you want to do it would seem like you would not want to set this up in a way where you would be required to have a dealers license.  The license can get expensive.

[HP2]

What I've typically seen in all my years in the hobby is that when people are willing to pay finders fees it because they want something so specific that they can not easily find it themselves. Think the 1 of 20 type cars with very specific option lists, colors, and/or drivetrains.

If a buyer has some project space, time, and money and are not too particular, they probably are not going to seek out specific details of a car much more than the make, model, and year range and probably will not be in touch with services like this.

I'd also second what was just said about dealer laws and encourage you to do some research on that. Some areas of the country can get real specific about the regulations governing auto brokerage, which is what you would be doing. Also worth noting if your going to buy the cars yourselves and then resell them, is that then your crossing the line in to being a dealer or wholesaler, which gets you in to a whole new set of rules.