The car
Costs and targets
The larger of the dollar and the percent profit target is used. Nothing here is an auction's fee schedule or a state's tax rule; use your own.
Enter the repairs and fees, then click Calculate.
Result
Profit at a ladder of bids
| Bid | Buyer fee | Tax | All-in cost | Profit | Return on cash |
|---|
Stress test: max bid if it goes wrong
How it is calculated
All-in cost = bid + buyer fee on that bid + flat fees + sales tax + transport + title fees + repairs × (1 + overrun) + days held × daily cost + interest on the cash in for those days + your selling cost. Profit = resale − all-in cost. Max bid = the largest bid, to the cent, whose profit is still at least your target; profit only falls as the bid rises, so a bisection finds it exactly. Break-even bid is the same with a zero target. The stress table re-solves the max bid with extra repair cost and a lower resale price.
Not modelled: auction-specific rules and eligibility, branded or problem titles, hidden damage, buyer returns and warranty, licensing, income tax on the profit, and the true market value of the car. Unverified: tested on hand-calculated examples, not on real auction results.
Common questions
What is the max bid for a salvage or auction car?
Work backwards from what the car will sell for. Take the expected resale price, subtract the profit you require, the repairs, transport, title and registration, holding and financing costs and your selling costs, and what is left has to cover the hammer price, the buyer fee on it and any sales tax. Because the buyer fee depends on the bid, the tool solves for the largest bid that still leaves your required profit.
How do I enter the auction's buyer fees?
Copy the buyer fee table from the auction's own site as lines of 'bid up to, fee', with the fee in dollars or ending in a percent. The tool applies the first tier that covers the bid. It does not know any auction's current schedule, so check it before you rely on a result.
Why does repair cost matter more than the bid?
Every dollar of repair overrun comes straight out of the bid you can afford. The stress table shows the max bid if repairs run 25, 50 or 100 percent over your estimate and the car sells for 5, 10 or 15 percent less, so you can see how much room a bid leaves for being wrong.
Is sales tax charged on the buyer fee?
That depends on the state, the auction and whether you buy as a dealer. The tool lets you choose tax on the bid only, on the bid plus fees, or none. It asserts no rate or rule.
How are holding and financing costs counted?
Days held times your daily cost for storage, insurance or lot fees, plus interest on the cash you put in at the annual rate you enter, for the days held. A car that sits for 90 days instead of 30 can turn a good flip into a loss, so change the days and watch the max bid fall.
What does this leave out?
Title problems or branded-title discounts, hidden damage, auction rules and eligibility, licensing, income tax on the profit, warranty claims and buyer returns, and the real value of the car. It is arithmetic on your figures, not an appraisal and not advice on whether to buy a vehicle.
Is my information uploaded?
No. The calculation runs in your browser from figures you type, nothing is sent to a server, there are no accounts, and it works offline after the page loads.