Buy and Sell? - Snowmobile Forum: Your #1 Snowmobile Forum

jordandakota · 05-12-2010, 10:01 AM

I'm thinking of finding some sleds that need a bit of fairly minor work to them, buy them, fix, then sell them again. What do you guys think I should be looking for to do this? I want something that will give me not a huge profit but enough to justify my time. I was thinking maybe older Indy 500's?

Snowmobileguy · 05-12-2010, 10:16 AM

That's what I do but I do it with sleds, jet skis, or bikes, and quads.

jordandakota · 05-12-2010, 10:20 AM

That is what I would like to do but my mom complains about having stuff like that around. I will only be able to have 1 sled at a time at home too. I don't know a whole lot about bikes or quads but I'm capable of learning that stuff quickly. Maybe I can talk my mom into letting me do that as long as I can get stuff turned around pretty quickly. I would make more money if I do the bikes and quads since it is summer and people will actually be looking for those.

Snowmobileguy · 05-12-2010, 10:26 AM

Yea it works good buying and selling or trading. That's what I am doing today a 90 Sea doo for a 1989 wavejammer with trailer trading straight up he just wants a 2 person jet ski. I will be able to sell the jammer for more as long as it runs and is it good shape.

jordandakota · 05-12-2010, 10:32 AM

I know about as much about jetskis as a frog does about an airplane. Bikes and quads I could do though...maybe when I get home I can start looking for some stuff on CL. If I don't get another job here pretty soon then I will be saving up money with the job I have and then do the buy/fix/sell thing with a lot more motivation. I mainly want to do this for the experience it would give me working on different things and making money while I'm at it isn't a bad idea right?

Snowmobileguy · 05-12-2010, 10:34 AM

It's a great idea

jordandakota · 05-12-2010, 10:38 AM

Haha that's what I figured. So what kinds of stuff have you guys noticed that sells good? I know it's different in different areas but what brand of snowmobiles, dirtbikes, quads, whatever in particular sells good in your areas? I might even do some work on an AC to get one running again because those are the most popular around here. I don't care what brand it is, because I won't be riding it!! As long as I can make a little money and gain experience, that's all I want. Well if I could find a dirtbike or 4 wheeler for cheap and get it running for not too much, he!! yes I would ride it then, but if I feel like it's something that I could make quite a bit off of then I'll sell it. Anyway, brands of stuff that sells good?

big z · 05-12-2010, 10:50 AM

hey, thats what i do, and look how far i have come in a year. last year, a minibike, now i have xr and a crf!

im going to tell you right now. you really have to have an idea of what your doing to fix things and you have to get parts cheap. you have to know how to deal. and for you. you will just have to learn like i did.
you also have to go with the seasons. snowmobiles- sell in fall and winter. dirt bikes,atvs,-sell spring and summer. you have to know what is a deal and what isnt.
nada has helped me. you also have to know what sells and doesnt-which will come with experience for example. no body wants a polaris indy from 88' most people dont like to buy sleds over 5000 miles either. no one wants a maintencmobile. lol
all i can say with my 1 year of experiecne, is to get a knowledge of what things are worth and call up all the motorsports places around you for advice. and dont pull the trigger if the guy wont go any lower. theres more out there!

im not a expert, but i have a good idea.

Snowmobileguy · 05-12-2010, 10:54 AM

Any brands are good you just have to know how much they will go for top dollar. I only buy something that is at least worth 500 bucks more that gives me some money to play with it if the unit needs new parts of work.

jordandakota · 05-12-2010, 10:55 AM

Yea I have been looking for a while and have a pretty good idea of what's a good deal and what isn't. I know that once I get some practice I can fix more stuff like that. I know engines really well, it's just kind of the other stuff that I'm not so good with. Like say on a 4 wheeler the 4wd doesn't work. Not sure if I could fix that. Say it has a blown motor, I CAN fix that. It would be more expensive than I would want but I could do it if I had to.

Snowmobileguy · 05-12-2010, 10:56 AM

Like big z says you will have to learn. Its not always easy sometimes you get burnt but as you go you will lean the deals.

JheLrey · 05-12-2010, 11:06 AM

Polaris- Abundance of parts...and many are interchangeable parts.

YamahaSS440 · 05-12-2010, 11:08 AM

I learned most of my engine skills off my brother, who is currently in Advanced AG mechanics at school. Im not a pro either at fixing, but I can do most of the basic work on a snowmobile and know mostly everything about them. Dont be scared to buy vintage either! I bought my 85 SS440 for 100 bucks, did nothing to it, and sold it for 450$. I bought that 80 jag and 77 snojet for 100 bucks and sold the jag for 50, and the snojet for 140. It's pretty easy to make money, real fast. I started with basically nothing, and now look what I have. You wouldnt believe what you can find, whether it be a cheap minibike, or cheap sled, and all it needs is a carb cleaning and general cleaning. My friend bought a 1989 Indy Classic 500 for 200 bucks that ran great, then blew up, and sold it non running for 500 bucks! I made an easy 100 bucks off my quad to. Bought it for 700, sold for 850, but i put some money into it. But either way, it's a good idea to start buying and selling, because you will learn some good people, money, and mechanical skills. Good luck!

YamahaSS440 · 05-12-2010, 11:10 AM

I wouldnt just stay with polaris for buying and selling. Theres a market for everything! Just look over what your gonna buy and be able to tell how much work it needs, and how much money you could possibly make. I would get a compression tester also to see if the engines test out ok, because it's usually just a carb cleaning that will make a sled run great and sell for more. My other friend also bought a big piece of crap 1980 AC panther for 25 and sold it the way he got it for 75. Its easy money, and its a fast way to get a nice sled!

jordandakota · 05-12-2010, 11:22 AM

Exactly. I can probably borrow my cousin's compression tester when I need it. I'm planning on buying anything I can, no matter what brand it is. I know how to clean carbs which could be a valuable skill in getting sleds to run because often they say it doesn't run or doesn't run that good but you can clean the carbs and it runs like it's brand new. I'll be lookin for stuff this week to try and buy to fix up here quickly. We've got about 5 junkyards around here I could get parts from.

big z · 05-12-2010, 01:50 PM

and once you get your dealing skills. you can talk to motorsports places and usually get them down on prices. like i did yesterday. half off on a shirt and a snowmobile dvd

jordandakota · 05-12-2010, 02:06 PM

Yea I don't think I would do that. Simply because I have no interest in the BS they try to tell me. I try to NOT go through snowmobile dealers. Haven't found one yet that wouldn't screw somebody over. Well one of them about 40 miles away is really good but they're a Ski-Doo dealer so I haven't done anything with them, but my cousin's friend's grandpa owns that one and he's rebuilding my cousins XCR for him.

Volzke XCR600 · 05-12-2010, 02:06 PM

that sounds like quite the plan. I'd try for that if you can pull it off

big z · 05-12-2010, 02:29 PM

i dont ever buy any sled from a dealer- there outragious prices. i would only buy stuff i can deal with the guy. like helmets

jordandakota · 05-12-2010, 03:58 PM

I got my helmet at a Polaris dealer and one time I took my RXL in after I got it to have it looked over but I got screwed over on that...he hooked it up to his computer for like maybe 5-10 minutes to adjust the mixture ratios and then they put a new foam filter on my airbox and charged me $95. They did absolutely nothing to the sled, it still ran the same way it did before we took it in. 2 weeks later it was giving me the code for an air temp sensor and after I got a new one from the internet it ran like new again. They're all out just to make money...they don't care if they have to lie and cheat people as long as they're bringing home a paycheck. I know not all dealers are like that but it seems like that's how they are around here.