From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Mon Jan 20 2003 - 22:13:06 PST
Neil,
I wrote:
>> On the other hand, I am totally against people being able to
>> systematically buy low and then sell extremely high. If the natural
>> market rate is $10,000 for a barely fixed up truck, then they should be
>> auctioning off at $7,000-$8,000 in quantity, not $1,500. The max benefit
>> from a resale should go to the people that bought the thing brand new
>> (i.e. the taxpayers), not dealers.
You said:
>Since when do the dealers not pay their taxes???
Er... I don't know what this has anything to do with it. Oh... you mean
that a handful (i.e. a couple hundred or so) of taxpayers should be able
to make thousands of dollars in personal profit off the backs of millions
of fellow citizens? That is basically what you are saying if you
disagree with my quote above.
Anybody that thinks it is fine for dealers (which I define as ANYBODY
that buys something with the intention of reselling it) to buy low from
the Gov't and sell outrageously high to the consumer should answer the
following question using Supply and Demand Capitalism theories:
If the market rate for an "as is" vehicle is $10,000 then should GL be
selling them for $1500 or much closer to $10,000?
As a taxpayer, I don't understand where there is any wiggle room here. GL
should be getting the maximum dollar return for the items they sell.
Period. Anything less than that and the average American is getting
screwed. Period. GL's sales efforts should not be perks of citizenship
for a self selected elite group of citizens.
Now before dealers get on my back, I do feel that they can add value to
the vehicle. They deal with GL hassles, transport them from remote
locations to local markets, and probably give them at least a good
initial going over. This adds value and therefore they should be able to
cover their costs and still make a decent profit from their services. I
have zero problem with that and in fact applaud it. If someone wants to
bypass the dealer and take a risk of doing this on their own, I have zero
problem with that either. What I have a problem with is dealers who do
little to add value and instead attempt to make a killing for being
little more than a broker. I know people who have bought things for $10k
and tried to sell them a week later for $45,000. If every dealer did
this, and the market supported it, then the taxpayer is getting screwed.
Steve
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