What did the flip actually make?
Put in what you paid, what you spent and how long you held it. The calculator returns real profit, margin, break-even and profit per day, the way the Deelary app does it on every car.
What you paid
Holding cost is optional. Enter lot rent, insurance and floor plan interest per car per day if you know them. Leave at 0 and the calculator still shows profit per day of capital.
What you sell for
The numbers loaded above are a real-shaped flip, not a flattering one: a $6,200 car sold for $8,400 after eleven weeks. The headline says $2,200. Add the fees, the tow, the tires, the detail, the listing and the title work, and it is $1,100. Divide by the 77 days the cash was tied up and it is $14 a day. Change any line and everything recalculates.
The formula
There is nothing clever in it, which is the point. Every line is something you already paid; the calculator only refuses to forget any of them.
| Number | How it is worked out |
|---|---|
| Total cost in the car | Purchase + buyer fee + transport + parts + labour + detail + listing + title and other + (days held × holding cost per day) |
| Headline profit | Sale price − purchase price. The number people remember. |
| Real profit | Sale price − total cost in the car |
| Margin | Real profit ÷ sale price |
| Profit per day of capital | Real profit ÷ days held |
| Break-even price | Equal to total cost in the car |
| What an offer leaves you | Offer − total cost in the car |
Where each line comes from
- Buyer or auction fee. At Copart and IAAI this is a tiered percentage of the hammer price plus gate and internet fees, and on a $6,000 car it is commonly $350 to $600 before you have moved it. Copart vs IAAI covers the differences.
- Transport. The tow or the transporter from the yard to you. Often the most forgotten line because it is paid to someone who is not the auction.
- Parts, labour, detail. The reconditioning. Put labour at zero if you did it yourself and want to see the cash number, or put in what you would have paid someone if you want the honest number.
- Listing and advertising. Marketplace fees, boosted posts, a lot sign.
- Title, registration, other. Title transfer, temp tags, inspection, the notary. Small, frequent, and never in the headline.
- Days held. From the day you bought it to the day the buyer drove it away. Days on the lot explains why this line quietly decides the year.
Put it on your own site
If you run a dealer blog, a flipping forum or a training site, you can embed this calculator free. It is one iframe, it needs no account, and it carries a one-line credit back here.
<iframe src="https://deelary.com/tools/flip-profit-calculator-embed" title="Car flip profit calculator by Deelary" width="100%" height="760" style="border:0;border-radius:18px;max-width:900px" loading="lazy"></iframe>The same arithmetic, saved per car
The calculator does one car, once, and forgets it when you close the tab. The Deelary app does the same arithmetic on every car you own, with the receipts photographed, the VIN scanned and the days counted without you touching a calendar. Free for two cars on iPhone and iPad. If you are still on a spreadsheet, the free car flipping spreadsheet has these same columns with the formulas already in.
Running a lot rather than a flip or two? Deelary for solo dealers is the lot's side of the same app.
Questions
Why is "headline profit" shown next to "real profit"?
Because the headline is the number people remember and the real one is the number they made. Sale minus purchase ignores every fee, part and day. The calculator shows both so the gap between them is visible, car by car. On a typical flip the gap is several hundred dollars and sometimes it is the whole profit.
What should I put in "holding cost per day"?
Whatever that car actually costs you each day it sits: lot rent divided by the cars on the lot, insurance per car, floor plan interest if the car is financed. If you are flipping from a driveway with cash, it may genuinely be close to zero, and you can leave it there. The calculator still shows profit per day of capital, which is the number that matters either way.
What is "profit per day of capital" and why does it matter?
It is the real profit divided by the days the money was in the car. The same cash can only be in one car at a time, so a $1,400 profit in 24 days is $58 a day while a $2,200 profit in 96 days is $23. The smaller deal funds nearly four times as much buying over a year. It is the single best number for comparing two flips.
What is the break-even price?
The sale price at which you would make exactly nothing: the total of everything in the car, including the holding cost if you entered one. Any offer below it is a loss before you have counted your own time.
Does the calculator save anything?
No. It runs entirely in your browser and nothing you type leaves the page. If you want the same arithmetic saved per car, with the receipts photographed and the days counted automatically, that is what the Deelary app does.
Can I put this calculator on my own website?
Yes, free. The embed code is on this page. It is a single iframe, it needs no account, and it carries a small credit line back to this page.