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Yep, it's really tough.
And imagine if you had even ONE employee. Even at a very low wage, by the time you add in workers comp, payroll tax, etc. etc. that would be what, a minimum $40K expense? Really, $50K or more.
So, you can't have an employee.
But doing it all by yourself is very difficult, even on a small scale. Buying cars at auction, getting them home, repairs, sales, meeting with tire kickers, doing all the paperwork, etc., it's a ton of work for one person to do.
Then add in the costs. Insurance, warehouse, and the funds to buy the cars, at a bare minimum (obviously, there's a lot more).
If you have the cash to buy the cars to resell, there's probably better things to do with it. If you have to finance the cars, there's the interest and the hassles of that (if you can even get financing).
You end up doing a ton of work, a lot of hours, risk, and the headache of dealing with a flaky general public, for very little return.
It's a fairly low barrier to entry business. It's not hard to get a license, it doesn't require any education or experience, basically anyone can get one. And a lot do. In my area, these businesses spring up and then close down all the time. Some are tiny operations, but others are 10,000 square foot places with 25+ cars in inventory. Come and go.
It must have been different in the past. I knew independents who sold BMW/MB/Porsches through the 80s and 90s that stayed in business for 20 years, and from what I had heard did very well.
But even those long-term guys are gone now.
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