Car Flip Profit Calculator

The formula is simple. Net Profit = Sale Price − Total Cost. Total cost is everything you spend getting the car ready to sell: buy price, auction or platform fees, transport, prep work, and the listing cost when you advertise it.

The mistake most beginners make is treating buy price and sale price as the whole picture. They aren't. A £3,500 hammer at Motorway becomes roughly £3,920 before you've touched the car — once you add the £349 + VAT platform fee. Add £600 in prep and £99 to list it on AutoTrader and you're at £4,620. Sell for £5,200 and your gross is £580 — and if you're VAT-registered, the margin scheme takes another £283 (a sixth of the £1,700 sale-minus-buy margin), leaving about £300. Not £1,700.

That's why this calculator includes every cost category that actually matters. Fill them in honestly and you get the real number, not the dream number. Read the full UK car flipping guide.

Aim for 15–25% ROI per flip. Below 10% and you're working for very little after tax and time. Above 25% is great but rare — and usually means you bought from a private seller who didn't know the market, or found a hidden gem before someone else did.

The most profitable flippers prioritise turnover speed over per-car margin. Four cars at 12% ROI in three months beats two cars at 22% over six months — same total profit, half the holding risk, double the experience.

The £3,000–£6,000 bracket typically delivers the best risk-adjusted returns. Cheap enough that mistakes don't kill you, expensive enough to be worth the work. See which cars flip best in the UK.

Every cost category on the calculator above exists because someone forgot it and lost money. Here's the short list of margin-killers:

• Buyer's premium + VAT. Motorway is £349 + VAT (£418.80). BCA scales from £150 to £600 depending on hammer. Always 20% VAT on top.
• Transport. If you can't collect locally, budget £100–£350 to get the car home.
• MOT discoveries. Auction cars often need brakes, tyres, and a fresh MOT. A clean £55 MOT can turn into £400+ once advisories become failures.
• AutoTrader listings. £99 per car if you want exposure. Free if you can sell through Facebook or trade buyers.
• Diagnostic costs. A warning light you ignored at inspection is £80 to scan and £200–£800 to fix.

Read the MOT red flags every trader should know — it's the single biggest source of unplanned cost.