Dealerships and groceries stores are licensed businesses, and they pay taxes. Car flippers are not, and they don't. In WA state, it is illegal to buy and sell cars for profit without a dealer's license. It is also illegal to sell more than 4 vehicles within 12 months without a dealer's license. Getting caught carries some pretty hefty monetary penalties. The state doesn't like to lose money on licensing fees and taxes. As a small business owner, I know this too well.
I see flippers on CL all the time. They're easy to spot, for the most part. People reuse pics from the old ad, or a car disappears from the listing and shows up 3 days later with new pics and an incredibly inflated price tag, the person selling doesn't have the title "yet", etc..
What worries me about this is that the powers that be (the government) will eventually take notice of this too, and you know how that goes. I could easily see them changing the laws on things like the gift exemption, taxes on market value, title processing fees, etc., to make up for lost revenue. They might even tighten current restrictions, for example, dropping the number of cars a private party can sell in a 12 month cycle from 4 to 2. Why does this worry me? I'm a car guy. I buy cars, I end up selling some of them, I buy more. Not for profit, but for a hobby.
As private car flipping becomes more and more prevalent (read: with more dollars changing hands) the DOL will pick it up. They can already track the title and can see who is a dealer, and who isn't. Changes may not happen in one year, or three years, but they'll eventually catch on and probably do things that will impact the rest of hobbyists, who aren't in this game for the money.
Just my two cents.
