Of the 3.5 million vehicles Copart sold last year, 40% went outside of the United States. But where did they go and why? Let’s take a look at the global ecosystem of buyers and sellers Copart helps make possible and why it matters.
Local US Sellers Can Easily Expand to Global Markets
One person’s trash is another person’s treasure, and that’s true for automobiles. A used car may be slow to move in a small town but could be in short supply in another part of the country or the globe.
We’ve made it easy for sellers to list inventory in our auctions to offer to our nearly 1 million buying Members in 180 countries globally. Copart Dealer Services works directly with American used car sellers to personally assist them. Our Copart GO App lets sellers list inventories in a few minutes from any mobile device by taking a few photos and answering a few simple yes/no questions.
These initiatives empower local American businesses to access truly global demand.
Transportation Widens Opportunities
Reliable transportation opens available opportunities from walking distances to driving distances. This means people have access to more job opportunities and markets for their goods and services.
Benefitting Individuals
Individuals can get affordable transportation from the US by working with Certified Resellers and Copart Lounges operated by local entrepreneurs. These businesses help locals find, buy, import and register vehicles in parts of the world like Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
Benefits to Businesses
Many of our international Members make a part or full time living by buying totaled vehicles from the US. Vehicles that cost more to repair than they are worth in the US can be profitably repaired in places with much lower labor costs. In some places a full day of repair work costs the same as an hour of labor in the US. These entrepreneurs then resell these vehicles to make a living, often well above the average monthly income in their home country.
Transporting Transportation
Copart developed a full ecosystem to match buyers and sellers and facilitate exchange. We maintain relationships with reputable international shipping and freight companies that can help get vehicles from the US to almost anywhere else in the world.
Perspective buyers can get an estimate by using the Shipping Tool located just underneath the photo gallery on a vehicle’s details page. That way people can know quickly if a vehicle can economically meet their needs with all costs considered.
Radical Recycling
International buyers also recycle parts and materials to help keep family vehicles in service and scrap metal available for new products instead of taking up space in landfills. In many parts of the world, people routinely keep vehicles for 20 years because they cannot afford to replace them. So, this steady supply of recycled auto parts keeps people and the local economy moving.
Contributing to World Peace
History teaches us that mutual economic interest keeps countries friendly. Trade moves the world and lets people exchange goods and services without fighting over them. While what we do is a small part of that very big picture, we’re proud we’ve been able to be a part of this process by connecting auto buyers and sellers around the globe.
