Month-end dealer trades: how to prepare so a deal closes in time

To close a dealer trade before the books close, do the preparation a week early: decide your price on each unit, make sure someone with signing authority is available, and commit to answering every offer within a day. A trade that is agreed on the 29th but unsigned on the 30th does not count. Speed at month-end comes from decisions made earlier, not from working faster in the last hours.

This post is about trades only. For the whole week, including aged lists and curtailment dates, read the month-end playbook.

What should you decide before the last week?

Make three decisions for each unit you want to trade or buy.

• Seller side. The price you would accept, or whether you want offers. Decide the number now, not on the 30th.
• Buyer side. The builds you are short on, and the most you would pay delivered over invoice.
• Freight. Whether you will take delivery or send your own driver.

When is the month-end window?

Locates.io has a month-end mode. Sellers can mark a unit motivated with a price that runs through month-end and reverts to the regular price when the month turns. Buyers can browse motivated units in one place and get a digest of them at 9 AM local time.

Who needs to be ready to sign?

Only your dealership signs. Buyer and seller sign independently, in either order, in the app or from an emailed link. The agreement executes only when both have signed the same current version. If a term changes after one side signed, it becomes a new version and both sign again.

Check this before the last week: who in your store can sign, are they set up, and will they be reachable on the 28th through the 30th?

How fast do offers need to move?

If a unit is open to offers, buyers send an offer against invoice. Answer within a day, and know your floor before you counter. When the two numbers are close, the near-deal closer splits the gap: the buyer comes up half, the seller comes down half.

How much will it cost?

Selling is free. The buyer pays the platform fee, $199 per unit, one time, locked at terms. Freight is separate. Before terms you see an estimate as a range, never a quote. At terms the charge is the carrier's quote per unit plus $75, and it is locked. Buyer pickup means no freight charge. From terms, the price, freight charge and fee are itemized. See the pricing page for the full picture.

A readiness table

What happens after both sides sign?

The sealed part of the agreement is released with both dealers' identities and VINs. Units transfer at invoice directly between the dealers, by floor plan swap or check. Any amount over invoice runs through Locates.io, and Locates.io never records a payout until the incoming funds it depends on have been received. Locates.io books the carrier as soon as the agreement executes.

If a unit has not physically moved by the 30th, that is normal. Check with your accounting team how they want to treat units in transit.

Why do trades slip past the close?

Almost never because of the price. They slip because one step waited on a person. A seller is traveling, a signer is in a meeting, an offer sat over a weekend, or a buyer started looking for a trim on the last afternoon. Each delay is small, but month-end has no slack to absorb them.

The fix is to treat the last week as a series of small deadlines. Prices by the 24th. Offers answered within a day. Signers confirmed by the 27th. Each deadline is easy to meet on its own, and together they put the trade in the books.

How do you handle questions during the final days?

Because dealers never message each other, every question goes to the Locates.io desk, which acts as the rep for both sides. Gather your questions in one batch rather than sending them one at a time. Include the unit, the term you are unsure about and the date you need an answer by. That keeps the thread short and the deal moving.

What if you are the buyer?

Buyers have the same job in reverse. Know the builds you are short on, compare delivered estimates early, and be ready to sign the day terms are ready. Motivated units are priced to move, so a buyer who responds quickly often gets the better of two similar units. Decide your ceiling in advance so you can say yes without a committee.

What mistakes cause trades to miss the close?

1. Waiting to set a price until the 30th.
2. Not having an authorized signer available.
3. Leaving offers unanswered over a weekend.
4. Assuming a freight estimate is a quote.
5. Starting a search for a trim on the last day.

How do you keep your lot private while doing this?

The marketplace is blind until both sides sign. Buyers see vehicle attributes, a distance band and an anonymous profile.

A radius block can hide your units from nearby stores.

More in why blind trading matters.

What to do next

Pick the date a week before your next close and put three tasks on it: set prices, confirm your signers and list the builds you need. Then see how it works or the dealer page.