The article focuses on the trade with second-hand vehicles imported from Western Europe to Central and Eastern Europe. Of particular interest is the role of social capital in starting and developing the trade with used cars in the Re-public of Moldova and Romania. The study is based on data collected via a multi-sited ethnography research strategy. It is generally acknowledged that the social capital plays an important role in starting and developing enterprises in general and in the trade with second-hand goods in particular. Yet distinctions between the different types of social capital and their effects on the start and development of the trade with second-hand goods received scant attention in the literature, probably because it was assumed that it was necessary to have wide social networks per se. The research identifies three areas where social capital is extensively used by the entrepreneurs in developing the trade with used auto-mobiles; argues that the Moldovan entrepreneurs tend to use rather bonding social capital and the Romanian ones the bridging social capital; stress out that the availability of bridging social capital can lead to the development of trans-national social capital.