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I just returned from Scottsdale, Arizona after attending the classic car auctions that takes over that area in the month of January each year. My perspective might be a little different than the one you see on TV watching the Barrett-Jackson broadcast for a few hours each night, so I thought I would share them with you my friends, customers and fellow car enthusiasts. Consider it an inside viewpoint from someone who can pay $400 a month, not 400k at once.
I am amazed at how many people are talking about it. Friends that have no interest or knowledge of cars are coming up to me and saying, "Did you see how much those cars were bringing? Could you find a nice Mustang, Camaro, or Cuda for me? (at the right price of course!)" Many don't want it because it is the car of their dreams; they want it so they can take it to the auction next year. There is frenzy out there. It seems a lot more people want to get in on the collector car bandwagon now. Most people have no idea what it takes to participate in something like this. They don't know the full extent of the costs, and the have no concept of the risk many of these car owners take.
Watching the Barett-Jackson auction on TV is pretty far removed from the reality of the collector car hobby the other 360 days of the year. I actually saw one well to do lady who bought a car for over forty thousand dollars and she didn't even know she was the final bidder. It wouldn't have brought half that at any other auction. And she wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for Barrett-Jackson being THE place to be and be seen for anyone with more dollars than sense.
If you want to play, here are a few things that you probably didn't know. Probably less than ten percent of the classic cars sold at auction during this event are shown on T.V. and the ones shown are shown at prime time at the most attended auction in the industry. These are truly the cream of the crop. What you don't get to see is the thousand of less than perfect cars that are sold at much more reasonable prices off camera. Unfortunately, our perceptions about the value of these cars is based on the few we see sell during prime time. We love this because if we have a similar car it gives us reason to believe that ours is worth more.
Watching during these few prime hours gives the TV viewer an unrealistic view of what these cars will sell for back home.
I've been back for 24 hours and I have already been called by several individuals wanting to sell thier cars. The first person has a mid 60's Chevy Convertible, 6 cylinder, three on the tree, no power steering or brakes. They were sure I would be thrilled to have the chance to own this car for the measly sum of $23,000. They were appalled that I didn't offer to jump in my car and rush right over with a brief case full of cash, at the sheer mention that I may have the opportunity to buy this rare classic. After all, they watched 4 hours of Barett-Jackson and they knew what these cars were worth!
A few years back I had a 1969 Chevelle 396 car, that I was considering taking to this auction. At the time the value of these cars was around twenty thousand dollars for a nice numbers matching car. If I had agreed to take the car there, here is what I had to look forward to. To secure a number in prime time you can expect to pay $1500 to $2500 just for the number. You will need to send them your cars title several months in advance. This keeps the seller from being able to sell the car prior to the auction. You need to ship it there at a cost of $400 to $1000 dollars. Shipping creates a whole new set of worries, I once had a car fall off of the back of a car transporter in the middle of the night and the driver never even knew it was missing until he got to his destination, but that's a whole other story. If you are fortunate enough to sell your car you pay an 8% sellers fee. On a 25k vehicle this is another $2000 and that is if your car brings what you expect. At the Barett Jackson you can not set a reserve price on your vehicle, if the right buyers are not there at that time and it only brings 18k, you live with it. I know of sellers that were not willing to take the amount that there cars were bid up to so they bought there own cars back, bid on their own cars to prevent them from being sold for a bargain price. In this case they get to keep there car but they have to pay the sellers 8% and the buyers 8% commision, 16% just to keep your own car! In the end I listed the car myself and sold it for around 19k. I figured that if I had sent it I would have ended up with around 15k after all the bills were paid. But you never know it may have brought 50k from the guy that had one just like it in college and was willing to pay anything for my car!!!
It is great fun however to see this many quality cars in one spot at one time, and to think that you just may be able to buy or sell one. But keep in mind that it's not as simple as it looks on prime time.
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