I like look and bid on old car auctions , looking at old iron , lately , the only auctions ,are not auctions, just car dealers trying catch some poor soul. The Vault out of Alabama , has a bunch of these auctions . They put their stuff up , I bid on a drag car last month , no reserve . I bid it up good , sold to schill bidder , a week after , they still had it for sale. I call them, they said , It did not bring enough . SO , they are not having auctions , just fishing for a fool. Yesterday , Vicari auction out Biloxi classic car auction 100 plus cars , only 5% sold , Every other car , they passed on . This is online . Why would anyone waste their time with these fools !
During these times, I would not want to put my ride on an auction without some sort of reserve. If it would have a few people bidding and was getting close to the reserve, I would probably remove the reserve, but I have no intention of giving my ride away because only one person put a bid on it. Gene
I think the Vault is dishonest. They had a C1 Corvette in restored condition listed for $19,000. I knew better so I contacted them and asked if it was a scam or if they didn't even own the car. They apologized and said their listing software made a mistake and it was really $69,000 and it will be corrected. Yeah, right. They were just trying to get people interested.
Well, why did you? I would almost never buy a car on an online auction unless it was dirt cheap and I was going to go completely through it anyway. If I can't see it in person and check it out, I don't need it....
Very true . But sometimes you just cannot shake that urge . Though personally , a car is to big of a chance for me unseen .
Ive bought 4 vehicles At auction on EBay. Not my best deals. Never again. From now on I will only buy at a estate auction where the owner is taking the dirt nap. and no shill bidding is going on. If there is shill bidding or a reserve its not a Auction. I also will not pay a buyers fee.
A farm or estate auction is one thing, you can find bargains there but an online car auction is pretty much a place where misrepresentation, shill bidding and deceit can easily happen. Then there are the big auction houses that are just a playground for those with serious money, and those guys usually don’t buy because they are true car guys. I never watch that crap on TV and there are auction reports in Hemming’s Classic Car and Hemming’s Muscle Machines that I never even glance at. I just don’t see the point of the whole concept.
Here’s an example for you- the other night a rerun of Chasing Classic Cars was on, Carini was representing a family selling a 100 year old motorcycle. The pre-auction estimate was $30,000 and when the bidding stalled Carini yelled “ Yo!” to call attention to the auctioneer. He had not been bidding before that, but his action and $1000 bump did elicit one last bid and the bike hit the estimate. Was it necessary? No, but it did gain a couple extra pieces of gold for the house and Wayne’s selling agent fee.
My opinion of auctions of any kind has always been, remember. If you win you just payed more for it than anyone else was willing to.
I like looking at the auctions and imagining the cars are going to go for reasonable prices. Then I find evidence of what the current sucker paid for the car the last time it was auctioned and just give up. To some people, money means nothing.
If you read the fine print of auto auction companies, they tell you they have the right to place bids until the item reaches its reserve. After that, they are supposed to drop out. Its the only way they can get one bidder to bid an item up high enough to find out whether he is willing to pay reserve. I dont love it but thats how it is. Your perspective changes,when you are selling, rather than buying.