Auburn auction

[purplepickup]

I'm watching the classic car auction at Auburn, IN on TV and the prices cars are selling for is quite cheap in my opinion.  I've got a couple of questions.  Are cars selling for less lately?  I haven't really been paying attention and am putting my pickup up for sale soon.  Just curious.  Also, how much does it cost to be a bidder at an auction like that?   Do you have to be a dealer or can a Joe Blow like me bid?

[unklian]

Every auction company makes their own rules,
on stuff like buyers Premium, Sellers Premium, Reserve Bids, etc.

Generally, if you have the $$$, you can bid.

You have to register, supply a refundable deposit, etc.

[39deluxe]

I spent the day there Friday and was impressed with the quality of cars offered this year; one especially that I have lusted after since I was a teenager. I'll post the pictures and video links later when I get them uploaded. I thought that many nice cars were well bought but not so low that the seller went home sick. It appeared to be a fair market for both seller and buyer this year.

It seemed that there was not as many cars not reaching reserve as in the past few years. It could be that money is loosening up some or that collector cars are again becoming a great place to park your fortune. I'd have to check the Auctions America site but it's common for there to be a 10% buyer's and  10% sellers premium on top of the bid price. That's where the auction company makes their money. So if you bid $100,000. you pay $110,000. If you sell your car for $100,000. you get $90,000. Bidders keep that in mind when they are bidding and sellers keep that in mind when deciding to lift their reserve or not, if the car is sold on a reserve. Many very nice cars this year were sold "no reserve" which tells me that there was some confidence on the sellers part that buyers were willing to pony up for the right car.

Tom