414TATA Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 Any suggestions of a web site to get a fairly accurate value for pre war era cars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1912Staver Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 The site with the most sales results is probably Ebay. Weather you like ebay or not it's the one with the largest number of easily found sales results. You can also search completed auctions to get an idea of asking prices that were too high to attract a buyer. Lots of pre-war cars but if pre-war classics are your thing as opposed to more bread and butter cars then you have to dig a little deeper and search some of the higher end auction sites. Ebay sees lots of Ford's , Chevy's, Dodges but not so many Duesenberg's, Pierce Arrow's, and such. Greg in Canada 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 Spot on advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
414TATA Posted August 4, 2017 Author Share Posted August 4, 2017 Thanks. I'm talking the bread and butter pre war.. i.e. my Buick. Wayne 1941 Buick Super 51 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercer09 Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 I would actually think you would know better then most. After all, you have had the car I am assuming for some time and so involved in this marque. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 5 hours ago, 1912Staver said: The site with the most sales results is probably Ebay. Weather you like ebay or not it's the one with the largest number of easily found sales results. You can also search completed auctions to get an idea of asking prices that were too high to attract a buyer. Lots of pre-war cars but if pre-war classics are your thing as opposed to more bread and butter cars then you have to dig a little deeper and search some of the higher end auction sites. Ebay sees lots of Ford's , Chevy's, Dodges but not so many Duesenberg's, Pierce Arrow's, and such. Greg in Canada Ebay ASKING prices are worthless and definitely do not represent value. Completed auction prices where cash has actually changed hands are definitely useful, however. Unfortunately, I've seen too many ads to the effect of "people are asking twice this much on ebay". So what? The fact that they ask a million bucks for a POS doesn't make it worth that much. The one caution about searching completed auctions is that cars that supposedly sold often are relisted a few weeks later, so even a supposedly completed sale is no guarantee that cash actually changed hands. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburnseeker Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 You need to take averages and even on similar possibly non BUick cars as the chance that a high number of that exact type Buick have sold is slim. You can usually gauge the general feel for a car like that though. Just search back the full 90 days, if it was a dud or no sale, you will see it relisted usually. I discredit almost all the no sale asking prices unless they seem really reasonable and didn't sell. Right now might not be the best time to check though. Ebay is introducing some new Ebay motors home page which has royally screwed up all my motors searches for both cars and parts. I can t even access some of my car searches it leads you to a new home page. (I don't need a Motors Home Page) This is not my first rodeo people. I have just shy of 20,000 feedback selling parts. I just need my searches back. Also when i was able to actually get a few of them to work, not all seemed to lead you to the new Homepage, The matches were way down. After refreshing and researching the same way, they would some times eventually pull up a more normal set of results. My convertible search for all cars in the world on the US site, built before 1970, usually turned up 1 to 2 pages of new results each day, so overall probably a couple thousand cars at any time. Tonight redoing my search there way, results in 126 convertibles built before 1970 in the world for sale on ebay right now.? HUH? There is definitely a glitch so I would wait for right now until they hopefully pull the whole stupid page. More busy work to antagonize sellers and users alike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 I memorized the prices for 95% of the collector cars listed on Ebay. It was "Reserve Not Met". Bernie 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39BuickEight Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 Mecum and Barrett-Jackson also have searchable sales results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburnseeker Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 The big auction companies results aren't all based on normal sales. There is alot of alcohol and coaching as well as a little TV thrown in that you as a private seller probably aren't going to be able to offer the potential buyers of your car to get them to loosen their purse strings. I look at the posted results in Hemmings on some of them and wow this one sold for nothing, yeah it was a 30's car at a Corvette Auction. OR wow this one sold really strong, because it was an Auburn selling at the September ACD auction. Those auctions also take two guys with a pile of cash in hand to be at that particular auction on that day to bid a car up. I still think ebay is the most realistic place to get sold values. You can also scan Hemmings and some of the other marketplaces and see what everyone is listing them for. To sell yours ti either has to be better then them for the same money or cheaper than them if the same condition. Everybody wants a deal. If you have a one of a very few car that is always in demand then that's a different story. Again ebay is still broke today, though I sent them a few more pleasant reminders that this change needs to be changed. as both a powerseller and a customer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 (edited) The best way to value a car, or one of many things I might sell, is to think of what I would buy if I had extra money. I just price accordingly. I need a new roof for my garage, maybe $3,000, Yeah, my tractor with a loader bucket would do that. Would I trade even for a roof job? I'd prefer the money, but yeah, when the job was complete. Would you like to drop 10 grand on some promising stocks, that Buick should do that with some change. Your motivation should be another indicator. Is the car a windfall inheritance that might need tires, brakes, exhaust, a battery, and all the other stuff while the car and the owner were mouldering away for the past few years? Or have you been maintaining it and meeting the needs of 1,000 miles a year in fun driving? Can't tell. Are you of a social or ethnic background that puts you in a position that demands the absolute nickel out of the car or be put in a position where you have to lie about how much you got for the rest of your life? There is a lot to consider. In your specific instance, take a new picture if you are going to use one with a date on it. A potential buyer will look at that and think "He couldn't even take the effort to take a new picture. What other effort is too much for him?" In an advertisement, I would look at the old picture, laugh to myself, and move on to the next '41 Buick. It ain't like there is a shortage of them, Good, long lasting cars. Bernie Edited August 5, 2017 by 60FlatTop (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburnseeker Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 The reserve not mets is also a good indication of what stuff is worth. If none are meeting reserve but all are getting bid to say 15 thousand or so, regardless of reserves or Buy it now prices attached as well (those are a good gauge of where the reserve was set) it gives you a rough handle on what people are hoping to buy this type of vehicle for. Again you can always throw out the lowest, and the highest and just go with the average, especially on something common like a 40's Chevy Pickup or a 65 Mustang or a Corvette as there are always several pages of them listed. Likewise as a buyer it's a good tool to realize what you are going to need to pay to get the type of car you want. If you really want a certain car, you will know if you can get something like that in your price range. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 3 hours ago, 39BuickEight said: Mecum and Barrett-Jackson also have searchable sales results. Maybe, but the big-name auctions are not the real world. Buyers are frequently more interested in "winning" than in paying market value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 28 minutes ago, auburnseeker said: The reserve not mets is also a good indication of what stuff is worth. I disagree. If cash doesn't change hands, you have no idea of value. How do you know if those bids are even legitimate? Sorry, no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 3 hours ago, auburnseeker said: The big auction companies results aren't all based on normal sales. There is alot of alcohol and coaching as well as a little TV thrown in that you as a private seller probably aren't going to be able to offer the potential buyers of your car to get them to loosen their purse strings. I look at the posted results in Hemmings on some of them and wow this one sold for nothing, yeah it was a 30's car at a Corvette Auction. OR wow this one sold really strong, because it was an Auburn selling at the September ACD auction. Those auctions also take two guys with a pile of cash in hand to be at that particular auction on that day to bid a car up. Also, there is a 15% premium to sell your car at a major auction. 5% out of your pocket and 10% out of the buyer's, which btw is also your pocket. You mention the two guys, which is important. If you are just Joe Schmoe, the auction company will not invent guy #2 for you either. There are certain premium cars that really should be sold in an auction setting, but more run of the mill production cars will probably do fine selling in a club newsletter, CL, or eBay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburnseeker Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 2 hours ago, joe_padavano said: I disagree. If cash doesn't change hands, you have no idea of value. How do you know if those bids are even legitimate? Sorry, no. Yes but if the same type vehicle especially a fairly common one like a 1950 chevy truck gets listed and doesn't meet reserve but gets bid to 15G, then another and another, all different but similar type trucks in similar quality all over the US. It will give you a pretty good idea that a 1950 Chevy truck in similar shape in your neighborhood should be worth about what those were atleast bid to (15G) We are not talking the same truck over and over again. Yes one or two might have shill bidders but when there are pages of them, they aren't all being shill bid up. You might even find a few that did meet reserve in the same range. Lots don't sell because the seller pulled them and sold them for a good offer before it ended. I just did last week for a 1954 Chevy truck I sold. Went for 30G. Auction shows it ended at 15G where I pulled it by request of the owner. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39BuickEight Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 (edited) 3 hours ago, joe_padavano said: Maybe, but the big-name auctions are not the real world. Buyers are frequently more interested in "winning" than in paying market value. Not maybe, they do have such databases. How are they not real world? They are real places where people can buy and sell real cars for real money, usually with tremendously less hassle than dealing with tire kickers or unrealistic sellers. If a person sees a car they want to sell doing well at auctions, they may consider looking into it. If they don't, they probably won't. In any case, they are a resource. What value a person places on auction results is certainly up to the person doing the research.. Edited August 5, 2017 by 39BuickEight (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorialynn2 Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 In the little Texas town (pop. 1000), where my dad lived, there is a bar I sometimes go to for happy hour to escape the garage for a bit. The crowd consists of mainly local guys in their 40's to 70's at that time of day. I am usually the only lady, besides the bartender. Most of them have very little knowledge of what I have been actually doing and why. They hear bits and pieces and make up the rest. I have been told there is a lot of talk behind my back, including the fact that they think I'm not getting the prices for the cars that I do. They sometimes ask me specific questions, which I will answer honestly. They drive by the garage and see which cars I'm washing, etc. because it's a main road. There are a couple guys that have helped me a lot that told me this. Any of them could verify, as most are sold on eBay and a few others sold to locals. I don't have any reason to lie about it and I don't really care what they think. A few are mad because they wanted to buy dad's dually or other items. At least one thinks I'm shameful for selling dad's prized possessions, but has no idea what I've sacrificed or how it helps my father. Not to mention that I have to liquidate it all eventually and it costs money to travel there and to keep things down there that dad can sadly, never appreciate again. The point is, sometimes people are skeptical no matter what. Most of the really high dollar car sales on Ebay are for a reason. A specific, rare, supercharged engine, a very desirable make in top condition, etc. You have to really pay attention to hear why a car commands the high dollars. It's harder to value a car on a TV screen than in person. For example I've seen supercharged retractables go for big money at auction. They are very rare and desirable. I have friends who bought 4 muscle cars at a Mecum auction in Dallas. They were priced right. Maybe where you live, cars are cheaper or easier to find. Maybe you haven't bought or sold one in a very long time, so your value meter is off. Sure there are the occasional "bidding wars" and I wouldn't be surprised if they are staged for entertainment value, but I believe most auction sales are legit and in line with other sold values I see. Having sold 8 cars in the last year or two, I can tell you many people told me they were worth less than what I sold them for. Any Joe standing around can throw out a number. It's the guy with the cash who wants your car that knows what he's willing to pay. Solds are your best indicator weather Ebay, auctions or other places where you can find them. Asking prices are good to judge competition. It's no different than real estate. What I like about selling on eBay is you don't get the tire kickers who want to tell you what your car is not worth. Either bid or don't. But don't ask me for a free tour of my "inventory" to try and con me out of something for cheap. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 22 hours ago, victorialynn2 said: they think I'm not getting the prices for the cars that I do. It's been about 30 years since I hunkered up to the bar with that bunch. Ever notice they don't have biceps? I bet they have calluses where they rub the edge of the stool, though. AND they all have their designated stool. The closest thing I can compare them to is Rush Limbaugh, a whole room full. In fact, I used to listen to old Rush on the way home from work. One day the thought hit me "This is like sitting in a bar next to a 50 year old guy with an 8th grade education." I turned the radio off and never listened to anything but CD's since. There is always some "expert", negative, and concerned about "hard earned money" (honestly, I have never had a nickel of "hard earned money". Buying, selling, even working has been more of a sport to me. My High School business teacher told the class about discretionary sales. I thought "Whoa! That's for me." Sport selling. And if the buyer doesn't share the humor, all the better. It is preparation for the big game if I'm lucky enough to play. How much for that little town in Texas? Bernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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