MuskieAL

I noticed a couple of pretty rare corvettes coming up for auction this January at BJ . A 1970 ZR1 coupe, and a 1971 LS6/ZR2 Corvette coupe, 454/425hp ,one of 12 built, Also a high option 1972 LT-1 with air. What surprises me is that all three of these cars are selling with NO reserve.



The ZR1 & ZR2 are selling on super Saturday, as BJ likes to call it. Looks like the owners of these cars knows something I don't? Maybe Super Saturday equals deep pockets? Not sure I could / would take that gamble. Especially since there's about a dozen other cars selling latter that day with reserves.



It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Did any of the sellers win with there no reserve? Or, will we here the BJ announcers say to any of the new buyers.. " that was well bought"..











http://www.barrett-jackson.com/appli...=962.1&aid=525





http://www.barrett-jackson.com/appli...n=5009&aid=525







http://www.barrett-jackson.com/appli...n=5018&aid=525

redvetracr

no reserve does not mean no shill

theblackvette

Exactly!

tokim

I wouldn't put up anything I own in a true no-reserve auction.

And what the Hell does no shill mean?..I must be getting old.

theblackvette

Tokim shill bidders are common in auctions. Lets say you selling your car in an auction. You set up a couple of friends to place bids to artificially bump up the price. Happens all the time.

Sunstroked

The big money comes out Friday and Saturday in Scottsdale. There are several high dollar auctions going on that week too. I.E. Goodings, Russo & Steele. And some smaller local auctions. It really brings out the big name collectors. B-J went no reserve several years ago, well almost, some very rare and high end cars may have a reserve placed on them.

tokim

Thanks BV, I now know.
I new about the practice, just never heard or paid attention to the term, for some reason.

theblackvette

You are welcome. Yeah when you get the time do a Google search on shill bidding on ebay. It is interesting how they are cracking the whip on the shill bidders. I wouldn't trust my money in one of these crazy BJ type auctions. Lots of opportunity for dirty pool. And those commissions are ridiculous!

Ratfinkharley

On the subject of eBay, you can have a no reserve auction but set the opening bid. Pretty much the same thing to me.

My strategy with eBay is to just make one bid for he amount I am willing to pay and leave it at that. Between schils and snipe bidding, it is very easy to chase an item beyond its value.

Vet76te

But you can't do that at a BJ auction. Before you can bid,..you have to be registerd, buy a bidders pass, post either a cash deposit or have an errevokable letter from your bank. Watch the auction,...if you're the high bidder, they make you sign a purchase aggrement. If you dont pay, they force the money from your bank.

Factor in the buyers and sellers fees and it would end up costing you a LOT of money to pull off a shill bid.

Shill bids only work on auctions WITH a reserve. Your buddy bids it up to just below your reserve so the next real bid owns it. It doesn't work in a NO reserve aucton.

MuskieAL

I Have no idea on shill bidding or not. I've been to my share of big name auctions. I've witnessed some pretty expensive cars being bought and sold. Boss 429's, L88's real AC Cobra's . All sold with reserves. If these vetts are as rare as there supposed to be, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to take that gamble on the no reserve. So maybe it is all make believe....

Tim 1973

I use the same strategy, except once when a part came up for action that I needed for my 37 Dodge that I had been looking for years to find. The hood oddment a very rare item. Sat by the computer when it was about to end with one min left put a bid in that was 500.00 over the going bid price... Yep I won it but cost me another 1000.00 to get it repaired and restored...

theblackvette

How do they authenticate the phone in and internet bids? Anything can be fixed. I just find it highly suspect. My choice is to stay away and i have.

Vet76te

Internet and phone bidders are the same. You have to be pre-quailified several days before the auction. You have to supply an errevokeable bank letter or supply a credit card or cash deposit.

I've been to a BJ and a Meccum auction before.

vettebuyer6369

Phone and internet bidders have to be pre approved just like any other bidder. And most times they pay a higher commission rate than someone in house.

Shill bidding can still work in a no reserve auction, the difference being the shill takes the risk of "winning" and wasting commission money buying his own car back. But, this completely protects the seller in a no reserve auction from selling at an unacceptable amount. Most no reserve sellers have a shill in place to protect themselves from a below minimum amount.

A "chandelier" bid is usually made by the auction house and is used to chase the reserve amount.

redvetracr

sure it does, do you think people selling are never buyers? do you think sellers never buy their own cars back by having friends do the bidding?

jr9170

I agree,that ZR2 will not change hands without the owners price being met.If the current owner has to pay the vig/commission himself to keep the car he will.I have beeen to tons of these auctions and know plenty of sellers who had to buy the car back and that is also why they do not sell their vettes at BJ.

MuskieAL

jr9170, Here's what I'm still not getting, why the no reserve on these rare cars. Is it all about saving some $$$$ on the commission? I know BJ offers a reserve option, I've seen it in the past, and I see it now.

Sure you might have to pay a bit more with the reserve option, but you sure would save on all the drama about having to buy your car back if need be.

Maybe the sellers know these cars will sell, and sell big? Any guesstimate what a ZR1 &ZR2 might fetch?

Don Rickles

Apparently none of you guys caught the BJ infomercial televised last week? If so, then you would have seen the representative/broker/owner(?) that's bringing these cars to auction..... I do believe he knows exactly what he's doing!

theblackvette

Great....

Have you had the opportunity to buy or sell a car at these auctions before? Or just watching the drama unfold?

I don't see myself going to one of these because I just don't see me ever buying one of these cars. For some reason the idea that I cannot have a mechanic or some technical expert get his or her hands all over the car and inspect it for me doesn't sit well with me.