Is anyone at Mecum in Phoenix this weekend?

[68krrrr]

So they don't actually buy the car for $160 but they still listed as sold and the seller goes home with the car and no check, damn that's pretty shady.

[Shelby_r_b]

So they don't actually buy the car for $160 but they still listed as sold and the seller goes home with the car and no check, damn that's pretty shady.

Actually, the car was bid (either by the auction house or by a potential buyer) to $160K.  The car is not listed as sold.  Instead, it's listed as "The Bid Goes On" (AKA, still for sale), and the seller takes home the car, unless a deal can be made prior to auction conclusion.

[Hockeylife]

If anyone has a recording of Mecum Saturday they should watch Lot S142, 63 split window restomod - it's instructive. The Mecum handler is next to the consignor urging him to drop the reserve at $190k, which apparently the consignor agreed to if that number was reached. He refused, at which time Frank Mecum stepped in, saying we worked hard to get you real money at 190k, which we had an understating you would drop reserve if we hit that number. Consignor would not budge, Frank then asked him if the bidder in the audience was "his guy"? Frank figured it out, thru his arms in the air, stopped the auction in disgust.
Auction result says "bid goes on at 190k". You decide when a "bid" is a bid, whether shill bid from consignor and his buddy, whether the auction house is a shill bid, or does only real money constitute a real bid. IMHO only real bids represents what buyers are willing to pay, which ultimately represent value. Everything else is mispresentation.

[FL SAAC]

+ 1

The '68 cars don't have the look nor the value of the 67 cars. 200K easily? Not even close.

[Side-Oilers]

If anyone has a recording of Mecum Saturday they should watch Lot S142, 63 split window restomod - it's instructive. The Mecum handler is next to the consignor urging him to drop the reserve at $190k, which apparently the consignor agreed to if that number was reached. He refused, at which time Frank Mecum stepped in, saying we worked hard to get you real money at 190k, which we had an understating you would drop reserve if we hit that number. Consignor would not budge, Frank them asked him if the bidder in the audience was "his guy"? Frank figured it out, thru his arms in the air, stopped the auction in disgust.
Auction result says "bid goes on at 190k". You decide when a "bid" is a bid, whether shill bid from consignor and his buddy, whether the auction house is a shill bid, or does only real money constitute a real bid. IMHO only real bids represents what buyers are willing to pay, which ultimately represent value. Everything else is mispresentation.

This is a prime example of why I don't attend or patronize auctions.   Sucker bait.

[68krrrr]

Was that the black one or the white one there where back to back i think ,i watched it but didn't record it

[Hockeylife]

Was that the black one or the white one there where back to back i think ,i watched it but didn't record it

White

[QuickSilverShelby]

If anyone has a recording of Mecum Saturday they should watch Lot S142, 63 split window restomod - it's instructive. The Mecum handler is next to the consignor urging him to drop the reserve at $190k, which apparently the consignor agreed to if that number was reached. He refused, at which time Frank Mecum stepped in, saying we worked hard to get you real money at 190k, which we had an understating you would drop reserve if we hit that number. Consignor would not budge, Frank them asked him if the bidder in the audience was "his guy"? Frank figured it out, thru his arms in the air, stopped the auction in disgust.
Auction result says "bid goes on at 190k". You decide when a "bid" is a bid, whether shill bid from consignor and his buddy, whether the auction house is a shill bid, or does only real money constitute a real bid. IMHO only real bids represents what buyers are willing to pay, which ultimately represent value. Everything else is mispresentation.

Awesome! Everyone is in on the scam.  The Auction house, the seller and no fish to be found.  Dat's a damn shame 

QSS

[427heaven]

That's why my RED-RED 63 split didn't go there , HOLY CRAP people. Too bad

[shelbymann1970]

Well when the market crashed in 1987 didn't investors flock to tangible assets like classic cars and they tookoff price wise for for a number of years? Mecum isn't the only auction that bids cars up to their reserves if they so choose. Gary

Gary, back in 1987 Black Monday did occur, the biggest Stock market drop ever at the time. However, within 2 years the market recovered what it lost and then some, so the money quickly flowed quickly back to the market. During the 90's, with the advent of the internet, knowledge was much easier to access. We know stock and classic car appreciation occurred at the same time. Not sure you can say investors flocked to classic cars in 1987, where would you get this data? Somewhat anecdotal.
I expect the stock market to recover in time, and America will lead the world out of it, and some rare and collectible cars will recover. In the short term prices are declining.
Mecum Phoenix attendance was way down, and prices as well, though buyers could still buy via internet. RM Sotheby's Florida auction is online only now. Given government guidance to limit social interactions, major sporting events being cancelled, is it realistic to expect upcoming auctions to occur in-person? What will this do to the market? I don't know. We will see.
And yes, absolutely, Mecum is not the only auction to inflate prices. Buyer beware.

My history restoring and selling a "few" cars in the late 80s-mid 90s in particular saw the market go up around the crash of 87. I remember reading about investors buying up cars as my cars spiked in value around that time( 1 in particular a B9). I remember all too well when I went to sell my restored 70 GT500 DP FB  in 1991 the market was on the downside  as I could have gotten more for it in the summer of 90 than in the spring of 1991. Market remained flat for a lot of years as I recall by the prices I got for my cars. I sold a CJ Mach1 in mint concours condition for 25K in 1996. My friend sold his mint 1969 CJ Mach1 for 28K in 2002 and bought a HEMI 71 Challenger for 70K and watched it jump to 195K in 2 years as the car market then went up. Those are my recollections of the market from 1985 until 2003-4. To be clear I am not saying history would repeat but that is what happened back in 1987 to my recollection and it was positive for me.  Gary

[Greg]

This is a sticky one.  I would love to see all auction be "no reserve", but I know that isn't feasible.   EBay is the same, your buddy bids up your item in hopes you land a fish. 

The "Scam" ghost bidding/offers has been happening for 1000s of years and it's not going to change now.  I have always been in the camp of bid what you feel its worth, then walk away.  That way you can't get caught up in the hype and you can feel good about it either way. 

[shelbymann1970]

If anyone has a recording of Mecum Saturday they should watch Lot S142, 63 split window restomod - it's instructive. The Mecum handler is next to the consignor urging him to drop the reserve at $190k, which apparently the consignor agreed to if that number was reached. He refused, at which time Frank Mecum stepped in, saying we worked hard to get you real money at 190k, which we had an understating you would drop reserve if we hit that number. Consignor would not budge, Frank then asked him if the bidder in the audience was "his guy"? Frank figured it out, thru his arms in the air, stopped the auction in disgust.
Auction result says "bid goes on at 190k". You decide when a "bid" is a bid, whether shill bid from consignor and his buddy, whether the auction house is a shill bid, or does only real money constitute a real bid. IMHO only real bids represents what buyers are willing to pay, which ultimately represent value. Everything else is mispresentation.

+1  I can't tell you how many times I have seen bids on TV at BJ where they were trying to get 10K more for a car with a supposed high bid of X price. When the sold drops it dropped back to 10K LESS than the X price. So were they bidding up a bidder with shill bids and when he stopped bidding it dropped back to his last bid? Sure seems that way to me. I highly doubt the tech kept making errors on showing the current bid price. Wayne Carini once commented on an auction (one of the Pebble beach ones in Calif) that the house had the right to bid up to the reserve and there was no real money in the room. Gary

[FL SAAC]

The one we love to see is the INVISIBLE BIDDER in the crowd

You see them point and scream as the bid goes up

As you see the crowd look at each other or behind them to see who the INVISIBLE BIDDER is ....

Proof that it happens these two pictures of "him" the lower picture clearly showing that he is done bidding

[Stillakid54]

At BJ in January I was watching a couple bid on a car. They bid up to 80k. Bid goes past them to 82k. Bidding assistant asks him ?85k, bidder clearly says NO, assistant puts up his hand and the car sells, to him at 85k in three seconds. He was furious!! Would love to know how that ended up.

[shelbymann1970]

Mecum Spring 2019 there were 2 Twister special SCJ Mach1s. One catalog at 175-200K auto. Bid to 180K no sale. Other a 4 speed est of 225-250K. No sale at 170k. The owner of the 4 speed car was nice enough to put mirrors under the car so I could see the nice detail of the 65-68 incorrect floor pans with drain plugs nicely detailed. Now for me if I wanted to spend 6 figure dough the car BETTER HAVE CORRECT FLOOR PANS in IT!. I was just going over my pics. Now the auto car bid to 180K no sale I somehow missed walking through. Nice cars but in reality is anyone paying that kind of money for a 70 SCJ Mach1? Like I said both no sales but  the 4 speed car with repo 65-8 floor pans had a catalog estimate of 225-250K? Sorry, not for me at half the price. Gary
https://www.mecum.com/lots/SC0519-371511/1970-ford-mustang-mach-1-twister-special/
https://www.mecum.com/lots/SC0519-370127/1970-ford-mustang-mach-1-twister-special/