Determining Sale Price

[John K.]

What is the best way to arrive at a sale price for my 66 big block?...... beyond a professional appraisal.
I have owned for last 25 years, think it's time to sell, but not sure how to come up with a reasonable price.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Determining Sale Price

What is the best way to arrive at a sale price for my 66 big block?...... beyond a professional appraisal.
I have owned for last 25 years, think it's time to sell, but not sure how to come up with a reasonable price.

Not trying to be a smart ass but the only true price for a car is what someone will pay & what the seller will except. I have been playing with Corvettes for 30 years & this has always been the case no matter what the market was. Now dealers are not buying unless they can double steal it as one big dealer told me years ago. People that have nice/HP Corvettes do not have to sell & the people that want to buy do not want to pay dealer prices hence no base line anymore. GOOD LUCK with your sale. A professional appraiser, whatever that is, Doesn't know what someone will pay for your car. Just ask what he thinks it's worth & then ask him to write you a check for that amount & see what he Say's.
KEN

[Dick W.]

Re: Determining Sale Price

The method that should be used to determine a vehicles value in this case would be the Market Approach.

Market or Sales Approach is that approach to value where recent sales and offering prices of similar assets are analyzed to arrive at an indication of the most probable selling price of the asset being appraised. The Market Approach, also referred to as the Sales Approach, is based on the premise that the asset is continuing to be used, so that a knowledgeable purchaser can go to the market place and buy an existing one. The market is an established means of buying and selling assets through channels including auctions, second hand dealers, public and private sales.

If the appraiser, after appraising the car, offered to buy the car and did not state he had an interest in purchasing it in his appraisal report, has violated the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and would be considered unethical in his practice.

[Jim D.]

Re: Determining Sale Price

Not trying to be a smart ass but the only true price for a car is what someone will pay & what the seller will except. I have been playing with Corvettes for 30 years & this has always been the case no matter what the market was. Now dealers are not buying unless they can double steal it as one big dealer told me years ago. People that have nice/HP Corvettes do not have to sell & the people that want to buy do not want to pay dealer prices hence no base line anymore. GOOD LUCK with your sale. A professional appraiser, whatever that is, Doesn't know what someone will pay for your car. Just ask what he thinks it's worth & then ask him to write you a check for that amount & see what he Say's.
KEN

Very well said.

[Richard T.]

Re: Determining Sale Price

What I do when I de side to sell a vintage car, like your 66 Corvette, is search asking prices for comparable cars in publications, internet auctions, professional auctions, like BJ. Check the price guides for your car to see about what your car should bring. Ask any car guys you know, that have seen your car what they think your car is worth and tell them you want to sell the car. You might realize a sale right away. If you have no idea what your car is worth you will have to spend a lot of time doing research to arrive at a current fair market value. You will than have to decide if the current market value is acceptable. No one on this board can tell you what your car is worth today but l am sure your car is worth more today than it was 25 years ago, provided the condition is about the same. The market is soft now but nice cars still bring good money. Best of luck.

[Phil D.]

Re: Determining Sale Price

What I have found is that asking prices tend to be considerably higher than the final selling prices on classic cars. Often, the same car languishes in overpriced ads for months or one local 72 Corvette has been reposted on craigslist every week since February 2008 with asking prices of between $22,000 and $25,000. You kind of have to know the history of an ad to know if the asking price (or buy it now price on ebay) is reasonable. You can't just go by a snapshot of today's ads.

Here's an idea for you tho. Put it on ebay with a lowball starting bid and a reserve price actually a little higher than you think you'd take. Then you can see where buyers are willing to go with it. If there are a lot of bidders making little increments but still below reserve, you have the option to lower the reserve price or send a bidder a second chance offer after the close. If there aren't a lot of bidders and it doesn't come close to reserve, then its possible that the right buyers just aren't in the market this particular week. In that case, don't relist it right away but wait a month and you'll have a whole new mix of buyers. Even it it doesn't sell on ebay, you'll have enough feedback to know what your likely to get for it and if you want to continue to try to sell it or just keep it.

But if you list it on ebay, make sure you are going to have the time to show the car multiple times during the short course of the auction. Nothing is more frustrating to a bidder than seeing the car at the last minute. I missed out on an ebay car a few weeks ago because the seller took his time getting back to me and somebody clicked the "buy-it-now" just as I was leaving to go see it. That's the danger tho of using a "buy-it-now" option. If that other bidder and I had to get into a bidding war over it, it could have gone even higher.

[Paul J.]

Re: Determining Sale Price

John:

There are dozens of web sites that you can do comparisons with...usedcorvettesforsale.com, Autotrader.com, Cars.com, vintagevettesllc.com, dmcorvette.com, aandmcorvettes.com, holtautosales.com, vettefinders.com and on and on and on.

You can get more info from some of these web sites than others, but all of them will allow you to make a reasonable determination of the value of your car considering the condition and features that the car has. You may even want to make contact with some of the sellers and dealers to get an idea of pricing based on condition. If you contact them don't tell them that you're a stroker (i.e. not intending to buy), just act like you're interested in thier car.

Paul

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Determining Sale Price

The method that should be used to determine a vehicles value in this case would be the Market Approach.

Market or Sales Approach is that approach to value where recent sales and offering prices of similar assets are analyzed to arrive at an indication of the most probable selling price of the asset being appraised. The Market Approach, also referred to as the Sales Approach, is based on the premise that the asset is continuing to be used, so that a knowledgeable purchaser can go to the market place and buy an existing one. The market is an established means of buying and selling assets through channels including auctions, second hand dealers, public and private sales.

If the appraiser, after appraising the car, offered to buy the car and did not state he had an interest in purchasing it in his appraisal report, has violated the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and would be considered unethical in his practice.

DICK
I agree. My last point was somewhat tongue in cheek. My point was this not a normal market much like the housing,man. buildings & machinery,& that seller expatiations & buyers offers are now where close, making a appraisal a guess & of not much use in this case.
KEN

[Dick W.]

Re: Determining Sale Price

When determining value one should not use venues such as ebay. There is no way to confirm that a sale actually took place and what the real sale price was. Discount Barrett Jackson also, the values are somewhat over inflated. Use actual sales, confirmed public auction prices, private sales. Value is what a willing and able seller and a willing and able buyer, under no duress, agree on for the sale price.

There are many definitions of VALUE such as Fair Market, Sales, Operating, Salvage, are just a few used in appraisal.

[David D.]

Re: Determining Sale Price

I agree with all above....but as an alternative to your dilema.......

I'd like to throw out that I might be interested in renting with an option to buy, if that'd work for you.

I badly want, no........ make that, NEED me a good mid year BB roadster. Big difference betweenst want and NEED.

Just ask my wife !!!
David

[John K.]

Re: Determining Sale Price

Thanks to all for your great advice. I really appreciate the comments.