KUDOS TO ANDREW! I'm gonna rant, so delete this if you're subject to being
easily offended. Seriously, I don't want to any hate mail from this so I'll
apologize in advance. ;-)
While I'm looking at cars in my immediate area, I was the one who gave the
Georgia 1600 the bad press. I have a couple of deals worth following up on
from members on this list (in other states, unfortunately), but I received
replies from five of you telling me that the GA 1600 advertised for $4k
wasn't worth as much as $1k - he declined the offer, by the way.
Some of you have seen the car I built and posted on my website. Even though
it cost me as much as I could have purchased a 2001 Viggen for, I could
probably not get more than $15k for it. Did I do it for the money? No, I
did it for the love of the car and the love of the hobby.
It's just my $.02 worth, but it seems that the guys who have a very clean
car to start with can build an exceptional vehicle and command a high price,
just as is true in any restoration. When others who own vehicles of lesser
quality see how much "the other guy" got for his car, they presume they can
get that much for their's. Each car is different! And let's be honest.
The Resto project that is WORTH paying $10k for, probably COST the poor guy
three or four times that amount - not including his ownlabor.
As Andrew mentioned, the 212 on E-bay did not officially sell even though
the bid was run up to $8100. COME ON! Is that car worth more in
un-restored condition? Obviously not, otherwise the bid would have gone
higher and the reserve would have been met. The unfortunate soul here in
Georgia is going to learn the hard lesson of pricing. I called on them two
weeks after the ad was posted.... and I was the only person who had even
called according to the seller's wife. Go figure! Since I've started my
Roadster search, I haven't seen the reserve met on a Roadster on E-bay, yet.
Now maybe that's a fault of E-bay sellers and buyers, but these cars ARE
becoming increasingly difficult to restore and find.
It seems the only people who want them are those who have a passion for them
(myself included), but NOT the general public. The Saab enthusiasts burned
themselves by thinking their old cars were "collectibles" and priced them
high enough that nobody wanted to buy them. What happened was the cars that
were in a degraded state were sent to the scrap yard by their owners because
used parts (for a resto.) were outrageously priced, as well. Additionally,
they weren't in high demand by the general public,either.
What good is fixing up a car to sell it, if you have no demand from buyers??
None! You're only fixing it up for yourself. Be that the case, remember
that fact if you DO decide to sell it. I think everyone on this list can
show receipts of "how much" they spent on their car. Unfortunately, that's
not what matters; what matters is what your INDIVIDUAL car is worth in
whatever condition it's in. Cars aren't investments, real estate is.
Thanks for letting me rant,
James
No Roadster, yet.
http://people.atl.mediaone.net/jamesuhl
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Murphy <solex67@hotmail.com>
To: datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
Date: Friday, March 23, 2001 1:16 PM
Subject: re-visiting the pricing issue
>Hello All,
>
>It seems as though there are a lot of cars for sale again. The weather is
>warming up and people are looking to sell their cars. I have seen quite a
>few for sale. Some exceptional, some good, some OK, and some crappy. The
car
>in Georgia got some bad press, but I wanted to get some input from the list
>about that 66 on eBay.
>
>I will be the first to say that this car does look exceptional. I wonder
if
>any BADROC peeps would mind looking at or know this car. It is a very
pretty
>car that looks to be rust free. The ad does not mention a frame off, just
>that the car is rust free and has never been in an accident.
>
>Still, the asking price seems high to me. When I was up to pick up my 1964
>1500 from Leigh Brooks, Michael Carion told me that eventually he might
sell
>his 67 2000 car. I am not going to say what price he mentioned, but after
>looking at this 66 and taking into consideration what Michael had said he
>would hope to get for his car one has to wonder what people are thinking
>when they ask for prices on their cars. Michael's asking price seemed very
>reasonable to me. No, I don't think he wants to sell right now and I
>apologize to Michael in advance.
>
>I am much more surpised that the 67.5 1600 in St. Paul has received no
bids.
>It looks clean and seems more reasonably priced. It also appears the 212
>didn't sell and it had gone up to 8,000.00.
>
>I know we want as much as we can get for the cars. Again I say that if you
>are looking to make a profit with these cars then you are kidding yourself.
>These cars are interests and hobbies. We love them and enjoy them but we
>will not make money by owning them.
>
>Just my .02
>
>
>Andrew Murphy
>1964 1500
>1967 2000 Solex
>SoCalROC
>_________________________________________________________________
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