The beginning of the end for Barrett-Jackson?

[efhughes3]

First of all, I watched most of the live coverage of this year's auction. I thoroughly enjoy watching car after car cross the block. I'm a car junkie, what can I say?

But, the more I see of Craig Jackson, the more I see him as pretty much a pompous ass. So, it kinda warmed the core of my heart to find out "all is not well" at old B-J. Take a look at the article linked here. I thought there were a number or auctions with "pre-mature gavel syndrome" this year. It sounds like some of the sellers think so too, and are putting their money where their mouths are by bringing litigation against B-J. It's also interesting to read some of the behind the scenes crap going on.

This all may go beyond a civil judgement, it may result in some prison time for some of the B-J brass. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out.

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=99547

[Evans, Marv]

I have watched it intermittently over the last couple of years. Even the few times I watched it over the past several months, I had the impression the gavel was pretty quick on more than a couple of occasions. May have been, but I thought then it was probably a cut in the video to shorten the time.

[on-ramp]

I dont have the patience to read through the whole article.

why would they want to end the auction early... why not let it run to end, bringing the final sale price higher? i dont get it.

[efhughes3]

Sorry, this isn't a "read-for-hire" business...They've "overpromised" themselves....too many cars. Too much time on the ones they want to focus on, so they've allegedly violated their contractual obligations.

[HardDrive]

I have always found it astounding that people would pay millions for American muscle cars......vehicles that were pieces of CRAP when they were built.

[the]

Originally posted by on-ramp
I dont have the patience to read through the whole article.

why would they want to end the auction early... why not let it run to end, bringing the final sale price higher? i dont get it.

I didn't read the article, either, but read a different one.

Like said above, they promised everyone some amount of time on the block. 3 minutes or something.

But, with the "no reserve" (in quotes because it's not really a no reserve auction, but instead a clever gimmick that only benefits BJ) system, BJ is always going to get it's commission, even if the seller is just "buying back" his own car when it doesn't meet his own internal reserve price.

So with a guaranteed profit on each car that crosses the block, the temptation for BJ is to maximize the number of cars that cross the block, rather than necessarily try to maximize the value of each car. If you can run 30 cars per hour through, that's a lot more money for BJ than if you are only running 20 per hour.

This whole thing is going to collapse under it's own ridiculousness.

[berettafan]

I can see the headlines now "BJ CUT SHORT"

A sad, sad thing for anybody i dare say!

[the]

BJ without a happy ending is a sad thing indeed.

[jrdavid68]

Premature auction?

[Zeke]

I have been to auctions of many different kinds from Sotheby's to a restaurant liquidation. It's not a real honest business. There are too many temptations. Some of the biggies like Sotheby's and Christies probably stay relatively clean, but you wanna see some shills and underhanded stuff, go to a local machinery auction.

[berettafan]

Originally posted by jrdavid68
Premature auction?

To borrow from a comedian i recently heard.....

If the auction ended then it was right on time! There is no premature auction!

[dtw]

Breaking News: Prison Time for BJ's. Enthusiasts Flock to UK For Hummers.

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by HardDrive
I have always found it astounding that people would pay millions for American muscle cars......vehicles that were pieces of CRAP when they were built.

Me too...EXCEPT...that I have more fond memories attached to my long gone '65 and '66 Goats than I do with my old '72 911S...and I owned the '72S far longer.

Barrett Jackson is show biz folks...nothing more, nothing less.

[jluetjen]

The whole thing has worn thin on me, not just because of the constant parade of Detroit iron either. It's the competitive spending that's done it for me. It's complete and total materialism. The whole thing is just a question of buying the most expensive toys to prove how much a man the bidder is compared to the next guy who got outbid. I doubt that most of the winning bidders even drive the cars before they turn around and try to sell it for more money again.

I don't care if they want to waste their money (there's a fool born every minute), but the way that it's blossomed into the week(s?) long orgy of spending. Is that what we've come to?

Yawn...

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by jluetjen


I don't care if they want to waste their money (there's a fool born every minute), but the way that it's blossomed into the week(s?) long orgy of spending. Is that what we've come to?

Yawn...

Yep! Think about it...the latest "hit car of the month" of EXCELLENCE magazine's coverage of the R Gruppe gathering in May, down in Californicate? It was a car that arrived there in an enclosed trailer. Wow...what a thrill this must have been for a gruppe that likes to say it's composed of road runners... Not picking on the Gruppe specifically here...you see this in ALL areas of automotive enthusiasm. From the cars that ran in the dry lakes back in the 40's, to a car that won Lemans 10 or 20 years ago. It's become all show...like a fiberglass '37 Ford car featured in HOT ROD sporting fake sprayed on "rust"...it's all show. To me, that's sad. To others, it's "way cool". To each his own. The King has no clothes. He doesn't need them, right?

[berettafan]

It's actually gotten to the point that we are inadvertently teaching our kids to fantasize about barn find flipping for profit-

[many944s]

There is an episode of BJ on Speed this morning showing alot of problems they have had! From disputed auctions to the temper of the young Jackson... truely interesting!

-Nick

[berettafan]

Saw a few minutes last night where the guy on the floor with the cars pointed out a variation in the paint color inside the engine compt. vs. the rest of the car. Rather than discuss any potential causes or impact on value the commentators stammered a few minutes before one said something like 'but it's got the tri-power' or something along those lines. Really could feel the discomfort.

[on-ramp]

the value of an item is whatever someone, under their own free will, is persuaded to pay for such an item.

[the]

Originally posted by on-ramp
the value of an item is whatever someone, under their own free will, is persuaded to pay for such an item.

I'll buy your car for $5!

That's it's value, right?