Nice TDF 550 available for only MSRP!...
This is bearing all the hallmarks of a car that's going to sell for a head scratching price again. The current high bidder was the "winning bidder" of the accident damaged 550 sold on CC and discussed in this thread. Not much love for Giallo WSR 550 so far.
So, what do you make of that? Surely the winning bidder of the other 550 wasn't trade? I can't imagine a private buyer wants two 550s (unless they've decided they need a few extra parts!). Or the previous sale didn't proceed when they actually saw the car? But, if so, they weren't put off and are now bidding on the next one along? None of those make much sense to me. I see they've adjusted the page layout while I wasn't looking. The seller of the 85k miler now shows as Ian Barkaway (as you already surmised) but I don't think it did before did it?
I'm not entirely convinced the accident damaged 550 completed. I have no proof of this one way or another but little about that "sale" made sense. CC have a number of "house" accounts they use to bring the bid up towards reserve or beyond if they feel they've got a live one hooked. I'm starting to wonder if this is one of those accounts.
I don't see how that would make sense either though since it was already bid way over any sort of sensible price. Then what do they say to the seller? Sorry we messed up and the winning bid was us mucking about? I know it is deemed legitimate for auction houses to bid up to the reserve (though I personally think it is very dubious) but surely that car cannot have had a reserve beyond the "selling price" and I thought they showed as Reserve not met or similar if that was the case?
The explanation I'd seen on Pistonheads for sellers where this has happened is CC explaining to them it was a "Chinese" bidder that is not responding to contact etc. Often these posts are then removed from Pistonheads. Strangely these non paying accounts have not then been removed from CC and have been bidding on other auctions, as we're seeing now. So the only logical conclusion is it's a house account that's misjudged the level of the other bidder. CC is not an Auction house, they are an on line selling platform simply introducing two buyers (a broker if you prefer). As far as I can see there are no "rules" or legal conventions that cover their MO. They are effectively free to behave however they want and are only governed by public opinion.
Hmm maybe you're right but it still doesn't make any sense to me when the bidding on that particular auction had already gone way over any sensible level. Besides, if they are house accounts then they could make up as many as they want and always use different ones. Also it makes very little sense to be bidding beyond the reserve with a house account and then losing all commission when you make a hash of it. I thought that was why auction houses don't bid beyond the reserve rather than any legal issues?
Most of this is supposition of course, but there have been a few "house" accounts identified. Bizarrely I think it's even covered in their T&C's somewhere. Little makes sense to me on CC, it's not somewhere I'd be interested in buying, but it's interesting from a spectators viewpoint. No transparency whatsoever. They've taken BAT's business model and interefered with it to make it quite opaque. Which is a shame, a UK version of BAT complete with open discussion would be an absolute winner. Knowing what you do of the background of the founder of CC I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised if plenty of angles were being shot. It doesn't surprise me.
I am being dim here, but I don't understand the process on timed auctions like these. For example, the 550 WSR auction times out on Tuesday evening. As I write, it's at 115k, with a few bids in the last few hours. If I were bidding on this car, why would I bid now, several days in advance of the time out? There's no way that someone else is going to beat me to it (as in a live auction) or just buy it (as in a regular sale). My bidding now has the negative of pushing the price up and getting others like me to do the same. My not bidding now keeps the price down, so I can get it for a lower price on Tuesday. am I being very dumb? Why would any real bidder bid several days ahead of closing? But they can't all be shills?
Some will be dealers, if you follow a few cars you'll soon see the same names appearing on bid after bid on multiple cars. They are often bidding on so many that it's easier to throw bids in and get the email updates rather than use the "watch list" like we would if following a single vehicle. Some will be house accounts just getting things going and making it look like there's action. Some will be people throwing in a low bid in the hope that the thousands of people scouring the site daily will have completely missed the vehcile they've thrown a cheeky bid on and they pick it up cheap. Some will be genuine bids, probably through boredom and maybe an evening on the "pop".
575 F1 for sale 15th May at Historics. This is the one I drove a few years ago when for sale at Meridien. Last Auction it went through (last year) brought a high bid of £59,000 and it was a no sale. https://www.historics.co.uk/buying/auctions/2021-05-15/cars/ref-163-2004-ferrari-575-maranello-mrp/
I stopped updating my spreadsheet....not sure where this one was for sale.... today at my mechanic in San Jose, I saw this very well appointed 2003 575 with contrasting Daytona’s. Had the paper plate on it a dealer would have had as a temp. Wonder if anyone of us bought this beauty? Image Unavailable, Please Login
It's a bit of reality creeping back into the market. That car was for sale at Barkaways last year for circa £30k more than it just made on CC. It looks far more realistic at £52K. Still makes the accident damaged one that recently sold a bit of a head scratcher though.
I don't like Argento or blue interiors so it was a double strike for me. I know it doesn't bother some people but colours are very important for me. With the world in the state it's in right now I'm also in rush to buy a third car, there really is very little I can do with the two I currently own. Of course if the "perfect" car for me appears it would be daft not to buy it, but I'm browsing now and just following what little there is on the market rather than seriously looking for something immediately. I am also following the F12 market as it eases. Very different cars I know but I'd be quite happy with either to be honest.
Some F12 auction action coming up here... https://autoauction.co.uk/auction/2013-ferrari-f12berlinetta-68248
I just found a great car on Auto Trader: Blimey! https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202105062295084
I disagree; if you look at what’s being spent on old jap cars and fast fords, the £52k 575 has to be barmy good value. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
I don't really grasp what people are paying for old Fords and JDM cars. However there's a very big difference between the perceived repair and maintenance costs of a MK 1 Escort or Sierra Cosworth and a V12 Ferrari. It almost doesn't matter what the reality is, it's assumed that anyone with a garage can repair/rebuild/replace components on mass produced Fords and Jap cars that have huge worldwide support for parts, whereas the assumption that pretty much any part of a V12 Ferrari is likely to be absolutely ruinous or unobtainium. This has a massive effect on residual values of Ferrari "modern classics". Hence no one one was willing to pay more than mid £50's for a 85K mile 550. I'm still scratching my head over the value of the accident damaged one though.
The video put out today by no. 27 (below) featuring your favourite online car auctioneer sets outs a pretty decent argument for why porsches are over performing value-wise compared with Ferrari. Certainly access to a main dealer or specialist is a factor, and one that’s a pain in my behind. The annoying thing is that there’s loads of Italian exotics near me, but the nearest specialist is about 120 miles away. Massive gap in the market. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
The 911 was essentially the same for a very very long time. With that comes not only the"ease" of becoming a "specialist" but maybe more importantly the accessibility of replacement parts that make repairs actually relatively simple....... and not a hero's quest to find a reman or generally unobtainable part.