The Amphicar on eBay at
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1805885336
received a high bid of $13,300 but reserve was not met. From the
description the car should have gone for at least $18,000. Am I wrong, was
this a fluke, or are weird collector cars just not getting the money they
deserve?
-Steve
'64 red (CA: AMPHICR)
'64 red (CA: I SWIM 2)
Del Mar, CA
===================
I'd say the weather's still a little cool to be optimal for selling an
Amphi, which is definitely a seasonal item. Think of Amphis in the same
category as motorcycles and surfboards and not Packards and Hupmobiles and
you'll get the idea. On the other side of the coin, now is still an
excellent time to be BUYING an Amphi (or a motorcycle or surfboard).
Assuming one must sell one's Amphi, eBay in February is not the likeliest
place or time to do this. Your best hope would probably be the Club
Classifieds at
http://www.amphicar.com/ads.htm with a realistic start price
and then prepare for a long wait and probably some serious haggling. Anyone
actually looking for an Amphi to buy in winter would get to the Club
Classifieds eventually anyhow. Anyone planning an Amphicar purchase at any
time of the year should certainly check out Mike Israel's excellent Amphicar
Buyer's FAQ at
http://www.carstrucksvans.com/amphicar/buyersfaq.htm .
From what I have discerned from having maintained the Club Classifieds and
its predecessor the "Amphi-Bazaar" over the past several years, the overall
trend with higher-end or at least "swim ready" Amphicars sold in the winter
months seems to be that these are usually bought by folks who already own an
Amphi or two but know a "winter bargain" when they see it. These are
typically sold for a couple-few or even several thousand less that the
published price in the ad. If you post a June-July price and intend to
resolutely hold your ground as the blizzards rage, well then it'll likely be
June or July before you sell...if ever. For others, the ice usually begins
breaking about mid-March, with the first glimpses by buyers of "springy"
weather. It seems I always pull lots of winter-placed ads in March. As for
"project" or "ready for restoration" Amphis, there doesn't seem to be such a
clear pattern, apart from the expected fact that they usually sell quicker
in warm weather when buyers are more apt to be looking anyhow.
To see several archived snapshots of the Club Classifieds going right on
back to February 1998, one can visit the "Wayback Machine" at
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.amphicar.com/ads.htm , or you can
view lots of the old Amphi-Bazaar pages going back to July 2000 at
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.amphicar.net/bazaar.html . These
old pages are interesting as snapshots of overall price trends so long as
one always remembers that the asking price was seldom the actual selling
price. I shouldn't have to say it, but obviously contacting any of the
sellers listed in these ads of yore is just silly and would likely be
considered an annoyance...rather in the same delusional vein as trying to
order the bicycle for $4.99 on page 12 of the 1904 Sears Roebuck Catalog.
As for the recent eBay ad at
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1805885336
, one can only squirm at the fact that the seller thought it was a good idea
to actually come back the following day and add that long and off-putting
"CORRECTION TO CONDITION" note to the auction text, or that it might somehow
improve the chances of a sale...Damned thing reads like "The Wreck of the
Hesperus". All that scary business about "predicted survival time in the
water" and "likelihood of getting lost with your eyeballs 18" above the
water" and so on. Oooh baby! Where do I bid? Well, at least he or she
didn't mention the risk of seagulls crapping on the driver.
~Bilgemeister~
