Has the world gone mad? Car prices...
 

OK, I'm all about a nice '70 Chevelle SS but 47K and reserve not met? 3 days to go? I realize it's got the goods, buckets, console, cowl induction and Black to boot but 47K? I'm hoping the top tier bidders have confirmed the numbers matching claim for that kind of money.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/19418918496...p2471758.m4703

FOMO......Fear of Missing Out. some people read those ads and think they are gospel and have not felt the burn of a bad purchase and just click and bid without being fully informed. I have seen numerous six figure cars discussed on this site that trade hands but are known (to those that ask the question) to be clones or not #'s matching as claimed. In some ways, the people doing this keep the prices moving along and we all benefit. I had a friend that got burned years ago on a Nova SS bought out of Chicago. Was nowhere near what it was represented to be and he was told by an attorney to treat it like an expensive lesson. Litigating across two states would be more expensive than anything he would recoup.
PT Barnum said "there is an ass for every seat" and he wasn't wrong.

I'm copying this from the eBay section in the classifieds because Lynn stated it so well:

Tony:

1. Inheritance. Lots of older people dying and HUGE amounts of wealth being passed on to middle age guys. People my mom's age (she is 92) have lived frugally since the depression. I had some clients (H & W) that died fairly recently that were still living in a 900 square foot rock house out in the boonies. They were worth $12.1M.

2. I realize some will disagree, but I believe that MANY small businesses applied for PPP loans that were forgiven, AND received very favorable tax breaks in the process. Freed up a lot of cash. While the $1200 check doesn't allow Bubba to spend stupid money on a car, Bubba's small business employer may have benefited way more than that. Just one example of some windfalls that were unintentionally created with the hand outs.

The way my business is set up (and a lot of others) I COULD have applied for a loan and made a big windfall. I did not because the pandemic really did not affect me that much.

Just the first round at $2.3 Trillion comes out to about $7,000 per person in the Country. If Joe Sixpack (and many others) only got $1200, that's a lot of unaccounted for scratch.
__________________
Don't believe everything you read on the internet ... Ben Franklin

My opinion: Inflationary pressure, crypto is being pressured by Fiat and the colonial pipeline so called “hack”, the stock market is in a bubble-overdue for a reset-and finally the FED is pumping endlessly.

The cars are not appreciating as much as the perception of tangible value is.

Unlike Bitcoin, collector cars are a tangible asset.

I think the inheritance comment can't be generally true, only because there are always people dying and always people inheriting money. If that is constant then what is causing the recent spike in car prices. I think PPP might have impacted that like Mark said.

Speculating, maybe also individuals have saved more money for the last 14 months since many were not commuting, and also able to travel for leisure.

Add selling a House today to Lynns List.
A friend of mine got in over her head 13 years ago and paid way to much for a House,as the economy tanked right after the closing...She had to beg borrow & steal to keep her head above water for nearly as long,as she wanted to move,but her current House value price plummeted and she couldn't absorb that kind of a loss.
So she stuck in out for some 13 years,and by God,house prices last year predicted she could not only get back her initial buying price from 13 years ago,but get a heck of a lot more over that too.She also sold it w/o a realtor,and sold it for 3X more then she paid,as everyone ran from Covid in the cities and overpaid in the rural Suburbs.
Today she is living with her boyfriend in his childhood house.When the house prices eventually soften and we no longer have to pay OVER a sellers asking price as they take the highest offer,the 2 plan to sell his modest childhood house and take the nearly 500K she has burning a hole in her pocket and buy a nice House that she could never imagine owning as a waitress.

Today's high prices are tomorrows bargains..........

Honestly doesn't seem like a ton of money to me for something like that.

I mean if the car is as presented then in my opinion it's right in the ball park providing the reserve is say.....$48-50k??

The way I look at it, I see base model cars sell for $30-$40k that technically aren't even muscle cars. Cars like 307 camaros, or like the 68 firebird with a 350 in it currently on ebay, bid to like $25k right now and reserve not met on that one. Really? It's just a base firebird with no options, other than a stick poking through the floor it has no appeal. My opinion that one is already beyond the money it's worth.

For my money, I'd rather have a real muscle car, and the prices I'm seeing for base model stuff, it's not much more to get into a real muscle car. $50k for a 70 SS 396 does not surprise me. Step up the engine option in these cars and the price can more than double.

Stock market gains are at least some of it. S&P up 700 points or so in a year. 500K in an IRA that's a pretty good gain. If you are old enough for RMDs and don't need the money might as well buy something.

I'm sure there are other, maybe many factors, but I'll bet this is at least one.

Barret Jackson Las Vegas is next week, I'll go if I can get off work. To look (and eat and drink), not buy lol.

Its called inflation......the 47k he wants for a 70 chevelle will buy 25k worth of groceries at last years prices...