On a farm near Canton, Ohio is a barn full of classic cars that all need new homes. Lynne P inherited the barn and all the cars in it from her grandfather. She claims the collection is composed primarily of Ford’s ranging from the 1930s all the way to 1977, with a 1941 International truck thrown in the mix. Lynne wants to find good homes for all of these cars, but has hit a brick wall trying to decide how best to sell them. She was advised that getting an auction house to undertake marketing and managing the sale of the collection would be the easiest and best way for her to find homes for these cars, but she can’t seem to find a good auction house that is willing to take the job on. She even talked to VanderBrink Auctions to see if they wanted to auction them off for her, but Yvette turned it down because the cars aren’t restored. I’m going to guess they didn’t feel the commission would be large enough for the amount of work it’s going to take. Lynne heard about this community and how knowledgeable and helpful everyone here is, so she has turned to us for advice!
I’ve asked Lynne if she can get us more photos and information, so we know exactly how many cars are here. From what can be seen in the photos she already sent, there are at least 12 cars here, although there could easily be more. If this is only a small part of the collection, I would highly recommend finding an auction house to handle everything, but if there aren’t more than this she might be better off listing them locally and finding local buyers willing to come pull the cars they want out. Of course that would be significantly more work for her to do and she may not have the time to do that. I understand if she would prefer to have a company come in and do all the legwork for her, so take that into account when you offer your advice. So if you were to recommend she find an auction house to manage everything, is there a company in the Canton, Ohio area you would recommend? If she is able to handle selling these cars on her own, what do you think would be the easiest way for her to go about doing so? Be sure to leave your advice in the comments below. I want to thank her sharing her grandfather’s collection with us and for coming to us for advice! I have no doubt you guys can come up with some good guidance for her!
What is value of cars? best reseach prior prices obtained from Ebay sales for similar cars.
Whats the minimal amount of work required to obtain greater prices from sale of cars.
At a minimum
1. Do the Ebay research.
2. Find someone who can properly, Critic each car. Post full descriptions. Know what price to expect. Set reserve at 20% below.
3. Post Ebay sales to all relevant collector groups, You should actually start the conversation with relative collection online forums with a good ASK. For example. I have a XXXX for sale, what do collectors look for when buying similar cars.
4. Find a local resource for help or to sell to.
5. If you havent done this before, find someone who has and has done it successfully.
6. Alternatively, you could find a local resource to talk it all away.
7. There is always Hemmings and others.
Good Luck
I see why it seems hard to find an auctioneer. They all seem to be 1500-2500 cars. Atleast what the market around here would bring. There may be more value in the tid bits laying around than in the cars. There is a Lincoln continental coupe 41 -48 Vintage in the mix all apart but that’s not a valuable car. I have one mostly together for sale here with very little rust and a mint undercarriage that I can’t get 4,000 out of and that’s with alot of new chrome. She is probably going to have to just advertise and take offers locally. Maybe offer everything as a package and the buyer is responsible to clean everything out. You will get less but have to do very little. If there is no paperwork on the cars that makes it even a tougher sale.
Negative to some auction house, any auction house. An auction house only exists to make money for themselves. An auction is just wasting additional money that could be used for project restorations. Make the effort to advertise each car individually, use Craig’s List if nothing else.
I’m sure Kiko auctions would handle it. Attended one of their auctions last year near the Akron/Canton airport with “barn find” cars and motorcycles. It was certainly well attended.
Do you have a trusting family member or good friend that is a real gear head and knows the value of old vehicles? I would use them before going through an auction service. Your could also partner with a small business in your town. Make sure to put everything in clear language up front and written down and notarized if necessary.
I’d def try to raise individual interest with private buyers but be sure to include overseas buyers as that’ll raise far more interest in the collection
Why make some auction house rich ? Find the local car geeks and get them to do it, it would be a lot cheaper in the long run and probably a lot more profitable. There is always Ebay too.
I agree with Gary. Why not call around to find a local Ford Club or Collector Car Club and see what they think. If they are anything like me, I would help out just to see the cars and make sure they don’t eventually go to the metal grinder.
Jeff is right. Kiko would be the only one where you would not end up owing them! I would say to get a tow truck to take the day pulling them all out for you. From there pics and ads into eBay or Craigslist.
The guy that owns this could be a call too!
http://www.motorcarportfolio.com/new_arrivals.php
He is really a nice guy and may be able to point you to a cost effective solution.
Hi …. I grew up in Canton and know the area well. I would be willing to help pull the cars out, clean them up and set up postings on Ebay and Craigslist for Lynne. I would love to spend a a week or son back in the Buckeye state.
Oh well I can understand Yevette’s position perfectly. She either wants big hoards with the attendant publicity (like a certain Nebraska Chevy dealer) or at least ones with enough cars to turn a decent profit. All of these cars (number: unknown) would have to be pulled out, dusted off, photographed & listed.
If it was me I’d try to find someone local who’s familiar with selling cars on the internet (like FleaBay) and see if they’d be willing to do the work for a percentage. The percentage would, of course, depend on how many cars there are and how much the gross take is expected to be. Otherwise you could also find someone who has free time & is interested enough in old cars to at least pull them out, clean them up & photograph them for XXX dollars. Listing & selling on ebay would be the easy part after that was done.
You could let me have one I would take good care of it!!!
I would highly recommend Classic Motorcar Auctions in Canton. The owner, Bob Lichty, is a lifelong professional in the antique car business and a nationally recognized expert on Fords of this era. Additionally, he is totally trustworthy and a great guy. His office number is 330-453-8900.
Bob is the same person DRV referred to in his post about Motorcar Portfolio. That is Bob’s dealership.
Bob is also actively involved in the Lincoln Highway Association and knows the value of history as well as old cars. Good call on getting him involved.
I would love to have the old village truck shown! ;)
That is the one I gravitated too, John. Great logo still on the door !
I don’t know about the 2500.00 per car estimate. Some yes perhaps, but the 41 pickup should bring at least eight grand. Mr. Versus is right. Classic Motor cars is a good bet. Yes auction houses take a bite out of the money but they know how to market cars. Also. It is to their benefit to get as much as they can. Also. Barn cars are doing very well right now. Paina cars are a big deal
Clean out the barn. Organize the collection with the best photos you can take. Write a short discription of the cars. Any info is helpful. Are they rusty, complete, have keys and papers. Can they be rolled around on low jacks or pushed/ pulled around or out of barn? Use sites like Craigslist and cars-online.com. If I were closer I would help you clean up and do the leg work. Good luck!
Matthew
This looks like a large task but one that is fun; so that does not make it so much work. Does she have titles for all these cars? I am in OH and would be interested in seeing a list of the cars. There is a dealer that puts on auctions for classic cars by me but that is 2 hrs. away. I personally found him to be the typical used car dealer so I will not mention his name or recomendation
First and foremost they must be pulled outside and the dust taken off. The lighting and viewing will be much better. Then I would spend a little time and research exactly what is there. Something like rarity,who may have previously owned,try and find out the value that is currently being paid the the cars,but remember just because they are old does NOT make them worth a lot of money,etc………then I would talk to any recommended auction house,and maybe put them on craigslist,or ebay or something to that nature. It’s going to take some time to do all of this,and please Do Not take them to be crushed. Good Luck
May be Ted Maurer in Pa I know he’s into old fords, couldn’t hurt to give him a call.
I’m an amateur photographer (and a teacher off for the summer) and love barn finds. I’d love to come help her clean them up and photograph them for sale!
Ask Wayne of Chasing Classic Cars. Bet he has solid advice.
http://www.velocity.com/tv-shows/chasing-classic-cars/
There are some great suggestions here. I tend to agree with the idea of avoiding most auction houses because of high fees and a limited audience. But, if any of those cars might be worth something, perhaps she should try eBay to expose it to as many people as possible. You never know what might happen. For example, yesterday our auction for a Ford Model R on eBay, http://www.ebay.com/itm/231599506626, closed at closed at $34,870 after over 50 bids with 4 bidders above $30,000. The seller would have been happy with $10,000 and it was said to be a $15,000 car. After sitting for about 40 years, we didn’t do anything to the car except haul it out in the sun and take pictures. You never know what a car will sell for until you get it in front of bidders. If the car doesn’t meet reserve, no big loss.
sell privately. Pay a local, honest, working person a little of the cash on the side for their help. I have a day job, and love cars. If I lived close i would help you out for the pure enjoyment of the task.
I would be interested in buying all sight unseen for $1,000 per car if titles are in hand; 60 days to clean out the barn; this would include all loose parts.
I think you should find someone to help you with knowledge of the cars and sell each one on your own and if you have time I would like a list maybe pictures of what you have for i am interested in a purchase
I didn’t see any classic cars.Are some pictures missing now?
Hagerty insurance has a magazine with many great suggestions or you could sell them yourself, find an appraiser with good references and give them a cut of the sales proceeds.
I’m nowhere near OH, but I do have a piece of advice for you: wear a dust mask every time you enter that barn. Bird, rat and mice poop are extremely dangerous if you breath one of the viruses in that inhabit their poop.
this is going to be a full time job, so unless lynne isn’t working, i think she needs to find someone she can trust to market them. done right this could be her retirement nestegg. good luck and please keep us updated. great finds, i think.
An auction house would probably take about 35% of the total sale prices, charging the high bidder an additional percentage payable outright to them on day of sale. I sell on craigslist almost exclusively after getting railroaded by that other online auction site. I am in Pittsburgh and have the schedule flexibility to help you out if you decide that is the road you’d like to take. Feel free to contact me. Good luck whichever way you choose to go. Looks like a great collection, you shouldn’t have any problems finding new owners!
Instead of taking the huge step to pull them all out and clean them up, why not do it one at a time and focus on doing a good job of it? When faced with this kind of thing many people screw up by being overpowered with the scope of the project and end up not doing justice to the vehicles and not getting good (and fair) prices for them. I think she should also pick the best of the bunch for herself and keep it!
I was hoping Myron Vernis would chime in on this since he lives in the area and it sounds like he has some sound advice. Having been born nearby (Wooster) and knowing cars in Ohio, I’m afraid most of these are probably pretty rusty but who knows. I agree on pulling them out and photographing them in good light. That’s step 1!
i’m in for the 40/41 Ford truck and 50 Merc……
E Bay?
If she could find someone interested in one of the cars, that would do a good job selling the rest, she could offer to give them the car of their choice to move and clean up the rest of them. The person would have to agree to see them through the complete sale before he gets his choice. Regardless what the total amount they all bring he gets the car they agreed on no more no less. He gets his barn find for free and she doesn’t have to deal with it.
Wax on Wax off.
without knowing a lot more, i would say the best approach would be to take pictures of the car nearest the door and easiest to get out then use the pictures to sell it on ebay for local pick up for whatever is highest bid
use the money raised to advertise hell out of the rest in respective magazines of assorted car clubs and hemmings then compile a very descriptive list of the remaining cars and if all else fails use ebay to hook you up with buyers
and let me know if there are any studebakers in there
Please keep us posted.
If Lynne would like to have someone evaluate the cars without trying to buy them, I’m available- but would have to charge for travel (8 hours each way ) and something for my time. I’ve been a classic car appraiser for 4 years and am especially familiar with early Fords. Email fredwilharm at att.net
I’ve had some similar ideas as people have mentioned. Get a car crazy young guy or 2 to pull the cars out into the light of day, supply them with a decent digital camera—cost about $89—and get them to photograph the cars inside out and all around. Could be free lancers putting them on Ebay, or guys working for an auction house.
Then give them a percentage of the winning bids for the cars. With decent photos up on the web everyone should come out ahead, compared to how things are going now.
It’s not rocket science, just simple business. And it would benefit everybody.
id sure like the chance to make an offer on that 39 ford truck..love them. looked for one for a while…
I would enlist the services of a local car club. Most old car guys would love mulling through pidgin poo to see what lies underneath. With all of these vehicles crowded in a barn it’s impossible to see what condition they are in, and that will dictate what they are worth. I would say they all need to be pulled out & photographed by someone that knows what they are doing ( and will get the right photos…) Ebay is a good platform to sell because of it’s worldwide audience, and a reserve price can be put on. She may have to spend a few $$$ for these services, but with the right help she may be sitting on some good money. Another possibility ( just knowing old car guys that hoard cars..) is that there may be piles of parts there too. Parts = $$$$!!! I wish her luck, and I wish I had her quandary !!!!!
I like the Merc and Edsel, I helped her by posting it to my group. https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/edselmail/conversations/messages
I see in your posts a couple people have recommend Motorcar Portfolio, and Classic Motorcar Auctions, both our companies. Our office is in downtown Canton and we would be glad to come out, take a look and give you and honest assement of value and best way to market them. We could either market them individually or set up a small auction for you. In either case we are highly competitive on fees and will help with a lot of the leg work Give us a call at 330-453-8900 ask for Bob Lichty and we will see how we can help. We are never afraid to get our hands dirty to sell a car.
From your comments it appears she is unable or unwilling to sell this collection without an auction house handling everything. Please pass on my email to her as I will purchase the entire group and ship them to my warehouse. Thank you
I’m south of Cleveland and would like to help out. Basic inventory first step
Firstly I would just pay someone to do an inventory! All they need to note is make, model and year of manufacture. From there ads to Craigslist and eBay selling the lots in bundles would make sense. I would be interested in purchasing all the pickups/trucks in the inventory as a lot. Please contact me via email if interested. Thanks, Andrew.
For one or two vehicles Ebay maybe. For this collection I would avoid ebay. No guarantee you will get paid. May take weeks/months to get picked up. If a new seller paypal can hold your money for up to 21 days. Hopefully the buyer doesn’t have an issue or title problem.
Several mentioned Kiko. That would be the best and only choice for the area. Their website can be found on the web. This auction company is well established. Not a weekend auctioneer. Not an advertisment nor a dig at local auctioneers. Kiko has a wide following. It may be worth a little extra to pay a professional who deals in antique dispersal daily and has been successfull at automobile sales. Auctioneers work on a percentage basis. You are not writing a check to them. Their payment comes from the proceeds. However everything is negoaitable nothing is set in stone. An auctioneer may take less of a percentage on an interesting sale. It may depend how much the seller wants to do. Prepare the auction site, Tent, Porta Johns, advertising food etc. As far as the vehicles as many have stated to clean them etc. Bad idea as a seller. Cleaning will most likely make them look worse afterward. Also DO NOT SELL ANYTHING PRIOR TO ANY SALE. Chances are the one vehicle or parts someone will want is what everyone wants. These are not blue chip collector vehicles. They have been stored in Northern Ohio in a barn with a dirt floor. They will bring what they will bring and with a qualified auctioneer will sell for what they are worth. It is all done in a day and at the end of the day you will have your money. Best way to go IMO. Good luck.