Classic Prizes: Go where the money is

The most impressive nonsense wisdom I ever heard: 'Money is the most important thing in the world. That is why it is also called money. ' And in trade it is about 'money'. That idea rages some thinkers 1.0.

One of our advertisers had a nice classic

And it might not even have been expensive. But the asking price was serious. The trader received a borderline email from someone who saw himself as Kenner in any case. Long story short: The car was wrong and the price was shamelessly high. As proof there were a set of attachments of cars of the same type as those for sale in the United States. All toppers. All restored.

Now it is of course a bit the case that Americans can indeed deliver good restoration work, but that their approach is often that you can go a long way with a lot, a lot of filler and a fat layer of paint. And now to judge from some pictures? Another who offered a BMW R80 G / S for sale also found someone with too much time. The commenter to the ad suggested that the boxer could have golden pistons for that money. That will not be technical and thermal for him. But the second "charge" was that the seller dared to charge such insane prices because some of his perfect restorations had made it to the foreign press. It will.

In our passion, 'value' is just what the fool gives for it

And there are simply people who talk about tons of euros just as easily as most others talk about buying a box of cigars. Add to this the principle of 'rare & supply and demand' and you will at least understand that classic prices are sometimes sky high. Especially now that investors and speculators have entered the market in connection with the low interest rates.

The profit is (not only) on the purchasing side. The profit also lies in 'putting the product on the market'. And that placement is no longer nationally bound. We have Internet, right?
But the bottom line is that the trade has to earn. Then we look at what beautiful things can be bought, where you can do it cheapest and where you can get the highest prices for it.

You can get a load of Ladas for small change from the ex-Soviet states if you make the effort to leave the built-up area of ​​Moscow. But whether there is a revenue model in it and then bring them here? I do not think so. But what if you can buy the wreckage of a burnt-out Bugatti in Bulgaria for two tons? Do directly! Because even after the bribes and the restoration, there remains a fantastic margin if such a reborn exotic is auctioned in the States.

But still: The pricing in the market has a wide margin

For example, a one-man classic company can accidentally run into something very beautiful. He can then market his find sharply. And ... still get stuck with it. Because the targeted buyer group simply doesn't want to do business with a merchant who is also their own mechanic. And if that trader is unable to send the requested photos by e-mail - yes, it happens - then the communication will quickly stop. What is funny: there are classic real estate agents (www.wilbers-taxaties.nl). They deal 'on a level' with customers with high purchasing power and are friendly to those who offer a rare classic from his niche hut in Boerenkoolstronkeradeel. And where the buyer does not want to find such a classic himself, he does want to pay a very serious brokerage fee to the broker. We know a few men who operate internationally in this way and make a pleasant living from it. By the way, our Czech-British friend Jan is still looking for a Bugatti 9 project and a Hispano Suiza with a search query. So if you have one more and want to get rid of it?

And at least two of those brokers come and buy regularly in the Netherlands

They hunt for cars in the top segment. And for inexplicable reasons they are here in the Netherlands… Cheap. Of course, it depends on how high you set the bar. But we know of a specimen that was found here through a broker and was resold twice within the trade before leaving the premises. Strange right? Or is that just 'trade'?
Some of our advertisers leave the country. Because in places like the Emirates, the States and Monaco? Not to mention the men who collected and robbed their millions after the fall of communism. In our opinion, a very high price is simply a buying argument for some people.

Is all that dramatic for us?

That's not too bad. Whether a classic is sold for € 100.000 or € 3.000.000 is irrelevant to most of us. Classics like that were already dream cars or motorcycles for 99% of humanity in their time. So that they are financially unreachable? They are designed for it. So be it.
In the meantime, there are many classics on two or four wheels that are of course not given away, but that are affordable within reasonable limits. So let's find our happiness in that. Because among us said and kept silent: Lamborghinis are actually just as usable as clogs with stiletto heels.

But the classics, exotics and one-of-a-kind that go to the rich in sunnier lands? In any case, they are often used. Because what good is it if no one knows what you have? For that reason alone we think Monaco is a funny location.

In the meantime… In Monaco