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Old May 6th, 2021, 10:26   #671
Othen
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So, our old friend with the broken fuel gauge is on the market again (maybe the fifth attempt?). This time with a £1,000 starting price and a £3,000 price - which is I suppose considerably less than the 'absolutely final' reduction we had to £4,150 a month or so ago:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353471605...m=353471605623

I suppose the car will find it value in the end - but bearing in mind last time it only managed bids up to £1,750 the current asking price still seems optimistic. I seem to recall from the outset I thought this motor car would make £2,000 to £2,500 - I still think that is where it will end up :-)
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My experience of ebay suggests that it will struggle to even reach £1750 as previous bidders will have found other cars to bid on and won't be interested in this one. There will be a few that had their heart set on this car - for a budget though and i suspect that budget is in the £12-1500 range and still likely below his reserve.

If you're adding a reserve, start the bidding really low like 99p, it won't sell until the reserve is met so why put buyers off with a higher initial bid unless that is your reserve.
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I agree with you about the eBay experience Dave. This motor car will appeal to a very small group of bidders, most of whom will have noticed it being offered for sale 5 or 6 times at progressively lower prices. It may struggle to get off the ground this time, as you point out: anyone interested would have seen the bidding only make £1750 last time and will consider that the ceiling. They will also have seen the seller drop his price by £500 every couple of weeks and so might be waiting for it to get to the £1,500 range.

We also saw that car from Bude sell for only a grand last week, and it was about the same quality (maybe a bit better). Anyone serious about buying a 1980s 240 will have noticed that.

I can't help thinking that if the seller had started off in the £2,000 to £2,500 price range the car would have been sold by now. Instead he/she tried double that and has now almost exhausted the small market's patience. We see this all the time though - there are lots of middling to good cars being offered at £6,000 to £11,500 that never sell.

Ho hum.
The eBay auction for our old friend with the broken fuel gauge has just ended, and this time the bidding only got to £1288 (not meeting the reserve), exactly as we had discussed in the above. Remember this is a car that started at £5,000, was reduced to an absolutely final price of £4,150, then buy-it-now prices of £3,500 and £3,000 - and been tried at sale or auction 5 or 6 times.

In my humble opinion the seller's gross overestimation of his car's value has led to bidder fatigue and everyone that might have been interested has just become bored with it being offered again and again but never meeting an unrealistic reserve.

This supports my hypothesis that many 240 sellers think their cars are worth far more than they really are. This is a middling car worth about £1,500, so what made the owner think it was worth £5,000 in the first place.

I'm not sure where the owner goes from here, maybe a postcard on the local post office notice board?

:-(
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Old May 6th, 2021, 11:06   #672
Laird Scooby
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I'm not sure where the owner goes from here, maybe a postcard on the local post office notice board?

:-(
Mail-drop via carrier pigeon?

I think he's exhausted all normal possibilities now so he's somewhat stuck. I would hazard a guess he'll do one of two things now, first put it on a now reserve, 99p start auction or give it a rest for a couple of months (or more!) then try and sell it again with a more realistic starting bid and much lower reserve price.

With the former there's a huge risk that he only gets £6-700 and i think he knows it. With the latter he could sell it as an "ideal winter project". He might get more that way and i think that would be his best course of action. The added bonus would be that it would be another year closer (by the end of the "winter project") to be Historic.
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Old May 6th, 2021, 11:31   #673
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I'm not sure where the owner goes from here, maybe a postcard on the local post office notice board?

No Alan.

Local windows and noticeboards are reserved thank you.

Reserved by me for if I sell my 240.

But I think you know that already.

Stephen

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Old May 6th, 2021, 12:01   #674
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Mail-drop via carrier pigeon?

I think he's exhausted all normal possibilities now so he's somewhat stuck. I would hazard a guess he'll do one of two things now, first put it on a now reserve, 99p start auction or give it a rest for a couple of months (or more!) then try and sell it again with a more realistic starting bid and much lower reserve price.

With the former there's a huge risk that he only gets £6-700 and i think he knows it. With the latter he could sell it as an "ideal winter project". He might get more that way and i think that would be his best course of action. The added bonus would be that it would be another year closer (by the end of the "winter project") to be Historic.
Hi Dave,

You are right: it is hard to see where the seller goes from here. I can't help thinking that if he/she had started off looking for £2,000 to £2,500 the car would have been sold 4 months ago. Now he/she has exposed the car to the small number of people interested in a middling late 1980s Volvo saloon with known issues that cost a lot to get through its last MoT - and they all know its market value is something between £1,250 and £1,750.

I have a feeling the seller won't hold onto the car. It cost him/her a lot to get through the MoT but he/she knows the welding work was only patched, so he/she is eating into a precious MoT pass certificate and knows it will all start again in February next year (he/she has already wasted 4 months).

I think he/she wants to be shot of the car, has had a harsh lesson on its real value and will have to face reality. If he/she just chips away a little more and re-advertises with (say) a £2,500 buy-it-now price and a £1,500 reserve there is a good chance it still won't sell and another few weeks worth of MoT will be wasted. It might be more sensible for the seller to follow your first suggestion of a 99p auction - but there is a real risk it might make less than a grand.

Life is full of disappointments :-(

PS. This is a 1991 car Dave - a decade away from being an historic car (if the scheme is still running by then).
PPS. If it sells at £600 next auction - I'll buy it!
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Old May 6th, 2021, 12:37   #675
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Life is full of disappointments :-(

PS. This is a 1991 car Dave - a decade away from being an historic car (if the scheme is still running by then).
PPS. If it sells at £600 next auction - I'll buy it!
I forgot this was a newer car Alan, for some reason i was thinging it was early-mid 80s so would soon be Historic.

As you say, life is full of disappointments and i suspect that's how the seller feels at the moment. Maybe he'll cut his losses and do a low start, no reserve auction or drop the reserve considerably, the MoT is getting shorter with each day and that's going to be the crunch point for him i think.
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Old May 6th, 2021, 13:05   #676
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PPS. If it sells at £600 next auction - I'll buy it!

Possibly illogical by you but, good one Alan.


Stephen

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Old May 6th, 2021, 13:31   #677
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PS. This is a 1991 car Dave - a decade away from being an historic car (if the scheme is still running by then).


Ah yes I missed that point.

True point there.

The scheme might be withdrawn. And. It might be withdrawn, retrospectively. Not a common thing in England and Wales democracy but we are in changing times. Init.

Nobody should "bank on" historic" status being continued. Even if their car has already achieved that status now.

Stephen

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Old May 6th, 2021, 22:45   #678
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The silver car is having another go?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-240....m46890.l49286

... still no bids at the 2 grand starting price. I suppose this one is a bit rough around the edges: some rust on the wheel arches and the rear console is badly broken (a bit difficult to replace). Let’s see if it sells this time :-)
The silver car sold at just £2,000 (a single, last minute bid). I thought that was okay for a car that will be an historic vehicle in 2 years - as long as that rust isn’t too bad!
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Old May 7th, 2021, 00:57   #679
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The silver car sold at just £2,000 (a single, last minute bid). I thought that was okay for a car that will be an historic vehicle in 2 years - as long as that rust isn’t too bad!
As long as the tinworm isn't a problem, someone has a bargain there i think Alan. Will be interesting to see if it reappears in a couple of weeks looking mich brighter and shinier with a heftier price tag......................
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Old May 7th, 2021, 07:04   #680
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As long as the tinworm isn't a problem, someone has a bargain there i think Alan. Will be interesting to see if it reappears in a couple of weeks looking mich brighter and shinier with a heftier price tag......................
I'd agree with that Dave: I thought £2,000 for a running and riding car that will be an historic vehicle in 2 years was a good price (but since there was just one bid and at the opening price the market would not have stood one penny more).

This one does put the market into perspective - and makes all those ostensibly similar cars priced at £5,000 or more look a little ridiculous. As we have seen with the broken fuel sender car, there is not much point asking wildly exaggerated prices.

I'm pleased this one has been a good news story.
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