As previously stated, it happened. Except now it really happened, a geezal. That
was not a fat finger typo. A geezal is one
thousand. It normally refers to
doe. You know, a gee is $1,000.
In this case it refers to 1,000 cars, in a week, bought one by one, on
the street and sold, in a week, one by one from dealers to dealers,
professionals.
We sold 1,022 units for the week. By hammer time, 9AM Friday, we had 835
registered of which we sold 94% and an
average price of $21,012. There were
just under 187 units sold prior to the sale and another 275 that were delayed
in recon that had to be shifted to next week.
Of the cars that hit the block we sold 874 units under the hammer with
stellar simulcast activity. Thank you to
all dealers that participated.
As I am sure everyone
could see, I dropped the hammer way short on at least a hundred units just to
be sure all 987 simulcast dealers that were watching, if not participating. You all could see and understand what we do,
sell everything, not just yesterday, but every day, for four (4) decades. We do not (and will not) play the game of running
cars to the moon hoping to catch a nit-wit that is wet behind the ears and
no-sale 50% (or more). I’d quit first
even though I have zero intention of quitting while still while still able to
be in the upright position.
All that said, Spring has sprung. I predict a very good market for the next 6
weeks, the Spring market. Buyers, big
and small, are definitely looking to get the jump. Car Max has been laying back and have now
kicked in full blast because they are smart, non-emotional buyers that are
disciplined, astute, and use history to their benefit. They absolutely know that it’s too late to
buy in January so they are digging in coast to coast buying for real. So are smart dealers of all other
variety. And I felt it this week selling
a world record 1,000 plus units that ranged in price from $290,000, down to $3,000.
Now, some torturous reading but for a reason. No book, no analyst, no professor of
statistics, no theoretical guru or system, no owner of an auction, no reader of
cards, has the perch that we have to
actually see the market, period. Having
our balls (cash) completely on the guillotine ($23,000,000 on the block with
$27,000,000 more in paid inventory gagging for titles), we sense things
different than anyone in the business. It
don’t make us smarter it just is a guarantee that our fingers feel the
heat. And there is no place in North
America that the telltale signs of the market are more obvious than the Wall
Street of Wholesale, the 17545. When you
ain’t repping with somebody else’s floor
(with no reference to the market other than what they own it for which rarely
has relevance to market value) and zero skin in, or watching from afar for a
half hour and proclaiming some “feel” for the sale, the tattoo in the brain ain’t
no “henna” tattoo. This sucker we get tattooed
with is one that is real and it don’t rub off, dig it? Not
knowing if there is money or not, where a unit came from, who was on it (or
not),how much paint was done, and where or why it is going somewhere and
claiming some knowledge of what happens at a real auction is truly dangerous. It’s actually more dangerous than not knowing
anything.
With the diatribe done, I proclaim “Spring has sprung” in
the wholesale world. Driven by the
Giant, Car Max (with a G not a g due to my great respect for their management
team, truly brilliant what Folliard has done), and smart dealers all over the
world. As I have been saying straight
through, pay attention, don’t buy high in order to sell low. Buy before it feels like you should,
now. Cold ass weather, Holidays up your
rear end and the last thing you want to do now is buy. I say buy now or pay like a duffis in 4
weeks. I say don’t waste time, go where cars are,
but much more importantly, where they get sold 100% of the time. I say buy what the other guy don’t have,
unique units, trades. I ask where are
them bitches? I respond with a grim, pay
attention, I sold an all time world record of them and do
every week. If anyone can get close to disputing that fact and and even divide
that number in half and dispute it, I’ll pay $100,000 in cash. Please get out of bed and come to our sale,
you will not be disappointed.
Signing off from the beach in Delray which I will never see
because I’ll be working all day kissing asses rounding up next week’s inventory
for YOU, much to my lovely wife’s dismay who is a wholesale widow,
The frequently disputed, statistically undeniable,
historically and numerically, even if you divide by 20, King O cars,
I love you all, even the retards that try me on with dopey mickeys, ALL
Sell Well