‘An auction shouldn’t be predictable’

Cars selling for way above their estimate, usually thanks to the enthusiasm and well upholstered wallets of two or three determined would-be buyers, is not that unusual. The results can make great headlines for us market watchers, too. But quite few people don’t seem to realise that it can also cut the other way as well, if a seller is particularly keen to cash out. I’ve heard several times recently that a car’s reserve is always somewhere around the low estimate, unless the car is being offered at No Reserve.

But it isn’t always the case. One thing any good auctioneer knows is that an auction isn’t – and shouldn’t be – predictable. That would make it little more than a crowded showroom, and where’s the fun and intrigue in that? So some cars get offered with a ‘hopeful but believable’ estimate, though with a reserve much lower. And the only way you’ll ever find out is to be there with bidding paddle handy. You don’t know what you could be missing out on.

I recently saw a tidy, low mileage Lancia Thema 8.32 with a £14-16k estimate that was ultimately let go for just £8400 – well below its potential value. And a chap sat next to me at the most recent H&H sale that I attended told me that he was interested in a pre-war Austin taxi late in the sale, but didn’t want to pay much more than £22k and definitely nothing like the £24-28k it was estimated at. Seeing how other cars were selling he left halfway through, after which bidding went a bit flat. And the punchline is that the Austin was actually hammered down and sold for £22,500.

‘You don’t know what you could be missing out on at auction’