TheSamba.com :: View topic - Anybody have any suggestions?--A life's project!

Thu Aug 02, 2018 9:15 pm

kidvintage wrote: That is the question I originally threw out there.....but nobody has yet to declare a number that they would consider a "fair" offer.

How about you trowing out an estimate of what the entire collection is worth.

Fri Aug 03, 2018 6:50 am

Mos6502 wrote: Q-Dog wrote: None of these cars run. Some of them don't even have engines. This is not a "collection" ... it is an indoor salvage yard.

I assure you, a group of like items assembled in one common location meets the definition of the word "collection" as it is commonly understood by English speakers. :lol:

And in that sense, an auto parts store could be called a collection too. :wink: I would offer $60,000, but what would I do with 20 cars that don't run and need restoration? I already have 2 projects.

Fri Aug 03, 2018 9:32 am

kidvintage wrote:

Distance shouldn't be a huge factor when buying within the 48-contiguous. It might add some cost to the acquisition price......but not substantially in most cases. There are lots of car haulers out there....and IF you are patient and flexible you can get good deals most of the time. I have bought tons of cars from the East Coast and I have shipped tons of California cars to the East Coast. Not a big deal.......

you've never moved, have you?

to transport a non runner coast to coast is an easy 12-1500. may be a tad cheaper given the location of the collection. hell, even at 5-800 per car (which would be a gift imho) that would still be 9,000-14,400 in just transporting the cars

let alone the logistics and labor of loading the trailers full of parts, a good portion of which is probably dumpster bait.

I think an auction would still be the easiest way out. there is an ez 5-10 YEARS of selling the stuff at "top dollar" if that is what they want to do.

and, given the circumstances they very well may want to wash their hands of it and fire sale the whole lot for 50K.... sometimes it's not about the money it's about washing your hands of a situation.

this is a classic example of too much shit and not enough toilet paper. I feel bad for the family, there is no easy way out. obviously selling individual parts would yield the most money, but it seems that they just want it to go away.

they will do what they feel is best and who are we to judge? if they sell it for pennies on the dollar, who cares? unloading the stress for them is probably priceless to them at this point

Fri Aug 03, 2018 10:38 am

The biggest thing to consider about this "collection" is do ALL of the cars have titles? If so, who's name are they in? The deceased father or maybe even deceased previous owners? If not, this further devalues the collection.

Sun Aug 05, 2018 3:04 pm

kidvintage is imo interested in purchasing the whole lot, but for pennies on the dollar. A vulture circling imo. Be a man about it, go look and make an offer to the man straight in the eye and stop talking the stuff down from sunny Cal full of bugs until you've done that. It's a tough enough situation for the family as it stands without folks talking down the dads collection. Ignoranus.

kidvintage wrote: vwracerdave wrote:
With all the cars and parts PLUS you must figure in all the time & labor cost the buyer is gonna have in moving everything $100K might be a close ballpark guess. 17 cars your looking at 2 semi transporters to move the cars, and I easily see another 2 semi trailor loads to move all the parts. I saw 20-25 complete engines. Stacks of fenders, doors, hoods, and bumpers take up lots room on a trailor when moved.

I completely agree with your assessment of the capacity it would take to move the collection.

As far as the valuation goes.....what do you think would be a fair amount for a "take all" transaction with the Van Alstyne family? Not including transportation and packing costs a buyer would incur.

That is the question I originally threw out there.....but nobody has yet to declare a number that they would consider a "fair" offer.

Sun Aug 05, 2018 7:10 pm

Volks Wagen wrote: kidvintage is imo interested in purchasing the whole lot, but for pennies on the dollar. A vulture circling imo. Be a man about it, go look and make an offer to the man straight in the eye and stop talking the stuff down from sunny Cal full of bugs until you've done that. It's a tough enough situation for the family as it stands without folks talking down the dads collection. Ignoranus.

Asking people what they think the value is makes me a "vulture", "ignoranus", and somehow you have attempted (failed) to mind-read by saying i want to pay "pennies on the dollar"????

What an idiot.

Go play with your 1973 Super Beetle :roll: and stop ASSuming things you know absolutely nothing about.

If you bothered to read.....I have described the collection as NICE (using all caps for emphasis). I just dont think that many people would "fly-in" for an auction situation.

If you disagree with that assessment.......feel free to retort.

Your speculation on my motivations is complete bullsh*t

Sun Aug 05, 2018 8:28 pm

How about let's just not be stupid.

In any event, I doubt the seller is going to listen to anybody here if they're already advertising the lot for sale.

It may be wishful thinking on their part for the collection to go to somebody who will restore all the cars (almost certainly, such a person does not exist). It may not be a bad thing if the collection goes to a parts yard (I mean, most of it is parts anyway, and even an obsessed restorer would get bored cataloging and selling all those parts). Just so long as it doesn't fall into the hands of a scrap merchant or hermit hoarder and end up destroyed.

I still think selling it in one big lot is ridiculous, but I'm looking at the situation from the perspective of somebody who wants to balance getting the cars to the right buyers, getting the fair amount they're worth - and who has good enough health to spend the time doing so. Their situation is appreciably different.

Mon Aug 06, 2018 7:47 pm

My Prayers for the OP

What I see is 19 or 20 Bugs in a hut, let’s say I was in the business of buyn&selln.
I offer the guy $64,000, I transport, store and sell all this inventory in 6 months
My breakeven point is $168,500(I know this because I sat down and wasted 2 hours running the numbers)
"I'm not paying to clean up your mess"
Is what a buddy told a guy when we were looking at buying his "collection"
It seemed like an asshole statement at the time, but it turns out to be a cold hard fact.
Even if I offered the guy $1000 each and he accepted, my breakeven point would still be $128,000.
So in all honesty this collection will go for cents on the dollar, at auction compared to the worth of the collection.
But it is the most effective means of cleaning up someone's estate.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/business/ray-lambrecht-collector-of-chevrolets-is-dead-at-96.html
Yvette VanDerBrink of VanDerBrink Auctions House total changed the landscape for disposing of peoples hords.
Prior to this business model, a local farm or estate auction houses,for the last 100 years, would come in to your estate,
spend a day or two to inventory, advertise locally, and then sell your stuff.
Anything left behind of scrap value was sold as scrap, and the rest hauled to a landfill.
VanDerBrink Auctions changed the marketing and the increased the scope of the venue to include On-Line Bidding, and 21st Century Marketing.
Call up an Auction House that deals in estates, and have them liquidate the collection this Summer/Fall.
All that being said, If I’d seen this post in 2004, I would have advised the OP to take all the cars out of the hut.
Wash, clean out the interior, and photograph the car, being careful to get 6 good shots, 4 exterior, 2 interior, well focused, good lighting.
Put all the cars back in the hut, lock it up tight.
Set up an advertisement for each car in it’s own ad, set a reasonable price for each car, photos and what you know if anything about the car.
Once a week, post 2 or 3 cars only, next week two drop the price on the car(s) that didn’t sell, repeat until they sell.
Sell the same 2 or 3 cars only using the same information, but using another site, like auto trader, or craigslist.
Let the buyers that show up, walk through your parts too, and sell what you can, the stuff has no value to you, so don’t get greedy on price.
Overtime each of these cars would have sold, or have been recycled, the same for the parts,
but 14 years later you wouldn’t still be trying to figure out what to do about Dad’s stuff.

Tue Aug 07, 2018 7:00 am

X2 on the above post.

Tue Aug 07, 2018 2:44 pm

Manfred58sc wrote: X2 on the above post.

X3

Tue Aug 07, 2018 5:13 pm

I have been to a VanderBrink auction, and she got a large crowd and good money at that one, but this sale might not be big enough for her these days.

Wed Aug 08, 2018 7:51 am

Skim wrote: Manfred58sc wrote: X2 on the above post.

X3

X4

Wed Aug 08, 2018 12:04 pm

Read the webpage https://www.lukesbugs.com/. It clearly states the surviving family has no interest in VW's and wants to sell the entire collection of cars & parts as one single sale to one buyer. The family has no interest in selling anything sereratly and simply want the entire collection gone.

Fri Aug 10, 2018 11:09 am

Ad has been deleted...

Fri Aug 10, 2018 4:12 pm

Mark Evans wrote: Ad has been deleted...

and their website is pretty much gone and simply says:

Thank you all for your concern and kind letters--we have been touched by the support we have received in a difficult time. Luke's bugs are no longer available for purchase.

So who knows what that really means. :?

Fri Aug 10, 2018 5:02 pm

I'm going to go with the most positive outcome possible and say he is going to live and keep all the cars.

Sat Aug 11, 2018 6:41 am

Hopefully they received an acceptable offer, but they probably got tired of the hundreds if not thousands of offers of "$500 for this one" or "I need this part" or "I'll give you $10,000 for all of it".

Sat Aug 11, 2018 8:10 am

ach60 wrote: My Prayers for the OP

What I see is 19 or 20 Bugs in a hut, let’s say I was in the business of buyn&selln.
I offer the guy $64,000, I transport, store and sell all this inventory in 6 months
My breakeven point is $168,500(I know this because I sat down and wasted 2 hours running the numbers)
"I'm not paying to clean up your mess"
Is what a buddy told a guy when we were looking at buying his "collection"
It seemed like an asshole statement at the time, but it turns out to be a cold hard fact.
Even if I offered the guy $1000 each and he accepted, my breakeven point would still be $128,000.
So in all honesty this collection will go for cents on the dollar, at auction compared to the worth of the collection.
But it is the most effective means of cleaning up someone's estate.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/business/ray-lambrecht-collector-of-chevrolets-is-dead-at-96.html
Yvette VanDerBrink of VanDerBrink Auctions House total changed the landscape for disposing of peoples hords.
Prior to this business model, a local farm or estate auction houses,for the last 100 years, would come in to your estate,
spend a day or two to inventory, advertise locally, and then sell your stuff.
Anything left behind of scrap value was sold as scrap, and the rest hauled to a landfill.
VanDerBrink Auctions changed the marketing and the increased the scope of the venue to include On-Line Bidding, and 21st Century Marketing.
Call up an Auction House that deals in estates, and have them liquidate the collection this Summer/Fall.
All that being said, If I’d seen this post in 2004, I would have advised the OP to take all the cars out of the hut.
Wash, clean out the interior, and photograph the car, being careful to get 6 good shots, 4 exterior, 2 interior, well focused, good lighting.
Put all the cars back in the hut, lock it up tight.
Set up an advertisement for each car in it’s own ad, set a reasonable price for each car, photos and what you know if anything about the car.
Once a week, post 2 or 3 cars only, next week two drop the price on the car(s) that didn’t sell, repeat until they sell.
Sell the same 2 or 3 cars only using the same information, but using another site, like auto trader, or craigslist.
Let the buyers that show up, walk through your parts too, and sell what you can, the stuff has no value to you, so don’t get greedy on price.
Overtime each of these cars would have sold, or have been recycled, the same for the parts,
but 14 years later you wouldn’t still be trying to figure out what to do about Dad’s stuff.

... nothing there, looks that great... if I inherited all that, i'd be in no rush to sell anything... would make it a lifetime game and just have fun. Wonder what the rush is anyway... why is everyone is such a big rush to do everything - this sellers strength is gunna come from his patience.

Sat Aug 11, 2018 8:22 am

ZENVWDRIVER wrote:
Wonder what the rush is anyway... why is everyone is such a big rush to do everything - this sellers strength is gunna come from his patience.

did anyone take the time to READ his ad in the link? he's a young guy that has stage 4 colon cancer hence the need to sell, and is trying to do so before he dies. so, there is NO time to wait. in a perfet world he would beat it, but it sounds from his blog/ad that this is the end for him :cry:

Sat Aug 11, 2018 9:14 am

TDCTDI wrote: Hopefully they received an acceptable offer, but they probably got tired of the hundreds if not thousands of offers of "$500 for this one" or "I need this part" or "I'll give you $10,000 for all of it".

As expected, he got a lot of "I want car XYZ" (meaning the early Convertible) to the ad.