There are a lot of reasons to research things- mitigating risk, general interest, perspective.
And oftentimes, money.
The eBay auction for this 1963 Pontiac LeMans Tempest started out innocently enough. Obtained after owner died. Appears to have original interior but no motor, no transmission. Body has a little rust and some dents. There’s stuff in the trunk, but no key to open it. Opening bid nine days ago was a mere $500. After one week, eBay seller 123ecklin will pocket $226,521 before auction fees. What happened between Day 1 and Day 9 is an amazing story.
Reading through the questions on the auction gives us reason to believe the seller truly didn’t know the car’s provenance. In his answers, he seems both surprised by the car’s potential value as well as overwhelmed by the attention. He turned down an offer of $160,000 to end the auction early because he feared getting negative eBay feedback. That decision paid off. With only seven minutes remaining, the highest offer was $95,000. When the virtual gavel fell, eBayer ccsi2000 had bought a very rare, if a little rusty, LeMans for $226,521.
Damn. I can’t imagine getting ahold of a car like that and not realize that I had something unique on my hands. The seller was very lucky to have turned his $500 bid into over $200g’s.
I’m missing something, I can’t imagine paying that kind of money for that jalopy!
Heh…like those once-every-few-years stories about someone who finds an old painting in an attic, then finds out it is from a master, and worth $XXXXXX!
Good on him, I say. Good luck beats planning, in the words of my former boss.
Well, I think the main thing is its overall rarity- just one of six.
Planning isn’t everything, I agree. And this is one of those times when someone lucked out- but I think I would rather than plan/research a little and have an idea of an object’s worth, rather than find out after I sell that it was worth a mint.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy