Market Intelligence
Scottsdale Auctions: Barrett-Jackson and Bonhams like Marilyn and Charity
Scottsdale's Barrett-Jackson and Bonhams auctions saw record-breaking sales and surprising flops. A Corvette ZR1 sold for $3.7M, while Bonhams struggled with a Miura P400 failing to sell. Meanwhile, a Marilyn Monroe-associated Land Rover plummeted to $28K.
To discuss the second part of the Scottsdale auctions, I decided to combine “the giant” and “the dwarf” of Scottsdale Week. Barrett-Jackson is obviously the giant. This year, the 1,807 cars offered may not have matched last year's 1,966, but the number remains "roaring". Despite an 8% drop in cars offered, revenue fell much less, from $187,509,270 to $184,924,430, a decrease of less than 1.5%. As a result, the average price per car sold increased from $95,376 to $102,338.
Bonhams, on the other hand, deserves credit for its boldness: while most auction houses are leaving Arizona for Florida (Amelia Island) in late February, Bonhams did the opposite—leaving Amelia to focus on Scottsdale. Well, the gamble did not pay off—quite the opposite. The success rate fell from 78.31% last year to 68.49% this year. They offered ten fewer cars (from 83 to 73) and sold 15 fewer (from 65 to 50). The real issue, however, was the nearly halved revenue: from $11,800,800 last year on $19,482,000 offered, to just $5,563,000 on $16,438,000 offered. A heavy loss.
