DeLoreans sold on eBay

2009 Q3 Update (09/30/09)

Below is an update to reflect a 35 month period, of DeLorean DMC-12s sold on eBay:

Summary:

It was a slow quarter for ebay sales of DeLoreans, as only 11 auctions completed with sales. The 2009 Q1-Q3 trend compared to all of last year shows an average selling price 15% lower, although the lowest priced cars were similar in comparison of the two periods. At the high end, the highest selling DeLoreans are selling at 25% lower than last years maximum selling price.

Looking for the silver lining, we can see from the graph that the decline in selling price trend (2007 Q4 through 2008 Q1), seems to have found its bottom and has somewhat leveled off.

Last year in Q4 there were 16 cars sold, if that number is matched this Q4, that will only be 2/3 of the cars sold in 2008. Based on the current economic climate and consumer spending trends in the US, 2009 may be the year of the least DeLorean sold on eBay in the last 3 years.

If you have a DeLorean for goodness sakes drive it, enjoy it, and maintain it. If you are considering selling it, delay it if you can, to maximize its earning potential. If you are a buyer, there are some great deals on eBay --but just be aware that they will require additional expenditures to keep them running reliably.

Disclaimer: eBay sales do not define the DeLorean market, but it sure is an interesting indicator of trends.

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2009 Q2 Update (06/30/09)

Below is an update to reflect a 32 month period, of DeLorean DMC-12s sold on eBay:

Summary:

Is there a glimmer of a recovery here? My 2nd order polynomial trend line was starting to lose refinement with the data, so I upped its resolution with this update. The graph above represents the revised trend line (no change to data other than added all of Q2'09).

Looking at the data with this more refined trend line, it now seems to show a wee little positive shift in trends of ebay sales. The shift up is driven by the dots above the trend line, and with one specific outlier discussed below. It is interesting to note that in Q1, there were some nice DMC-12s that moved through ebay, at bargain basement prices. In Q2 though, nearly 25% of the cars sold were $20K or over cars. Contrast that with 2008 Q4, were the percentage was 13%. Now, we did also see one outlier of a sale, a DeLorean sold for $39K, one that amazingly was a 205 mile odometer car. So the combination of both those sales, put a slight positive trend to DeLorean sales on eBay. It would be great to see this trend continue - keep stopping by to check out how it goes.

Disclaimer: eBay sales do not define the DeLorean market, but it sure is an interesting indicator of trends.

2009 Q1 Update (03/31/09)

Below is an update to reflect a 29 month period, of DeLorean DMC-12s sold on eBay:





Note: Starting with this update, I have entered the total number of cars sold per year, per update.

Summary:

Reflecting our global recession, where so many either do not have the funds, or are holding back expenditures for these type of buys, the 2009 Q1 sales activity on eBay of DeLoreans, followed similar trends.

The average selling price was 13% below 2008, and this was attributed to most of the activity being at the lower end of the selling prices. This point is really highlighted where you can see that the maximum amount for a DMC-12 sold in Q1 2009, was almost half of the previous year’s.

Don’t be misled by the amounts though, as this does not indicate that only “project” cars were selling. On the contrary, some of the cars sold in the high teens appeared to be in very good condition, inside and out. Granted you never really know what you get on a long distance sale, especially if you don’t see/drive the car first, but I do evaluate each sale for the condition of the vehicle, and I can see that cars selling between 17K-20k USD were easily 20K-26K USD cars a year ago. ...and a few of those were leaving the country due to a weak(er) dollar.

If there was a glimmer of hope in the selling value of these cars, it is in data not summarized here that occurred in Q1, in that some spectacular DeLoreans (condition, options) were offered, and bidding on them went into the high 20’s, but they did not meet the sellers’ reserves. So I suppose that this means a) for the right car the money is out there, and that b) certain sellers will not give away these type of cars, even in a bad economy.

Let's hope for a turnaround in 2009, and not just a turnaround in car values.


Disclaimer: eBay sales do not define the DeLorean market, but it sure is an interesting indicator of trends.




2008 Q4 Update (12/31/08)
Below is an update to reflect a 26 month period, of DeLoreans sold on eBay:







Summary:

Whereas we saw a generous double digit increase in average selling prices in 2007 from 2006 (+13%), 2008 to 2007 showed a very slight decrease (-2%). Considering the type of year 2008 was with respect to the economy (US and global), compared to stock portfolios and 401Ks performances in this same year, it really wasn't too bad of a drop. You will note above that the low end of cars sold, was also down (-7%) from the previous year, unlike a large rise (+23%) in 2007 compared to 2006.

This year was a buyers market for many item and not excluding DeLoreans, there were some beautiful looking cars that sold in the $17K-$20K range. However, whereas I have only tracked closed bids, it was very encouraging to see that at the end of 2008, there was some active bidding on 1981, 500 mile beauty (#3446) that went up as high as $28,889 - but did not meet the reserve price; as well as a $39,999 closed sale of a similar condition 1983 (#16558). That may be an indicator that top notch cars (low miles, concours type) are still holding a good value.

Let's hope for a turnaround in 2009, and not just a turnaround in car values.


Disclaimer: eBay sales do not define the DeLorean market, but it sure is an interesting indicator of trends.

Edit 01/01/09:

I've had a few people ask, so here are some quick Q/As on this data:
1) The 26 months of data consists of a total of 197 closed eBay transactions (which is an average of 7.5 cars a month - although the 2008 rate was 6.5 cars a month.)
2) Yes, all cars in the database are running cars, I exclude from this data any car listed as "non running" or "project cars".

Previous posting, and explanation of the table and graph is below:
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2008 Q3 Update (09/30/08)
Below is an update to reflect a 23 month period, of DeLoreans sold on eBay:

Summary:

eBay sales do not define the DeLorean market, but it sure is an interesting indicator of trends, especially as it parallels US consumer spending.

The graph shows a slowdown to Q1 and Q2 gains from 2007, where the average selling price now in 2008 is essentially as it was in 2007. It's a buyers market, and there were some very nice looking cars, relatively low miles, sold in the $17K-$20K range.

Previous posting, and explanation of the table and graph is below:
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2008, Q2 Update (06/30/08)

Below is an update to reflect a 20 month period, of DeLoreans sold on eBay:

Previous posting, and explanation of the table and graph is below:
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…is a curious thing. See the chart (click on it for a larger view) below? I have been tracking every DeLorean sold on eBay for almost a year and a half. (Yeah, I’m funny that way.) Anyway, the graph does show interesting trends for these cars with respect to how they sell on eBay.

First some caveats about the data:

• The data/graph points are only for closed sales.
  
• The line represents a best fit, to the grouping of individual data points (sales).
  
• Data/Graph is only for operational vehicles, listing which stated “project” or “non-working” cars are not tabulated. So, all these points are of drivable cars.
  
• Other than above, I did remove a $39K sale of a low 500 Vin car, because it was re-listed, and never closed on eBay.
  
• The 2006 data starts on 10/15/06 (i.e., not a full year of data)
  

The percentage is the change from the previous year. For example, the average selling price in 2008 is 4% above 2007, and in 2007, was 13% above 2006.

Miles (odometer reading) data shown, is for all data collected (2006-2008).

"SD" = standard deviation, basically an indication of how spread out all the data is (smaller the number, the closer all the sold values are to each other)


Looking at this data you can draw your own conclusions, interpretations, and observations. Here are a few that I have come up with.

• The slump since Sept 07 could be one of two things 1) it really follows our national economy which is currently heading for, or in, a recession. In fact the largest gap for a DeLorean sale has taken place between February and March of this year (on any week there are typically at least 3 cars for sale, often more.), or 2) is it a seasonal thing? More data will help to clarify.
• Average sale prices (solid line on graph) seems low, but that may be due the unknowns associated with purchasing on eBay – I am sure there were some bargains here, as well as some less than advertised condition vehicles.
• The high sale data points, above $25K, were exceptionally good looking and well detailed listings of the condition, especially the maintenance history, of the car being sold.
• While all these represented (advertised) drivable cars, the under $15K cars all needed some amount of either cosmetic or mechanical work.
• 
  

I have more details on the cars sold, contact me if you’d like to see some additional information (vin#, overall condition, mileage) for any particular point.