DeLoreans sold on eBay

DeLoreans Sold on Ebay: 2012 Q2 Update

I may be late posting, but I have not stopped collecting the data, so… here it is a summary and notes of 69(!) months of eBay sales of DeLorean.

My last updated was at the end of 2011, so this update represents the first six months of the year.  The results are always interesting to dissect and speculate, here is what I see in the data.

Looking at the trend line:  You can see an undeniable trend for the last 18 months of upward (increasing selling price).  DeLorean prices seem to have recovered from the 2010 dip, paralleling the state of global economic conditions during those times.  However, in Q1 and Q2 of 2012, there has been a very steady, and moderately steep, rise in sold prices; incredibly, the rise is the most significant since I have been tracking this data since Q3 2006.

Looking at the table:  Here we see the details of this rise in prices.  First we note that in the first two quarters of 2012, the quantity of sold cars is on track to match the 2011 numbers (total sold in 2011: 69, and most sold was in 2008: 82) 

Then we see that the average price (this is the number that is graphed above) in 2012 so far, is a healthy (or alarming I suppose depending your status as buyer or seller) 10% increase from last year.  The trend seems to be that every year the average price of a DeLorean sold on eBay is tickling closer to $20K for a running decent Delorean in non-project condition.  

Interestingly enough, the lowest sold running one that will require labor and parts it get to back to a decent condition, jumped up 32% from last year  - this, and the increase in good condition cars, could also be attributed to the fact that more and more DeLoreans are being restored. This is again evidenced in the spread of selling prices, where the Standard Deviation (“SD”) is showing the narrowest range in 2012, than I have ever recorded since I’ve tracked these sales.

Finally some anecdotal data for 2012 Q1-Q2: By States, the most cars sold were in California (9), then a tie with Florida (4) and in New York (4), followed by Ohio (3).  The lowest Vin sold was 982, highest was 20059. Lowest miles: 997 (which was the highest selling so far in 2012, at $31K), highest: 100K.

That's my summary, stop back to see how the trend for the year finishes.

(If you have a few minutes, be sure to check out the "Best of" postings. Thanks.)

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DeLoreans Sold on Ebay: 2011 EOY Update

Happy New Year!  Here is an update to my tabulation and summary of eBay sales of DeLoreans, for the past 62(!) months, or just over 5 years. The results are always interesting to dissect and speculate, here is what I see in the data.

As the chart shows, in 2011, we saw the largest annual trend rise that has been recorded in the last five years.  Notably Q3 and Q4 had a good share of $20K+cars sold.

From my perspective in the States, there are some signs the economy is moving ahead. The signs are sporadic, but they are there in that while there isn't the wild amount of cash being thrown around, it is being put out when the right product comes along (examples: pricey iPhones, Hyundai and Ford cars). Apparently this may apply DeLoreans as well, based on the ebay selling price trends in 2011.

The Table shows the tabulated description of this upswing, where with respect to the previous year, the selling price:

• Average increased by 10%, which is also the second consecutive year of positive increase double digits this year.
• Lowest sold, as I track them these are non project/drivable cars, and you can see that on eBay the lowest priced running cars have gone up, nearing $10K now.
• Highest sold are typically the outliers, but you'll note that one car sold for just a wee bit higher than last year’s high seller, and the histogram shows that there were two $30K+ cars sold.
• Range/SD: The difference in the spread between the lowest and highest sold also increased in 2011.
• Skew: The histogram illustrates the selling prices are clustered around mid to high teens.

Some final breakdown of 2011 sales:

By States sold in

California (9)

Florida (8)

Ohio (6).  

By Vin#

Lowest: 719

Highest: 16874

By Miles

Lowest:     1,700

Highest: 111,000  

By year

1981:55

1982: 5

1983: 9

Summary

So that's the 2011 numbers and analysis, as I always say this is not the definitive description of how DeLoreans sell in general, but it sure is interesting to see the trends on eBay.  

Wishing everyone a safe, healthy, happy, and prosperous 2012.

(If you have a few minutes, be sure to check out the "Best of" postings. Thanks.)

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2011 Q1-Q2 Update

I may be late in posting, but I have not stopped collecting the data, so… here it is: 57(!) months of eBay sales of DeLoreans.

My last updated was at the end of 2010, so this update represents the first six months of the year.  The results are always interesting to dissect and speculate, here is what I see in the data.

Looking at the trend line: 

The upward (increasing selling price) trend that was noticed in Q3 and Q4 remained for the first half of the year.  The dip in the trend parallels the global state of the economy, where recession ruled, for nearly a year from May 2009 to May 2010.  It appears that as far as DeLoreans go, selling prices continue to pick up, albeit, at a slow pace. 

Looking at the table:  

While the trend in prices has a gone up, the table shows though that the amount of cars sold is low compared to the previous year.  At the half of 2011 there were less cars sold than in 2010. Perhaps this means that there were more bargain hunters OR more were tempted by the lower selling price of DeLoreans in 2010.  In the many, many months I have tracked these sales, 2011 Q1 and Q2 definitely showed the least amount of cars sold in a month than previously seen.

Checking my previous updates, at the last update I wrote:

“If you wanted to generalize based on this data, the average Delorean on eBay in 2007 sold for $18K, in 2008: $17K, in 2009: $15K, and in 2010: $16K …will we see the average sale back up to $17K in 2011?”   

Well, it looks like we may be headed that way. In 2011 you can see that the trend of the average car sold is actually 5% over the previous year.  So far this year cars sold averaged nearly $17K, which is almost back to 2008 levels. Even the lowest purchased cars (must be running cars to make this data) jumped up to 10% from 2010, again paralleling close to 2008 levels.

By States, the most cars sold were in Florida (6), followed by California (4).  

The lowest Vin sold was 725, highest was 16874. 

Lowest miles: 10K, highest: $95K (which coincidently was Vin 725).

2010 EOY Update (Posted January 15, 2011)

Sorry for the delays, but here is the data on eBay sales of DeLoreans, cut, sliced, and summarized. Below is an update to reflect a 51 month period, of DeLorean DMC-12s sold on eBay:

Graph:

Table:

Summary:

The 3rd and 4th quarter of 2010 saw a rise in the selling prices of DeLoreans on eBay. 

Details:

So what happened in 2010 with respect to the sales of DeLoreans on eBay?

Well as the data shows:

• Per the trend line, Sales seem to have followed “The Great Recession” in that a slight recovery was noticed in the 3^rd and 4^th quarter. 
• In 2010, the amount of cars sold were  56% higher than the previous year, and nearly matched the amount of sales in 2008.
• Whereas the maximum, average, and low selling values in 2009 were less than 2008, in 2010 all three indicators were higher than 2009.  This may possibly be a reflection of slightly stronger consumer confidence (in other words, there may be more buyers out there now).
• By States, the most cars sold were in California (11), followed by Ohio (7), Florida (5), and Arizona and Michigan (4 each).

In closing...

If you wanted to generalize based on the data tracked here (don't count 2006, it is not a full year of data, as I started gathering it only on the last quarter of that year), then the average Delorean on eBay in 2007 sold for $18K, in 2008: $17K, in 2009: $15K, and in 2010: $16K …will we see the average selling price back up to $17K in 2011?  Keep checking this blog, as I’ll continue to post quarterly updates.

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

(If you have a few minutes, be sure to check out the "Best of" postings. Thanks.)

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2010 Q1 Update

Below is an update to reflect a 42 month period, of DeLorean DMC-12s sold on eBay:

Summary:

2010 Q1 Ebay Sales:

As the graph and table above show, the last quarter seemed to have found the bottom for DMC-12 sales on eBay.  There is a notable pickup this quarter.  Here is a summary of observations:

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  In just the first quarter of 2010, there were 21 DeLoreans sold, which is nearly half of all D's sold in 2009 (52).
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  All measured stats (low, avg, high) are double digit increases from all of 2009. 
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The most expensive DeLorean sold (6032, $33K) was more expensive than any D sold in 2009.
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Recorded 4 consequitive $18K sales in two weeks (20074:$18K, 6460:$18.5, 1035:$18.2, 4113: $18.3).
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The most cars sold were in California (5), followed by Michigan and Arizona (with 2 each).

In closing...

The US economy seems to be very slowing improving from 2009, and consumer spending appears to be shadowing that as well. While the numbers above certainly support that, I also would not discount at least two DeLorean selling in the $50K range at very public auctions, which may have influenced recent (and future) selling prices.


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

(If you have a few minutes, be sure to check out the "Best of" postings. Thanks.)

2009 Q4 Update (EOY)
Below is an update to reflect a 38 month period, of DeLorean DMC-12s sold on eBay:

Summary:

Ebay sales were still shadowing the economy, as DeLorean sales on ebay remain in the flat, if not actually have found a slightly newer bottom. In short: the buyer's market prevailed in Q4.

Q4 saw:
Four more cars sold in Q4 (15), than in Q3 (11).
Selling States sold most: CA (4), IL (2), IN (2)
A new low for a running car in needs work, at $8,500.

2009 saw:
Only 63% of the amount of cars sold, in 2008.
A double digit drop on Max, Avg, and Lowest cars sold, than in 2008.
(For example, the average selling price in 2009 was $14.8K, and $17.4K in 2008; that's a 15% drop, but don't fret a 14% drop for our cars in dollars is nothing compared to a 15% drop for a Ferrari.)
For the 3rd year, the maximum selling price did not go below $30,000, which was for a concours-like 200 mile car, sold in NY.
Statistically interesting is that the grouping of costs of cars sold in 2009 was very close to what it was in 2008. This is an excellent statistical characterization of an overall shift towards lower prices, in the range of the amount of the cars sold ...which we can again blame on the economy.


In closing...
I am generally optimistic about 2010. We won't bounce back fast, but I do believe overall the economy, and DeLorean sales, will be better.


Worth repeating:
"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.


>>> If you have a few minutes, be sure to check out the "Best of" postings. Thanks.




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.

>>> If you have a few minutes, be sure to check out the "Best of" postings. Thanks.<<<

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.

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If you have a few minutes, be sure to check out the "Best of" postings. Thanks.