[mcorrallo]

I learned a LOT about B-J over the weekend and would love to find a way to share my knowledge with entire collector car community. The problem is that B-J is a major advertiser in most of the car magazines so do you think any of them are going to print my story ripping them? Perhaps the Arizona Republic would be interested.

Barrett-Jackson is two different sales. It's a sellers market Thursday from 4-10pm and Friday and Saturday noon until 10pm. People pay stupid money for cars when it's full and the cameras are rolling. It's a buyers market all other times and an EXTREMELY good buyers market late in the evening (there was a gorgeous street rod that ran after my car that brought the same $33K and it would have done $60K on Saturday afternoon.) You can do very well as a consignor at B-J if you have a nice car and a good run time. But you can have a great car and get screwed if you have a bad run time. IT'S ALL ABOUT YOUR LOT NUMBER.

So just get a good lot number, right? Wrong. Unlike other auctions, they do not offer premium lot numbers for an increased price. You submit your photos and description and wait to hear that your car was selected and, if so, what is your run time. Regular folks like you and me are NEVER going to get a premium run time. Not going to happen. As my case demonstrates, even if you think and are told you have a good number, you may not. Oh, one more thing. If you complain about your lot number, you're out. They'll pull your car from the sale. Go somewhere else and have a nice day.

Where did these 100 cars come from that got plugged into the auction during the middle of the day, pushing me back to the wee hours? Who knows? I was told they were full as of October. Hmmm.

If you can somehow get your car across the block during prime time, it's still the best place in the world to sell your car. But if you can't, try eBay.