[Steve Cassani]

The Barrett-Jackson 'bump' is part of the 'experience' the Jackson organization markets agressively. With an ever increasing number of sellers who turn to the Internet succeeding in finding buyers who share their entusiasm will the supposed departure of prices in a competitive setting that is also under one tent continue to exaggerate the market value?

I believe the crowd and the opportunity for a bidder to become visible in the crowd go a long way toward expaining why the prices on the final two days of Barrett-Jackson are rarely equaled in other public transactions. Visibility among like-minded buyers and the fact Jackson succeeds in attracting to his event sometimes rare and always interesting cars makes what Jackson terms an 'experience' separable from most of the car auctions, especially those that are held any weekend all over the country. The market would not appreciate this sort of difference. In the market, the price sold is just one of innumerable prices which, when aggragated, give us a view of the value of cars of a make, model and condition class before the next bid.

While perhaps not 'apples and oranges,' lumping the successful bid at Barrett-Jackson with all others risks inducing a bias to what we call 'the market value.'