Finding a fair price within the club

I'm less than certain how to phrase this.

If I buy a car at an auction, it's kind of by definition a fair price.

But how does one find a fair/market price for a private sale within a club, especially for less common models? Hagerty seems to have a sample size of one or two on some of them.

I'm a retired lawyer; I do not want to get into actual negotiations with friends.

I don't want to pay someone less than it's worth, but I also don't want to overpay.

So how do folks do this?

The question is sort of incoherent. There is no single “fair” price on collectibles. Each one is different because of its provenance and exact condition. The only question is how much would you pay to own this car. I’ve made lots of offers on items that were below market price because the item wasn’t worth that much to me. Sometimes the seller accepts and sometimes they don’t. Whether your offer is fair is for them to decide, not you.

if you buy within a club, expect to get a better car and prob pay 20% more. the "deals" will be in the outside world, where someone needs a quick deposition and cash. which do you prefer?

I’ve found within-club sales to be more “fair” because in general, you are dealing with a more knowledgeable group that the seller will have to live with after the sale. People tend to disclose more about the cars, warts and all, so that wharever the transaction, it tends to be more transparent. Are in-club sales the lowest price? Not necessarily, but there can be good deals. Of the two recent in-club purchases that I’m aware of in my own club, I think both were transacted at prices for those cars that were well below what I would have expected, primarily because of motivated sellers. OTOH, our newsletter lists some cars for sale that appear on the surface to be overpriced, at least by what I would pay if I was looking. (Maybe that’s why they haven’t sold - others agree with me.) I dislike haggling, so if something appears to be unreasonable, I won’t even explore it. As alexiskai stated, it’s what the car is worth to you, and if you and the seller are both happy, it’s “fair”.

Personally, I prefer "in-club" purchases. Here's why-

First of all, almost everyone in the club knows stuff about everyone else's cars, that's just the nature of club tours and club "seminar" shop days. Chances are, lots of people in the club have wrenched on that car at one time or another.

Next, the person selling the car is likely a friend, or at least someone not unfamiliar to you or others.

Here's the important part- That seller is someone who will still have to see and interact with you and the rest of the club AFTER the sale, and probably doesn't want everyone to hate on them for ripping-off a fellow club member.

Out of the 7 Model As I currently own, 5 of them were purchased from fellow club members. I regret NONE of those purchases! The 2 I bought from so-and-so seller?......Regrets.