D.E. Foeller gears up for 15th annual auction in Florida

Doug Foeller definitely subscribes to the old theory that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

To that end, Foeller and his D.E. Foeller Sales auction team will resturn with a tried-and-true strategy when they launch their 15th Annual Antique Car Auction March 24-25 at the Manatee Convention Center in Palmetto, Fla. The auction will again have the same low 5 percent commission on both ends; it will still be first-come, first-served when it comes to cars crossing the block; and it will likely attract many of the same customers that have made the sale part of their yearly calendar of car hobby events to attend.

“Our fees are so much less than everybody else. We’ve never raised our fees in 15 years,” Foeller noted. “We have a $150 entry fee that’s cheaper than an appraisal, so everybody and their dog wants to bring their car, and they don’t always want to sell it! They just come to find out what it’s worth!”

Foeller saw 357 cars cross the block last year, and he estimates about 400 will be up for bids this time around. “I must have about 350 [so far],” he said.

Foeller says the sale has broken new records for cars sold and dollars realized each of the past five years, and he’s expecting that trend to continue. Two of the biggest reasons, he insists, are the 5 percent buyer’s and seller’s fees, and the fact that sellers all get paid on the spot.

“Nobody gets out of there Sunday night without being paid … and that hasn’t changed in 15 years. The reason we did it that way is because of all the other sales,” Foeller said. “I have people that go to this sale that don’t go to any other sale because of that.”

Making sure no cars get preferential treatment seems to keep customers happy, too, Foeller added.

“It’s first-come, first-serve and that’s just the way it’s going to be,” he said. “The biggest thing is at one or sales, nobody is mad at anybody. At most of these big sales, somebody is always mad at somebody. Here, we have same entry fee whether you have a reserve or not, it’s first-come, first-served, and if you don’t like it you better register earlier.”

Among the highlight cars scheduled for this year’s sale are a 1966 Plymouth Hemi Belvedere II coupe with 42,000 miles, a 1968 Shelby GT350 prototype, a 1969 Charger Daytona and a “bunch of streets rods that are just unreal.”

For more information on Foeller’s annual Antique Car Auction, visit www.defoellersales.net or call 239-571-5274.

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