All good points! With 8 percent commission that puts the buyer at 32,400 plus registration fee, which I believe is or was around $100-$200 for Mecum. However, I guarantee this car would have sold for closer to 40-50 at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, which is primarily no reserve(assuming it has decent to good paint). In my opinion, that is the best place to try to flip a mediocre restoration. I would not recommend it for high end restorations though, unless you are well known or have something extremely rare. Mecum is a terrible place to sell. I am 50% on sales at Mecum and therefore will only attend future auctions as a buyer. The most annoying thing about being a seller at Mecum is that Dana and his crew get in your face as soon as your car starts to roll on the block and start badgering you to drop your reserve. They always say it will bring more if the seller removes the reserve, but usually the hammer it sold as soon as the seller says ok.
Anyway, If it was a car in good condition with only minor issues, then somebody scored. I was just hoping it wasn't a current reflection of the market for our cars. As far as I can tell the 53-54 100-4 models are pretty scarce and while they might not be the most desirable British cars, I would hope that a solid restoration would at least command around $50,000.
Oh, and concerning eBay, I have never managed to sell a running car through eBay and I have listed around 10. People will snatch up project cars on eBay in a heartbeat, but generally you will just attract tire kickers if you list a restored or nice quality driver.