Go ahead – put yourself in a starring role in one of the greatest collector car events on Earth. Experience Barrett-Jackson like never before and become a bidder.

You’ve watched The World’s Greatest Collector Car Auctions® on television and you’ve possibly attended one or two in person. Now you’re thinking you’re ready to take the plunge and experience firsthand the excitement that only comes with being a Barrett-Jackson bidder. Welcome!

The first order of business is obtaining a bidder badge. (It’s not like in the movies, where people just raise their hands or touch their noses to bid.) The good news is that getting your bidder badge is relatively easy. You can do this online at Barrett-Jackson.com or on-site at the auction office. Barrett-Jackson is known the world over for the quality of its bidders, so you’ll need to provide evidence of financial credibility. This could be a bank Letter of Guaranty, pre-approval with Woodside Credit (a nationwide collector car finance company) or a Wire Transfer Guaranty, each with a minimum bid limit of $30,000. Alternatively, you can provide a 10-percent cash or cashier’s check deposit of the bid limit you desire (minimum deposit required is $9,000 for a bid limit of $90,000).

This 1966 Chevrolet Corvette 427/425 is just one of hundreds of beautiful collector cars that will be sold to the highest bidder at Barrett-Jackson’s Inaugural Northeast Auction, June 23-25, 2016, at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

Once you are pre-qualified as a bidder, you have the golden ticket to the entire auction site, including the center of attention at every event: the famed Barrett-Jackson auction block. You also get plenty of other perks as a Barrett-Jackson bidder, including admission for you and a guest to Preview Day and each day of the auction, a preferred parking pass (where applicable), access to the exclusive bidder seating area and complimentary drinks at the bidder bar, an event catalog and the hottest ticket in town: an invitation for two to the renowned Opening Night Gala.

But with these privileges comes great responsibility. First and foremost: educate yourself. Each item that is offered on the auction block is known as a “Lot” and is issued a “Lot number.” Most of these items are described in the auction catalog – but the most up-to-date information is available on the Barrett-Jackson.com online docket. In addition, “daily lists” are available each morning on-site at the auction, providing the list of vehicles to be auctioned that day. Each vehicle offered for auction will have a “car card” in its window with the seller’s description of the car. Remember, Barrett-Jackson is not the owner of the auction vehicles and makes no representations or warranties about the Lots offered. As a bidder, your most basic and essential responsibility is to research and inspect the Lot or Lots in which you are interested. When that hammer falls, the Lot becomes the property of the winning bidder, as-is and where-is.

When you’re ready to bid, make yourself known to the “ring staff” – the men or women who help the auctioneer recognize bidders and ensure that bids are communicated promptly and accurately. If that hammer falls and you’re the winning bidder, congratulations! You’ll be handed a ticket to sign confirming the sale. Then it’s off to the auction office. Here, you may consider insuring your new acquisition instantly using Barrett-Jackson Endorsed Collector Car Insurance – but regardless, you’ll head to the cashiering office, where the experienced team will glide you through the process of titles, assignments, necessary authorizations and payments. An on-site buyer’s premium of 10 percent is added to the hammer price, as well as any applicable fees and taxes.

When it gets to the big moment, and that car you’ve had your eyes set on is about to be in the spotlight, you can either bid from your seat on the auction floor or follow it right from the staging lanes onto the block. There is auction block etiquette to follow, though: be seated when not bidding on a car, and remember it is necessary to keep the front of the block clear for seated bidders, the television audience, and those online or telephone bidders who are watching the action via live stream.

All you need to do now is get that dream car home. Several specialist collector car transport companies are on-site to assist with that task and will accept responsibility for the Lot and shipping it to any chosen destination – even overseas.

Insider tip: To avoid the end-of-day rush, complete your paperwork in the auction office as soon as possible after that gavel falls on your purchase. Don’t put off organizing shipping until the last minute either – you won’t want to delay getting behind the wheel of your new collector car!

So go ahead – put yourself in a starring role in one of the greatest collector car events on Earth. Experience Barrett-Jackson like never before and become a bidder.