During that time, he was approached by a prospective buyer who eventually declined the $500,000 sale price, which represented the amount of debt Mecum owed.

[12][13][3] Dana Mecum had previously overseen the company himself: "I was a control freak, and around 1999 I got sick and had to let go and let other people do things.

[15] Mecum's auctions attract a varied clientele,[16] including a large number of non-bidding spectators, who make up approximately 90 percent of attendees.

[21] In 1996, Mecum added premier auctions, offering vehicles of a higher quality and attracting approximately 1,000 people to each event.

By that point, many of Mecum's regional auctions now offered Corvettes, attracting local buyers who had since found the Bloomington location to be less convenient.

[31] By 2017, the company had added separate auction events dealing solely with motorcycles and farmer tractors respectively.

[3][32][33] It is Mecum's largest annual auction,[34][35] growing considerably from the company's first Florida event, held in 2002.

[42][43] The events are overseen by a traveling team of 200 workers,[3] and the vehicles often have a history related to the region where they are being auctioned.

[44] During the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, Mecum revamped its online bidding system and added livestream footage of auction events.

Online bidding saw a marked increase following the redesign, which also contributed to a rise in revenue, with a record $675 million brought in during 2021.

Up to that time, approximately 90 percent of Mecum's buyers were car dealers who would resell the vehicles after auction.

[46] Mecum Dealmakers, a television program chronicling the auction preparations and management, also aired on NBCSN from 2014 to 2015.