Few names in the remarketing industry are as resoundingly familiar as Ricky Beggs, the recently retired editor, expert and all-around good guy who reached thousands of people through his writings and weekly video blog for Black Book, a leading provider of used-vehicle values and market research.

Ricky is a good friend of mine and, now that he has a little more time on his hands, I thought I would reach out and ask him to reflect on his storied, 34-year career with Black Book and to let us know how he’s enjoying retirement — and maybe a little insight into exactly how used cars get their prices.

Tim: What were you doing before you went to work for Black Book, and how did you get the job?

Ricky: Out of college, I worked in municipal recreation administration for a few years. During college and for 20 years, I also refereed high school basketball and umpired high school and college baseball and softball.

A fellow referee was a key person with Black Book and one night, after a basketball game, the conversation turned to Black Book and the company and type of work they do. There became an interest in that field and company and, not much later, an opportunity arose. I began within the editorial department and spent my entire career working with the market values and analysis and residual forecasting.

Tim: Could you have guessed when you started that you would remain at the company for the next 34 years?

Ricky: The interest in vehicles and their values and what drove those values became very intriguing, almost overnight. What was even more inviting was the wholesale auction portion of the market. Going to the auctions, talking with dealers who were buying and selling and trying to see how all of this would come together to establish the market values, just kept me interested.

As to working there 34 years, I am not sure how many 25-year-olds can picture working for one company and group of people for that long. But when the job becomes a passion and is always unique, and the market is changing along with the great people you get to work with, the time just flies by.

Tim: How did the tools and methods you used to assign values change over the course of your career at Black Book?

Ricky: Technology and the amount of information is what really changed over time. That includes the systems to compile and sort the data, how to find or access the data and also how to share or distribute the finished product to the users of this information within the industry.

The methods and foundation of the market when Black Book was established in 1955 is still pretty much the foundation today. It is based on the wholesale dealer-only auction data as the starting point. Those wholesale auctions today are not just physical brick-and-mortar locations but online auctions and transactions.

From the beginning, Black Book actually attended the physical auctions, which we continue to do that today. But now much of the data is acquired through electronic data feeds from auctions and remarketers. With the volume of information so large today, even more analytical tools are necessary to complete the analysis and to report the market values. Timeliness is even more critical today and, even though Black Book was a weekly update from the beginning, we turned to even more frequent updates on April 28, 2008, with Black Book Daily updates to the market values.

Tim: What should the average car owner understand about the value of his/her car?

Ricky: In most cases, the car is a depreciating asset, so as you drive the car or as time passes, the value is declining. At the same time, not every vehicle will depreciate at the same rate. This rate of depreciation is a major factor in the monthly payment for everyone who finances their vehicle as a lease.

For traditional finance, the overall price of cars has pushed the length of finance to longer terms in order to make the monthly payment more affordable. Fortunately, as this occurs, interest rates have remained very low and funding is currently widely available.

Tim: What steps would you recommend the average car owner take to evaluate the value of his/her car?

Ricky: In today’s industry, there is so much information and easy access to that information. The lender selected can help provide this information as well as companies that provide trade-in type information who are providing leads for selling dealers. Just using the technology to dig for public information will get you tons of market insight.

Tim: Tell us about the origins of the video blog and what it was like to film the first few entries.

Ricky: Tom Cross, Black Book’s current president, felt that a video blog giving insight into the market would be of value to our subscribers and users of our data. He suggested a monthly update with a simple, conversational-type presentation.

We wanted it to be about the market insight, not a super professional presentation. As I mentioned, Tom suggested monthly updates, but in maybe not so much of a smart move on my part, I said the videos needed to be weekly as that was more how the industry was looking at the market movement.

As I was working on the final few videos, I went back and looked at some of those original blogs. I don’t know if they would be classified as embarrassing or comical. It was a learning process for sure.

One thing I am proud of is that we never missed a week in delivering this insight. Also, the interest from the industry that it created surprised me. It showed how the industry respected the Black Book information and insight. I just happened to be the person who delivered the message. Today, the Black Book market insight continues each week in a written reporting format with even more analytical insight from Anil Goyal and the editorial team.

Tim: What do you miss most about working at Black Book?

Ricky: I think, without a doubt, it is the people I worked with — both industry personnel and the whole Black Book team and those I communicated with about the market and industry. This would be the manufacturers, the lenders, the remarketers, the dealers and, of course, the auction industry and personnel.

It was always interesting at the auctions and of course the excitement of trying to determine how the market was changing each day, and the “why” behind those changes always kept me engaged. The insight and early access to new models will also be missed as we used that for residual projections.

Tim: Were there any times you would prefer to forget?

Ricky: The first few months after 9/11 were a real challenge. Seeing how the rapid drop in vehicle values and even less market activity affected the dealer body was tough. Their entrepreneurial spirit sure pulled them through, but seeing how it affected their businesses was tough. The other thing I am glad is not a part of my life now are the number of red-eye flights from the West Coast and from Vegas. There were too many of them over the years to count.

Tim: When did you decide the time was right to retire?

Ricky: My wife, Vicki, and I had talked about how fortunate I had been to be with Black Book and the part of the industry that we were part of, while also thinking that I just needed to slow down and enjoy life. It was also the time for me to help look after my dad instead of that being handled by my wife. I was actually in Tucson, Ariz., to speak at a conference. It was a good trip and something just said the time was right. I looked ahead about one year and just knew that would be a good time.

I can honestly say no one has been more blessed and fortunate within their career and life than I have been, plus to be around the people I have been fortunate enough to become friends with is hard to comprehend. Now, about four months into retirement, I still know the decision was the right one.

Tim: Did you worry that you might be irreplaceable?

Ricky: Never was that a concern. We have such a strong group of editors who understand the market and the industry and there are great processes in place. They have not skipped a beat in gathering the information, doing the analysis and reporting the market.

Tim: How is your retirement going and what has been your highlight over the past few months?

Ricky: The transition was much smoother than I expected or had been told by others that it would be. I think this is primarily due to when Vicki and I made the decision, we knew it was the right thing to do and the right time, so there were no lingering doubts. We have been so busy just trying to enjoy life and getting a few long overdue things done.

The highlight was a trip to Idaho and Wyoming to do a little fly fishing. It was an amazing trip of a lifetime and my older son, who many know is a professional guide, got to join us for part of the trip and then we joined him in Casper, Wyo., for a couple of days. Vicki didn’t just tolerate the fishing, but actually enjoyed the fishing and the trip.

Tim Janssen is president of Innovative Funding Services (IFS).