How does Bring a Trailer work?
 

So I have this little old widow lady patient of mine. Her husband was a hot rodder, Ford guy, but I never held that against him. He passed away with a few vehicles that it would be good if she could get them sold, and not get beat up on them too bad. His car is a 1963 Mercury Comet 260 4 speed, fairly desirable car. There is also a '68 Torino coupe, V-8, not sure of transmission, 302 or maybe 351, probably an automatic. She also has a non-running RV, could not say what exactly it is. The cars are pretty clean, RV less so.

Would BAT be something that would work for her? She has no local family, so it would probably be up to me to shepherd her through the process. Anyone have any insight/experience with this program?

They're a little picky, her cars are good candidates if they take good pics. Not so much the RV.
$99. gives you a week of national exposure and beyond. Great deal and I've had good experiences with them.

I've bought and sold on BaT.

It'll likely take a few weeks to get everything sorted, answer their questions and provide what's needed.

A pretty good working knowledge of the listed vehicle is important, as there will be lots of questions and comments - from both the peanut gallery and from legitimate potential buyers. A seller who closely monitors the comments section and responds appropriately will almost certainly get more for their vehicle than one who simply posts and waits to see what happens.

Get lots of very detailed photos. Start-up videos and ones of short drives can also be helpful.

What the bid rises to can be a mystery from week to week. Very similar cars can go for differences of many thousands of dollars from one week to the next. It just depends on who's watching the site and bidding at any given time. Get a couple of young Silicon Valley guys for whom money doesn't mean much bidding against each other and the sky's the limit.

One example from a week or two ago: a 1985 Corolla GTS (known to the young crowd as the AE86) that sold for $40K. Needs a full paint job, interior was refreshed, but to just a mediocre standard, has rust issues, etc. Just an okay driver. I have the same car sitting in my garage - absolutely bone stock, needs paint and interior, extremely little rust - and I have it insured through Hagerty for only $10K.

I don't see how the one that sold is a $40K car, but the market definitely spoke on it.

_

Read a few of the auctions that are similar to the cars you are selling - be sure to read all the comments. This is important. Comments make and break these auctions. You don't have to dig too deep to see which auctions are successful and where others that fell short could have been improved.

Get the cars detailed, then get 'em photographed - if you can't do it, it might pay to hire a pro or even a semi pro; write down the specifics of the car (BaT will wordsmith them after they receive your writeup) and be prepared to answer all of the questions that the commenters ask you. It seems like the worst sin as a presenter on BaT is to not participate in the auction. The corollary is, even if the car is rough, as long as the seller is honest about the flaws, the peanut gallery and the bidders will generally be on your side and you'll get a good hammer price.

Also, check to see if there is anyone in your area that brokers cars to BaT for a fee. Might be very well worth it to you and your friend.

(Be prepared to give that RV away for free. Does it have a Mopar or a chevy big block in it? Someone who frequents craigslist will happily haul it away.)

Too late, talked to her and the vultures already got her. She sold the house and the cars had to go, a guy bought them for $4000. One neighbor that was "helping" her stole a bunch of guns and tools. People, sometimes I want to kill them all.

Hell, I would have given her $5000 for the Comet by itself.

BAT is not fire and forget. you need to be reactive to questions/comments.
There is almost always an ask for a video or a picture or defend against some accusation (likely made by a prospective bidders other account)

Also, once is sells the work is not over. It is up to you to collect the $$, BAT just gets their commission and then connects you two together. That means the buyer flying in to take a closer look before writing a check, sometimes buyers need to If it is being shipped overseas there are steps to be taken like draining fuel

If you want someone else to actively sell then consignment might be a better option

That sucks. The cars will probably wind up on BaT now and someone will have a big payday. Others have pretty well covered it but it would have been a considerable time commitment for you to do for her.

I’m certainly not opposed to scoring a good deal on something but I’ve told people straight up, on numerous occasions, that they could probably get more money from someone else than what they are offering their item to me for. Sometimes they don’t care...they just want it gone now.

I'm with you, Denis. I met a woman who told me she had a decent condition, good running 911 in her driveway that her HOA was complaining about. She offered it to me for $10K. I told not to sell that car to me or anyone else for ten-grand.

Since we were both 930 owners we exchanged phone numbers so we could meet up for coffee and see the other's car. She called me two days later and told me that if I didn't buy the car that day for $10K she was going to find someone who would.

What's a guy to do? I bought it.

_

People really do suck. An 80 year old neighbor sold his 1972 454 Corvette for $4k to a mechanic after he asked him to get it running again; the mechanic said it was junk but he would take it off his hands. I had asked several times to purchase it but he said he couldn’t let it go. It was a $30k car give or take.
My grandparents had their house picked through by the various “help” they had over the years. Firearms, WW2 katanas, tools. Anything shiny, basically.
Theft is a disgraceful thing, but predators of the elderly have to be some of the very worst of humanity.

Does BAT allow for a sellers reserve?

^ yes but they might try to talk you down on your reserve. If reserve is not met it's only 99 bucks for them. They love no reserve

I told my wife that if I croak to sell all my stuff consignment. No "help" from friends and neighbors. That's what this lady should have done. If the car isn't a project, you can get any old classic car consignment place to take it and sell it for you for a reasonable commission and zero work to you. It may even go on BAT with them. Plenty of dealers dealing there.

G

Yes it sucks but think of it this way. Her family didnt care enough to deal with it. And neither did she because she wont need the money where shes going. You missed an opportunity

That sucks for her. We have an old guy in the Porsche club who was known for scouring ads and scoring deals, often at the expense of widows. He's a narcissistic ass. I bought a non running 914 a few years ago from a lady. Husband was ill. A message from her neighbor to several of us asking if we wanted an old 914 and a few went to look. This was before they really ran up in price. Solid non running original car. She said $1,600. I said it's worth more. She says nope, that's all I want if you haul everything away including the boxes of parts. OK, will do. It's still sitting on a storage lift awaiting a resto.

I'm getting my car ready for BaT.
I have no issues with being online for questions. I feel like I can answer just about any question, I've wrenched extensively on it over the years. I haven't opened the transmission.
Should I list all the recent or semi-recent maintenance/repairs?
E.g. I got ahead on the alternator by getting Mr. Nguyen to rebuild it, new bearings, diodes/etc. This was not long ago in terms of miles.
I'm nervous about getting all the photos set up.
Are there "helpers" out there that assist getting things all set?
What is the fee for that?

I've sold a car successfully on BaT in the past, I'd be happy to assist if you need it. I can even walk you through taking good photos over the phone, no need for a professional photog. Maybe it's just me but the professional photos on BaT always seem less accurate...too styled and sometimes filtered, etc..

Shoot me a PM if you want.

I'd like to offer some help with the photos.
My nephew is in your area and is usually photographing real estate as a side line to his day job. I'd be willing to see if he'd be interested in shooting your car for you.
Send me a PM is you're interested.
He's in high demand for his RE photo's so it may take a while for him to clear time, but I think it'd be worth it.
As to a fee, I charge $300 for shooting a car for BaT. I don't know what he'd charge for the opportunity.

Thanks Scott, I'll keep in mind.

Thanks Speeder, I'll keep this in mind.

My biggest complaint about BaT is that a lot of the 'pro' photos don't document the car. They are doing it as 'art' shots, which, IMO, doesn't necessarily show the buyer the true condition of the car.