Observation: Bring-A-Trailer vs eBay vs ...

[widebody911]

I've been hunting for a specific car and paying a lot of attention to the various venues, eg BAT, eBay, CraigsList, Facebook Marketplace, etc. and I've made the following observations:

BAT seems to have the nicest cars and most honest bidding and discussion, which is mostly due to the heavy curation of that they let in the door. It's also a great place to lurk and learn.

eBay seems to have the worst cars; the business model seems to be "throw it out there and wait for some sucker to come along." There's some 20-footer cars that the seller would probably prefer to avoid the scrutiny of BAT's peanut gallery, and there are others I've seen that are literally scrap metal.

FB marketplace seems to be the home of dreamers saw one go for 6 figures at Barrett Jackson so they think the beater POS they have in their back yard is worth that much, but they can't be bothered to drag it out into the light of day to take good pix.

Craigslist is for the people who think posting the same car 200 times with a slightly different description in each ad will somehow sell the car.

[masraum]

And I assume BaT gets top dollar (which is not necessarily what you want as a buyer), but at least, the cars are better.

[reachme]

Some differences. I sold a car on BAT and they aren't really a full auction site. They auction the car and collect their cut but then it's up to you to actually get paid. People can backout with almost no consequences. they also stagger your auction so you are not against 6 others at the same time which is nice but really this is to accomodate their corporate customers. you wait. They also rewire your ad and wont let you confirm certain things (like mileage).
Also I had a non bidding account say they saw my car X years ago and it was in bad shape in X state. Basically enough to cause doubt. BAT will not remove these comments yet they go above and beyond to remove anything unverified from your ad. Defending your car in the comments is necessary so keep checking in but defend too vigorously makes you look bad. This is VERY common. I read a conversation on my thread talking about a different auction. Someone boasting about how they brought up some accusation toward the end of an auction to suppress bidding, then they scooped in at the end to get a steal. I can send the link if you want to see what I mean. BAT is fine with that giving anonymous possible bidder comments free reign while the seller is restricted.

I also sold an early 911 on eBay. It's expensive there but you do get a true worldwide audience. I also see many fake auctions on eBay and both myself and my neighbor had our cars listed for sale by someone who just grabbed pictures and VIN from our cars.

I honestly don't know the best forum but my thought is eBay is for cars in bad shape, BAT for cars in great shape. EarlySRegistry for cars in concours shape. Craigslist and Fbook Marketplace to sell tools and non Porsche specific stuff or Beck replicars. PCA site/mag if you want to show everyone your average car is on sale for 400K-I never got one email in like 5 months for a highly desired model.
Good luck. There's a reason people go to dealers. . .

[SiberianDVM]

I found my Boxster and my Cayenne on Autotrader.

[Baz]

First Porsche: Auto Trader
Second 911: Local PCA region classifieds
914: eBay
356: eBay

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I just joined BAT and am still learning about it - mostly be reading the comments and watching the auctions.

I've owned 6 Porsches and never had a bad experience as buyer. A lot is just due diligence.

[Yorkie]

I bought a '75 Jeep Wagoneer off BaT a few years back and it was a great experience as the audience did a good job of vetting the vehicle for me. I've bought one car and a motorcycle off eBay and both were disappointments and totally my fault but they were not expensive mistakes. Craigslist in LA is no place to find a classic anymore as everyone has obviously been watching Barret Jackson. FB Marketplace really is full of utter bottom feeders but out of the 100 that ask "Is this still available" at least one quickly comes through. I've sold a few motorcycles through FB.

[ckelly78z]

I have always had the opinion that B.A.T. was for rare, expensive, or low mileage vehicles that have been meticulously maintained by overly anal owners. Truly a site for the scrutinizing enthusiast.

Ebay is for the dreamers hoping to get a bidding war going on a car with a sometimes questionable background.

FB marketplace is for local work-a-day cars from mostly honest people who don't want to trade in their cars.

CL is for scammers, and old people not willing to change their habits.

[widebody911]

So I listed one of my Unimogs on Facebook marketplace. I have had - I kid you not - close to 200 "Is it still available?" auto-messages, to which I've replied to every single one, and not a single follow-up from those.

[Rick Lee]

Remember that "Is it still available?" is pre-populated in the message box when you initiate contact with a FB Marketplace seller. I always delete that and write a personal message when inquiring. When I sell on CL or Armslist, I add at the end, "I will remove this ad when the item is gone. Don't ask if it's still avail." That makes it especially easy to totally ignore those messages.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Remember that "Is it still available?" is pre-populated in the message box when you initiate contact with a FB Marketplace seller. I always delete that and write a personal message when inquiring.

Yes; in the few times I've inquired about a car, I've done the same thing. What I don't get is why so many people would bother to click it in the first place.

[p911dad]

I have both sold a car and bought a car on BaT. I had excellent experiences both times. As it was said the site is curated. It took seemingly forever and multiple edits to get the car listed, but in the end I got my price. In both cases I used wire transfers. No problems. I had had it listed on Hemmings for several months, got some interest, but no sale. The car I bought on BaT is a gem, a local one owner 993
The folks that comment on the listings are generally a knowledgeable bunch, with some kibitzers that never list or buy but sometimes have good observations to share. Some are jerks, of course. It usually runs out to the very last minute on a good car and you never know who will be the high bidder. Often the high bidder only puts in one knockout bid in the last seconds. I set a reasonable upset price on the car I sold and achieved it. The market will reveal the dreamers.

[porsche4life]

Shopping for used cars these days sucks honestly. You are wading through tons of different sites, and some of the most common ones have ****ty filters(Facebook!).


Check out carsandbids.com as well. It’s a new auction site and seems really easy to use.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Check out carsandbids.com as well. It’s a new auction site and seems really easy to use.

Carsandbids look OK for late-model cars, but I have no interest in those.

[juanbenae]

craigslist has become completely useless. scams and phishing seems to be all it's got these days. i was looking for a quad for the property and it was a nightmare. 1st hint of a scam is the contact info imposed into the photos and no where else.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by widebody911

Carsandbids look OK for late-model cars, but I have no interest in those.

Sorry. Missed that part. Ya they are focusing on 80s and up stuff.

[DonDavis]

Originally Posted by widebody911

I've been hunting for a specific car and paying a lot of attention to the various venues...

So, do tell, what are you looking to add?
More German stuff?

Maybe a Fiat X1/9? ( hard to keep a straight face tying that, )

Citroën 2CV?

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by DonDavis

So, do tell, what are you looking to add?

I really want an xke.

[304065]

Whatever you do, don't pass a Corvette with an extra pair of tail lights on Sunset Boulevard near Doheny.

[Deschodt]

BaT is a great place to sell. If you buy there you are overpaying... Educate yourself there, dream there, but unless you are made of money don't buy there !!!

Craigslit is where I buy and find nice deals on occasion. Yes, crazies abound, lots of time wasted, but in the end substantial discounts from people who don't know better and sometimes sell cheap. I mean you're more likely to find a cheap 356 there than on BAT for sure.

Point is on BAT there is so much expertise and such traffic that you are likely bidding against Seinfeld or a chinese billionaire any given day, you just never know... statistically you will overpay or not get the car, there will always be a richer uninformed person to outbid you there... On craigslist it remains fairly local and you can spot an ad like you used to in the paper, sorta....

I was in the market for an M3 cab recently - Autotraders/cars.om/autotemptest wasted my time, erroneous descriptions, lies, etc... Bat would sell my car for 18K... Got it for 12 on CL after a 2 weeks wait and a few visits...

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

BaT is a great place to sell. If you buy there you are overpaying...

That's pretty much the case with any auction,which is why sellers love to cite auction results to justify their prices. However, it's a double-edged sword, and auctions can reveal softening values. For example, a couple of nice XKEs went through BAT recently; they were asking solid 6-figures outside of BAT, but on BAT neither met reserve and came up shy of their fixed-sale asking prices by a good 30-40%