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

[slow&rusty]

I actually submitted the car to BaT and they liked my car, but was told that this is their busiest season and they asked that I resubmit later (not sure when "later" exactly is) when the amount of submissions has declined. Additionally, as we all know BaT was recently sold to large conglomerate, so the way they handle and process auctions has changed.

[Tobra]

That is an immaculate looking red shark

[onewhippedpuppy]

Ultimately these sites only care about making money, nothing more. BaT wouldn’t go above $30k for my SC, I sold it in a few weeks for $44k. They were also borderline rude and difficult to deal with. I listed my FD RX7 and D2 S8 on BaT, both listings took about one month to start despite me providing them with comprehensive information and neither met reserve. Ultimately I’ve concluded that I can write a better ad and get more money on my own.

[slow&rusty]

Originally Posted by Tobra

That is an immaculate looking red shark

Thank-you kindly, so much blood, sweat and tears has gone into this car...its crazy thinking about it.

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Ultimately these sites only care about making money, nothing more. BaT wouldn’t go above $30k for my SC, I sold it in a few weeks for $44k. They were also borderline rude and difficult to deal with. I listed my FD RX7 and D2 S8 on BaT, both listings took about one month to start despite me providing them with comprehensive information and neither met reserve. Ultimately I’ve concluded that I can write a better ad and get more money on my own.

Amen brother....amen!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Yasin is that the 928 that we talked about a while back? If so you’ve done a fantastic job making that a very nice car.

[slow&rusty]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Yasin is that the 928 that we talked about a while back? If so you’ve done a fantastic job making that a very nice car.

Yes it certainly is.

No bolt was left unturned, I went through the entire car, exterior, new interior and engine out for all the maintenance. Zero leaks, very tight and runs like a champ. I spent every iota of free time on it and put all my house and other car projects on hold to focus on making everything right on this car. At $23.5k, I'm loosing almost $6k on this car.

That's what stings guys like Doug Demuro or the BaT guys will NEVER know what it takes to revive a car like this and the sacrifice required. They have the financial means to buy whatever they want and in the process they feel they can value your hard work, blood and tears at any sacrilegious number they dream of.

Here are some before and after pictures to give you an idea:






Before:


After:

[onewhippedpuppy]

Well done sir, I couldn’t have done any better.

[widebody911]

That's what stings guys like Doug Demuro or the BaT guys will NEVER know what it takes to revive a car like this and the sacrifice required

On some of my projects, I would have lost money even if I got the base car for free.

[Tobra]

I guess that explains the yen for an XKE

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Cars N bids (Doug DeMuro) is fairly new but only for modern classics (80s +)... Hemmings has auctions too...

I agree with you, I miss the old days of BaT and you will only find that on CL now if you are *very* patient. BaT is very polished nowadays and and probably will trend towards more $ making since they've been sold (and lower reserves, if they even keep reserves)... If you listen to various podcasts from the collector world, you'll know that lots of high end collectors like Jerry Seinfeld and many many more are on there and you will probably not outbid him or a Chinese billionaire that decided he needs a collection - hence my point that BaT's popularity worldwide today makes it very unlikely you will ever find a deal there anymore... Statistically there will be someone richer than you or stupider than you willing to pay more any given day. And it's also making it less likely local brand clubs owners will sell on their club sites instead of maximizing profits on BaT. Hell, *I* did it - I used BaT and made at least 20% more selling my car there than I would have ever thought of asking on a local club ad... It's ironic that sites like BaT helped make the hobby more popular and at the same time are shutting regular folks out of it... I have no answers for that, we're left with estate sales and dumb luck for decent deals...

“Richer or stupider than you...” lol...ain’t it the truth. Sometimes both.

I got in a bidding war w a guy last year on a car on BaT that I really wanted, it was just an old Benz in amazing shape but not a super high value car. It was looking like it would slip under the radar and go cheap up until almost the end, so I threw in my “knockout” $8k bid, (it was at $5-6k, can’t remember). All of a sudden, I had a competitor and we bid against each other up to $15k before I dropped out. Auction fever...I was pissed and I wanted the car, if I couldn’t have it, I was going to make him pay dearly. No one else was bidding. I wanted to pay ~$8k tops but I went nuts. This is what drives the auction sites that are curated well...pure desire over reason and deep pockets in many cases.

When it was all over, I congratulated the guy and said that I really wanted to score it cheap. He said, “me too but I was afraid that you knew something I didn’t.”

So funny. The whole collector world is driven by buyers thinking that they are smarter than the guy selling the car.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by slow&rusty

Thank-you kindly, so much blood, sweat and tears has gone into this car...its crazy thinking about it.

I respect the hard work and the skill you put into saving that car but you don’t always get paid for that, especially on an expensive to restore car like a 928. I saved a car last year that would have been parted out, put a ton of work and $$ into it and the only real reward was that I sold it to someone I really care about and she loves it. There was no financial reward.

928 S4 manual cars fetch good $$ from what I can see, obviously pedigree and records since new make a big difference, etc. I hope that you get good coin for it, the collector car market is white hot this year.

[Embraer]

Completely off topic to this thread, but I can't stand Doug Demuro. His dorky, douchey videos (often with incorrect info) drive me nuts on youtube.

[slow&rusty]

Originally Posted by speeder

I respect the hard work and the skill you put into saving that car but you don’t always get paid for that, especially on an expensive to restore car like a 928. I saved a car last year that would have been parted out, put a ton of work and $$ into it and the only real reward was that I sold it to someone I really care about and she loves it. There was no financial reward.

928 S4 manual cars fetch good $$ from what I can see, obviously pedigree and records since new make a big difference, etc. I hope that you get good coin for it, the collector car market is white hot this year.

Thanks Denis, I appreciate it and agreed, I'm prepared to take a loss on the car (about $6k), such is life and the car hobby.

Originally Posted by Embraer

Completely off topic to this thread, but I can't stand Doug Demuro. His dorky, douchey videos (often with incorrect info) drive me nuts on youtube.

Agreed!

[Nickshu]

Originally Posted by slow&rusty

Cars and Bids were extremely excited to list my 928 as it would have been their first 928 and one that is in excellent condition...however they would not budge on the Reserve at $15k as they set the Reserve not the seller. I asked "So what happens if the right bidders aren't in the room when the hammer drops and the high bid is $15,001 ??", their response was "Then you're obligated to sell the car for $15,001"

BAT is the same. They will not let you have a high reserve, they will only set the reserve at the published market value rates (KBB, Hagerty, etc), or the hammer price of similar cars previously sold on BAT.

They want to sell cars. They don't want to get the reputation that BAT is a place for cars that the owners think are worth more than they really are (not a commentary on your 928, that's just their philosophy). I'd imaging Doug D is trying to copy the BAT formula.

I ran into the same issue selling a car on BAT, it ended up working out and I got way more for the car than I expected, but the relatively low reserve was something I had to be prepared for. Due to my prolific internet posting about the car I restored, then sold on BAT, there was much interest because the car was well known, which overcame the low reserve in the first 2 days, and ended up setting a BAT record for hammer price on the car model.

[widebody911]

This popped up this morning

[slow&rusty]

Well good news, I just received a deposit on my 928. Didn't need BaT, didn't need Doug Demuro and got my full asking price.

The car is heading to Atlanta.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by lgb240

A glossy set of pictures on line doesn't mean the car is good.

Yeah, I recently found a car online that looked nice and was within my budget; I posted on one of the XKE groups asking about it, and a couple of guys PM'd me to steer clear.

[nvr2mny]

I just submitted 3 cars to brat this week: matching #’s 86 Targa hotrod w/3.4L and over 150k in receipts, 5000 miles on resto / 82SC Targa in Moss Green w/53km and 100k in resto receipts and an 89 Jag XJS w/43km and 45k in receipts. All cars are damn near perfect. They told me they’d take the 86 hotrod only if I’d drop my reserve to @ 60k as they weren’t sure that I was being realistic about my amended reserve of 67. They could give a rats ass about anything except their profit. Screw the sellers. They haven’t responded back on the other 2 cars but I’m refusing to let them list them.

I tried listing an concours 83SC cab w/16,000 orig miles with them a couple of years ago (reserve then was 60k) and they told me that wasn’t their audience’s type of car. Last year they refused our ‘08 Audi S4 Avant wagon w/60,000miles because it was an automatic. I’m FOREVER done with them. Glad to hear, and use alternatives.

[sugarwood]

Originally Posted by nvr2mny

They could give a rats ass about anything except their profit. .

Yea, that's kind of why businesses sorta exist. They are not charities that exist to benefit you.

[SiberianDVM]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Yea, that's kind of why businesses sorta exist. They are not charities that exist to benefit you.

True, but they do have to provide a service that enough customers are willing to pay for.