Seeking - Bring a Trailer (BAT) Advice
 

So the time has come for us to move one of our cars down to its next owner. The car is our replica 550A6 spyder. As most of these are 4 cylinder VW, with an occasional subaru and ours is a 911 engine - the market is maybe a little unique. We both feel that BAT is the place to sell it.

For those who have sold, bought, or browsed with great enthusiasm that website - can you offer advice/suggestions that would help our process? We are going to use the professional photographer and I think a couple of short videos with good audio quality would be helpful. Maybe run it through a tunnel and give it the beans - LOL!

angela

I have not sold on BAT...but I must say that your Spyder is one of my favorite cars in the world. It should sell itself. Good luck with the sale.

I would mention in the ad that they do not need to bring a trailer.

Absolutely.

There are some experts at this here but I had to do a quick search:

https://bringatrailer.com/porsche/550-spyder-replica/

Best of luck, Angela!

Or just sell it to a Pelican. That should do for a start anyway, with no fees. Other p-car sites as well.

What will you be asking? Post some pics!

Angela, It may be worth the time to contact BAT and ask them also for their input on presentation formats they recommend.

Although what you mention seems to be exactly what they usually have on their auction listings.

GLWS!

This is not bad, particularly if you don't need to move it in a hurry. Call Jerry Seinfeld, he is rich, and that car would be right up his alley.

I hope this is not precipitated by any adverse event

Sold a '86 930 on BAT and got some good replies and bidders. What we did is made a gallery of many high quality pictures. Besides that we made a few video's running and starting the car. We also made a few video's of the car driving by.

Be honest. If there is a defect or imperfection describe it and include pictures of it.

BAT will help you with the writeup and they do a pretty good job.

Good luck selling.

Angela,
I have sold two Porsches at a satisfactory price. Let me tell you what I did:

1. I wrote a detailed advertisement
2. I had lots of good- not professional pictures
3. I priced at top of market

I sold one one (930) on Pelican. I had 12 responses in 12 hours and shut down the ad.
I sold the other 911SC on Craigslist in a day or so.

I was going to do the BAT route but I am a tightwad. Start easy, local and cheap. You really don't have anything to lose. Your car is exceptional. More coverage is good to find the right person.

(Also, I just made a call to someone I know who has the interest and checkbook. They weren't the person for this but Pelican has an amazing network and can probably sell your car to the right person.)

First off, I'd recommend you say you're moving your car on to the next owner, not down to them.

The people that browse BAT seem to like the auctions by the seller 911r a lot. They also like the photography used in their ads. Personally, I find it too artsie and don't feel it documents the condition of the car as well as it could. Remember, the photo's are what most people will use to judge the condition of the car. I don't think many people actually see a car in person before bidding.
I would refrain from making statements that are judgemental of the condition. Let the pictures do the talking. You can't have too many pictures either IMO.
As for BAT helping with the write up, well, let's just say I've seen some that could have used some editing.
Good luck.

-I have not sold on BaT, but I did photo a 'Vette some time ago for an auction.

I have sold two vehicles and an MFI system on BaT. I found the process to be pretty painless, but the vehicles I sold were special other than their uniqueness. I plan to list a 914-6 GT this spring like the one 911r sold. Now that should be interesting...

Take lots of good photos in early morning or late evening light. For "money" shots, I like to position myself a moderate distance from the vehicle and zoom in a little bit. Find a pleasant backdrop that does not distract from the view of the vehicle and make sure the lighting is really good. That will mean you move the car around a lot. Get good detail shots too along with the undercarriage. Finally, take an in car video preferably with a mounted GoPro, a walk around, and drive by. Write a good description and you are good to go.

Good luck!

Some things I've noticed about successful auctions Angela:

Pictures. Can't have too many of them as long as they are great and tell the car's story in detail. I've heard BaT photographers suck. Your hring a professional photographer is very smart.

Seller participation. You must be part of the auction transcript answering questions, providing insights and details about the car, on a regular basis. Definitely be there the last day.

Videos: make them visceral. Boring driving around videos are boring.

Your car is pretty special, and you are a super cool character. The combination of the two in an interactive auction should make for a great combination getting you the highest price possible.

Hope this helps.

I have nothing to add other than you have a very unique car and it's in great shape . I would buy it if I had the $$$ as I have always loved the 550's . Good luck with the sale .

I bought one and sold one, had a good experience both times. The only thing I would add to the other comments is the seller needs to be responsive and timely to questions from the potential bidders. Good communication is important. Good luck!

I would totally echo what the others said, photos and video sell the car. Your investment in a pro is wise and may pay off quite literally. Considering how unique your car is I think BaT is a good fit, there’s a very good chance it could bring more than expected. One other note, don’t let the BaT folks push you into an artificially low reserve. Remember that they really only get paid when a car sells, so that is their primary motivation.

I sold my Ferrari on there. I made money on the car, but i got hosed from the comment section when a previous owner decided to let everyone know how much he trashed the car....some of it blatantly false, but he wanted to appear cool to the BAT crowd. Additionally, I dealt with the "it's a an F355...I know how they're time bombs, expensive, valve guides, yada yada yada" comments by "experts" who knew nothing, but recited what they had read on the internet.I spent thousands of dollars correcting the stuff the PO did during his ownership, but the auction damage was done. I messaged him letting him know that his comments were unnecessary. He apologized, then proceeded to shill bid the car up. All in all I made money, but man, it was an aggravating experience.

I have 1,193 "Thumbs -Up " comments on BAT sometimes I wonder why I even comment.. I guess it's a bit like being at a bar and someone brings up a car -topic.. I have only bid on a few cars, never won anything or sold anything, so no real advice here - but I might comment favorably if I see it on auction. Check their history of sales with the Spyder replica, see if that gets you in the ball park of what you need for it. READ all the comments of sold cars. Emphasize the Porsche engine, that is a bonus for sure, and be sure to note any other authentic Porsche parts that might be on the car. What percentage does BAT take? Maybe your buyer is on Pelican or Renn List. Will be watching for it. I have only seen one in my life and it was a real one, later it sold to a Canadian guy for a cool mil.

No experience with BAT but I love your car, damn my 3 car garage house that already has 3 cars and 4 motorcycles in it.....

Seeking
 

Angela I have sold 3 cars on BaT, a 74 Carrera, 65 Corvette and a 98 Corvette. I think the folks above have already covered the main points. My comment would be to have a thick skin when the "no money no bid" jerks come out with their know it all comments, and stupid " I think I am so smart" comments
Along with quick responses to legitimate questions, I recommend you pay attention to some of the comments made by the folks after the sale as to what they thought helped, or could have been done better.
Good Luck with your sale.

Man, two cars being sold by Pelicanites that I want, and not the right time for either. Between Matt's SL63 and Angela's 550 (bit of a dream car, that one!), I need to cash out the retirement fund. :D
no, better not.
:(

My takeaway here is that you shouldn't sell that car.

You're welcome.

I sold on BAT.
A few things you should know.
BAT is the forum, auction happens and BAT gets paid before connecting buyer and seller. They don't really care if buyer walks away at that point. Their job of selling is done, not yours.

Lots of buyers have multiple accounts, they will very skillfully trash cars in comments section before bidding gets too high hoping to get a deal. "I saw this car last summar bashed up, must have been cleaned up quickly for sale" or "these have that pherabolic engine problem blah blah" to spook and create uncertainty. BAT will not remove any comments no matter how unverified. I have seen buyers boasting of a 'score" by doing this.

So while buyers can post and keep anything they want, BAT will rewrite your ad to make sure your claims are all substantiated. In the end the wording is theirs, not yours and you just get to approve it.

Finally auction goes on whey they want to, not you. The slot you in around other auctions so there are not 3 similar cars on at once, but it's dealers who sell many cars through them will get much more control.

They also set the limit, and you agree to them. They want cars to sell, not advertise but it is a little frustrating

I sold one through them, it went fine but would not do it again. I sold another through eBay, went a lot smoother but different kinds of cars so apples and oranges.

+1

I have an interesting BaT story to share while we're all chiming in.

In 2019, I listed my Guards red on tan 1987 Porsche 928 S4 Manual.
This was a car I bought for $16.5k, that had been sitting for years in a private collection and really I overpaid for it based on its rough condition. I decided to sell it after doing nothing to it and owning it for over a year. I set my BaT reserve for $15.5k which I felt was really fair based on the condition, work it needed but also it represented a somewhat rare model as 90% were automatics.

Well Mike Tyson punch me in the face and call me Buttercup, all the 928 experts came out of the woodwork and really chomped the car alive based on what it needed and all the catch-up maintenance, it was unbelievable, even the BAT auctioneer private messaged me on "keeping my composure". Anyway bidding flat lined at $12k. The highest offer off BaT was a local restaurant owner who offered $13k (he was lurking on my BaT auction).

I licked my wounds, and then decided to make this car really awesome, I addressed EVERYTHING on this car, I even fixed the R12 AC, new leather, new suspension, new brakes you name it...I figured I had about 700-hours of my time on it. I asked BaT if I could re-list it as it was basically a whole different car and they flat denied me.

With heart in my hand, I decided to list it on Rennist and sold it for than my asking price in less than 1-day. It was a wild ride and goes to show good cars will sell.
Yasin

Of all the wonderful advice listed here - I love this one the most!

We'll probably get this listed end of April, early May. The oil pressure/temp guage decided to go completely DOA so it has been shipped out for repair. We'll clean thoroughly and shoot plenty of pictures. We have access to a hoist to lift it for good full body under shots. Has some need things that you can only see from the bottom side, like the removable aluminum panel that lets you access the steering rack and fuel pump/filter, etc.

Thank you everyone!

angela

I don't know BAT, but I sold my Beck Spyder recently, using a dealer who specializes in such things. For reference, it sold for $40K. The link below may be of help. I miss the car, but not too much. I just noticed there were no pics of the engine - that's strange. It looked great.

https://www.carsauto.com/1955-porsche-beck-550-spyder-c-1968.htm

You could save a lot of trouble and just give it to me as is! :D

I think that I already commented on another thread that I'm glad you came out alright on that one. The porsche market is strong enough right now that people can get the BaT price on Pelican or Rennlist because the same people are watching and everybody knows what the 2021 price is on a given car. BaT does have a wider reach but glad it wasn't needed in your case.

BaT can be a great place to sell but they have their own policies, that's for sure. It's a hell of a lot easier to get a car on there now than it was before the sale, that's for sure. They will now list absolutely anything. But only once per owner. If the car changes owners, they will gladly list it again.

I just sold a Land Rover Discovery II on BaT and could not be happier with the experience. $100 total cost for seller regardless of sales price.

Definitely a place to sell (not buy).
They'll fight you on reserve. They'll make you wait. Their copy will be terrible. Once sold they are useless in your dealings with the seller or payments. Be ready to wait, defend your valuation, and be super engaged with comments and maybe repost "your" original description of the car because they'll largely rewrite it. Also have patience with idiots. I had to measure a bumper off a flat floor in 4 places to prove that the bumper wasn't crooked on my car and the guy's eyes were ;-) Still, did very well... was a little worried on the $ transaction because they are not engaged in that and do not vet buyers at all. Great place to sell.. If you buy there you have more $ than sense.

Having listed two cars with them I totally agree. If you have a rare or hot car it’s worth the trouble as it could bring more than expected. If you have something more normal where you are just trying for fair market value there are better forums. My SL63 would be a waste of time to deal with BaT, I can write a better ad and have it sold before they even get it listed for sale.

My BaT experience.
 

I sold my '75 Targa in 2016 after rebuilding it almost twice - https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1975-porsche-911-2/

I feel my listing and the process proceeded very well and reviewing the listing and comments would be informative.

I provided many pictures taken late afternoon with HDR (high dynamic range) mode on as cellphone. I provided them in an organized and labeled manner. I provided a whole bunch of lists of work done and the story behind the car. Their staff wrote up the description (they used a consistent 'formula', which helps make the listings comparable). Primarily they describe the car objectively using picture and provided evidence. I had three pages of information (in the Gallery) which really helped to beef up the information that was written into the listing by BaT.

The buyer pays a percentage and pays transport. The seller does some valuable work promoting during commenting, pays a smaller listing fee and makes the vehicle available for transport.

In the end my Targa sold for much more than I expected. $36,500 :D To a German buyer. :) Early on and before many comments the bids surpassed the reserve I had considered. The comments were primarily positive - which helped a lot. During the week the auction was active I made a video to further enhance the listing - I upped the game.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vmIPbOp7HRM" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The German buyer was required to change to H4 headlights, replace the chipped windshield, Europeanized the rear bumper etc and two years later I heard from a new owner in Germany.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1615429858.jpg

Good luck Angela -

In my case they did just that - set an artificially low reserve. Can I say what the reserve I want? Can they reject my reserve?

Yes you can, that is your choice.
Of course they can reject your choice. They're in the business of selling cars, not getting the most money for the sellers.

They'll try and low ball you or convince you that you'll do better in the end with a no reserve sale. Don't cave in. If you don't get your reserve, move on to a different venue. Best of luck!

Yup, that’s why I haven’t listed several cars with them. Ultimately I got way more than the reserve price they were pushing for.

I am on the wall - go with BAT or consign. I have been leaning slightly towards BAT because of the convienence where I don't have to ship to the consignor and don't have to pay their rather high fee.

Why not just list it yourself? The market is hot right now, cars priced well are selling quick.

Agreed. If you like the auction format then sell it on EBay.