Bring a Trailer Auctions Development

[Macroni]

Is it me or do they seem to be developing a real foothold..... refreshing in context of EBay.

Very nice cars especially Porsche's.... last couple of weeks there have been a couple of 356s/ 911s/ 912s that I would be proud to have said I won the auction....

Right now there are three cars I would like to own the Black 356, 912 Softie and the 911T.

[dienstuhr]

Yes, they seem to be onto a real moneymaker there.

Great for the guys that run BaT but sometimes I miss the old days where they weren't selling anything, and it was just a bunch of guys talking about interesting cars.

d.

[Macroni]

It is a commercial evolution for certain.

Roughly 1,441 cars @ $250 fee = $360,250.00 not a bad start......

[specialtyoneinc]

Originally Posted by Macroni

It is a commercial evolution for certain.

Roughly 1,441 cars @ $250 fee = $360,250.00 not a bad start......

That's what they charge the seller. The buyer also pays BAT 5% of the sale price. Great business model they got going.

Movers and shakers: Bring a Trailer founder Randy Nonnenberg | Autoweek

[G60SuperCharger]

For the life of me I don't understand why eBay doesn't allow extending end times on car auctions (or anything else for that matter) like BAT does. The auction keeps going until no bids for 3 minutes. The sniping software everyone uses on ebay is unreliable and kills the auction momentum that normal auctions have.

I'd pay a $100 fee just to enable that feature for any of the auctions I have done, and I'm sure others would too. BAT is going to eat their lunch.

[billh1963]

I've sold a fair number of cars on bay. Lately, the bidders seem to be dealers, flippers or bottom feeders ("if your car doesn't sell, call me at 1-800-SCRE-WYOU").

I just sold my two MGA's for less than they would have sold on BaT. The next cars I decide to sell will go on BaT for sure.

The only challenge I have with BaT listings are the "armchair experts" who chime in who clearly don't know their a$$ from a hole in the ground. BaT is getting better about weeding out comments from those kinds of idiot posters.

[pu911]

Originally Posted by billh1963

I've sold a fair number of cars on bay. Lately, the bidders seem to be dealers, flippers or bottom feeders ("if your car doesn't sell, call me at 1-800-SCRE-WYOU").

I just sold my two MGA's for less than they would have sold on BaT. The next cars I decide to sell will go on BaT for sure.

The only challenge I have with BaT listings are the "armchair experts" who chime in who clearly don't know their a$$ from a hole in the ground. BaT is getting better about weeding out comments from those kinds of idiot posters.

I couldn't agree more- not sure I'd waste my time with listing on ebay right now, might try BAT at some point.

Phil

[thamlin000]

Porsches seem to do really good over there.

I'm impressed with how good the 944s do at BaT. Seen a few good (but not great condition) 944 n/a's sell for nearly $10k. Also saw a few 951 cars sell for around and over $30k.

In fact a couple weeks ago a 951 S sold for the exact same price as a 996TT just days apart. Both cars had about the same mileage!

[bleek]

Yeah, was awfully tempted to bid on the 944s2 one of the pelicans had for sale. Boy, that thing was cherry! BAT is has been great for the big German 3 classics.

[brisboats]

Seems Bat is attracting a nice collage of aircooled every week. Even the miata , coopers and other fare keep me entertained and intrigued. I like the commentary especially when it's about a car/marque I know little about. It's spontaneous, honest and those that do know do a decent job of keeping the armchair experts in the recliner. Good for Bat nice change of pace from EBay. Some recent 911e sales there can put the bubble therory to rest.
B

[bleek]

Great point about the self regulating aspect of the commenters. The ones that know stand out, and appear to be validated by others while the talkers get put in place. Makes for informed reading for sure!

[Macroni]

Quite a data base for car values.

[wally509]

I like BaT auctions, and like many have said there always seems to be a couple cars on there I wouldn't mind having.

I like Mercedes so I watch those auctions. BaT has had some issues lately which hopefully they will take some of this boatload of cash they're making to correct. I mean geez BaT, it takes about 5 seconds to google a VIN.

Some here have complained about the commenters aka "armchair experts" not knowing the a$$ from a hole in the ground. In the case of the 450SEL 6.9 litre a few weeks ago, those "armchair experts" completely outed the seller and BaT had to withdraw the auction. There was another title or seller misrepresentation on another Mercedes there recently as well but I don't remember what it was exactly.

later,
Wally

[Rick Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by wally509

In the case of the 450SEL 6.9 litre a few weeks ago, those "armchair experts" completely outed the seller and BaT had to withdraw the auction.

What was the issue?

[MrBonus]

BAT is like a candy store. I ask my wife almost daily if I can buy a car posted there.

[CountD]

It brings a little more dignity to the classic car auction scene - and it wasn't very hard to do so.

The eBay format offers very little more for a classic Porsche auction than selling an Elvis Presley key chain, since eBay essentially treats every auction item the same.

BAT is a little more intimate but to me (I don't comment on the cars or have even signed up), the wording can be glossy and misleading and in some instances the descriptions have made so-so cars present much better than they actually are.

[billh1963]

Originally Posted by wally509

Some here have complained about the commenters aka "armchair experts" not knowing the a$$ from a hole in the ground. In the case of the 450SEL 6.9 litre a few weeks ago, those "armchair experts" completely outed the seller and BaT had to withdraw the auction. There was another title or seller misrepresentation on another Mercedes there recently as well but I don't remember what it was exactly.

later,
Wally

Those posters clearly weren't "armchair quarterbacks". I'm referring to those who post incorrect information (such as engine size options, wheel styles, etc) because they heard it from a friend or mechanic. BaT has started policing those types of comments with more vigor lately.

[wally509]

Originally Posted by Rick Brooklyn

What was the issue?

The seller lied about how long he had the car and the title status. He said a few years but in reality he picked it up on ebay a few months ago, shot paint on it, washed the title from salvage somehow and stuck it up on BaT. Also, the seller claimed he was a collector downsizing but one of the "armchair quarterbacks" punked him out because he was recently bidding on other cars.

Okay so everybody lies these days right, so you're thinking no big deal. Then some other commenter throws some bids in and comments about how the title issues were overplayed and no big deal. Another "armchair expert" noted how this new bidder was making the exact same spelling and grammatical errors as the seller and the term "shill" got brought up. Shortly after this, BaT withdrew the auction with this comment:

bringatrailer

Thanks for all the comments and observations. This is an example of the system working properly with valuable information coming to light for prospective buyers and seller alike.

Given the information that has been uncovered we have withdrawn this auction. We take title issues very seriously and we believe this is the appropriate course of action in this case.

The sheet hits the fan around May 15 9:18am

Euro 1979 Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 | Bring a Trailer

[Rick Brooklyn]

Thanks. What a mess! Particularly pitiful that he writes "lean" and "of coarse" in the fake account, too!

[wally509]

Because I watch the Mercedes auctions on there and particularly like comments where sellers get called out for whatever reason. This is from a 190E 2.5-16 auction shortly after the 6.9 fiasco:

Bird  1,002

I guess the seller didn’t realize that there are several people here that follow the Japanese auctions. Definitely didn’t get imported last year like the post says. More like last month.

Trying for a quick flip, and doesn’t want to be called out for flipping it I guess…seems to me lying about the little things is a bad way to start selling a high dollar car like this.