By Staff Writer
Aug 19, 2020
|
Auction
| Posted in
Buyer's Guides
,
Features
| Never miss an article
Sponsored article presented by Bid Garage.
Bid Garage launched earlier this year with an ambitious plan: Create a new community and auction marketplace for today's car collector. To learn more, we sat down with one of the site's principals.
Classic Motorsports: Who are the people behind Bid Garage, and why should someone trust the sale of their classic car to them?
Bid Garage: We have a reasonably diverse team in terms of professional backgrounds; however, a common thread is a love of cars.
Our CEO and Founder bought his first Datsun before he could even drive and sold it for a profit not too long after. He has wanted to get into the car auction space ever since. He is an avid collector himself and has been keeping track of all the pros and cons in the traditional auction space.
Our COO was at Amazon for several years. I think his experience in a senior managerial role at the largest e-commerce business in the world has provided us valuable insights on logistics and customer satisfaction.
My position as CMO has been satisfying. It's been great to see our audience grow and to see the engagement our editorial content has received to date. I think if you take a moment to read some of our editorial content, you will see our expertise in the car world come through our articles.
We also have a great team of Auction Specialists and curators who have all worked extensively in the traditional and online auction worlds. They know what customers like, what to look for when approving listings, and how to negotiate reasonable reserves for pricing.
At the end of the day, we try and put customer trust and the customer experience at the center of our decisions; it is what we strive for with the platform. It is as transparent as it gets in the auction world. Our customers can see users' past bids, listings and comments, how many views your listing gets, and a direct seller Q&A. We created this platform with the customer in mind and aim to take away any of the pain points found with the traditional auction experience.
Classic Motorsporst: What kind of car and buyer will Bid Garage cater to?
Bid Garage: We feel that we have a few target audiences. We cater to collectors as well as those looking for just one special car in addition to their daily driver.
But we also feel that you can be a mom or dad looking for their teen's first car. I think you'll see that in our initial inventory. We also want to cater to the enthusiast who may never buy anything off our site but loves chatting cars.
Classic Motorsports: What is the process for listing a car on Bid Garage?
Bid Garage: First is a quick and easy submission on our site. You will be asked a few questions and will need to submit eight to 10 photos.
Our Auction Specialists will reach out to you, and if the car meets our criteria, the specialists will guide you through the rest of the information we require for your listing.
We will then coordinate a professional photo shoot as well as a full background vehicle check, all of which are complimentary when you list with Bid Garage. You will need to decide on your reserve and commission split options. It is risk-free, and our team is there to help the entire way.
Classic Motorsports: Since the new year, Bid Garage has been filling up the site with content: features, auction reports and buyer's guides. When will we see auctions on the Bid Garage site?
Bid Garage: Our auctions went live on August 4. We are very excited with our initial inventory, and there are certainly a few special finds for collectors. Still, there are also some great low-mileage daily drivers that anyone would be happy to put in their garage. Some of our featured lots are below:
• A lineup of low-mileage Datsun 240Z, 260Z and 280Z models
• A fully restored 1964 Sunbeam Tiger Mark 1
• A 1973 BMW 2002tii in Baikal Blue
• A 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL with only 4500 original miles
• A 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe with 40,000 original miles
• A 1986 Porsche 930 Turbo with 32,000 original miles
• A 1969 Jaguar E-type Roadster with 5000 original miles
Classic Motorsports: How will social media play into the Bid Garage scene?
Bid Garage: I don't think you can have many online businesses without a social media plan. So, like many businesses in 2020, it will play an important part. We certainly hope to use our social platforms to highlight our auctions and show our community what they can bid on and what's in the pipeline.
But we don't want it to end there. We genuinely want our community to engage and get excited about what they see on social. We have seen many debates in the comment sections thus far about our editorial content, so we hope the excitement remains with our listings. We also will still be sharing automotive news and anything new and exciting in the car world.
Classic Motorsports: Between eBay Motors, Bring a Trailer, and Doug DeMuro's new Cars & Bids, Bid Garage is entering a crowded market. What will separate Bid Garage from the competition?
Bid Garage: Although some new players are entering the market, we certainly don't think it's saturated. There are about 40 million secondary-market cars exchanging hands in America every year, and consumers are clearly showing that they are open to buying online.
The online auction experience provides a lot of unique opportunities that the traditional sale doesn't. We expect to see even more players enter the space.
We had a bit of an advantage of watching some of the online auctions you mention and seeing what works and what might be missing. We feel we are a no-risk option: We only charge the seller if the car sells, and we let the seller choose how they want to split the 5% in commission fees between the buyer and seller.
We offer complimentary professional photography from coast to coast and free car history reports. We also are working very hard on curating interesting listings that all car enthusiasts would love to have.
View all comments on the CMS forums
You'll need to log in to post.
