Midlana back on BaT

Auction runs for another 2.5 hours or so.

Best of luck!!

Still an awesome car.

Hopefully it does better than last time

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/turbocharged-k24a-powered-tube-frame-street-car/

$25,540 at two minutes to go.  All the rest of the bidding came in on "extended time"

That two minute reset after a bid is great. Prevents snipers from last second grabs.

Hope it keeps going up.

Well, that didn't go as well as hoped......either that or the last auction set an unreasonable expectation.

Maybe there just wasnt a crowd for it today.

Today winning bidder at $31k was the last auction's loosing bidder at $54k

Screen shot of previous auction

Buyer saved himself 20 grand! 

Holy crap that SUCKS!!

Just sayin :

 I do not have the balls for no reserve auctions.......

The second time around, things started out okay, but between a couple early comments, the cooling economy, and the car probably being somewhat tainted due to being offered again, the sale never really built momentum. I agree that the first sale did bias me a bit to unrealistic expectations, but I didn't move the reserve. Three days in and I'd have bet that it wouldn't have sold. In fact, it came within two seconds(!) of not meeting reserve. If you've ever used BaT, you know that their clock and the displayed clock are often as much as 10 seconds different, so I guess the car gods smiled on me.

I'm left with very mixed feelings about online auctions, because all it takes is one guy or one comment to potentially torpedo the entire auction. In addition, it's not just the winner. There seem to be a lot of people with a big pile of play money, and who have what I call a "shiny penny" condition, where as soon as something disappears, they lose all interest. If I was selling a 1967 Mustang, for example, I completely get it, perhaps the trailing bidders decided to wait for one in better condition. OTOH, to put down real money for an entirely from-scratch custom-built car, that seems very different, or so I thought. If you would have asked me a couple months ago what kind of buyer would pick this up, I'd have confidently said that it'll obviously be someone very talented in diverse car abilities, or at least know someone who is. And yet, the moment it "sold" the first time, the three trailing bidders lost all interest. Shows what I know about human nature.

So it turns out, sometimes it pays to not win an auction, because with the shifting crowds and the economy, you may get a chance at the same car again for much less the second time around. The first time around, I immediately contacted bidder #2 about it, and he said he was already interested in a Lotus track car, which he did in fact win. Fair enough, so I assumed that I'd never hear from him again. When his user name popped up at the last minute, it was pretty surprising, and it certainly worked out for him!

Overall, I'm fine with it. I knew going into this that a car's worth is subject to a dozen different factors, all variable, and all changing every day. Hit it just right and you look like a hero, but hit it wrong and it doesn't sell at all. At the end of the day, the car is worth only what someone will pay for it, and the market spoke.

californiamilleghia said:

Just sayin :

 I do not have the balls for no reserve auctions.......

Neither did I...

Hey, at least its not the goober that bailed last time 

In reply to kb58 :

You're a good man! 

Mr_Asa said:

Hey, at least its not the goober that bailed last time 

BaT temporarily blocked his ability to comment and bid.

The guy going on about the timing chain rattle kind of pee'd in your pool and messed up the vibe. 

kb58 said:

Mr_Asa said:

Hey, at least its not the goober that bailed last time 

BaT temporarily blocked his ability to comment and bid.

So basically no consequences for him at all. That sucks. 

kb58 said:

Mr_Asa said:

Hey, at least its not the goober that bailed last time 

BaT temporarily blocked his ability to comment and bid.

LOL.  Good.

Steve_Jones said:

kb58 said:

Mr_Asa said:

Hey, at least its not the goober that bailed last time 

BaT temporarily blocked his ability to comment and bid.

So basically no consequences for him at all. That sucks. 

That's exactly what a buddy said, that because BaT didn't ban him, there's nothing preventing him from doing it again to others.

I felt the same way about my corrado sale on BaT.  The previous corrado, not as sorted or nice as mine, sold for 50% more than mine did.  Mine barely beat reserve at the last minute.  No regrets, I did make the reserve price but I was surprised at how much less it sold compared to the other one.

Obviously in your case it was a different story.  End of the day BaT still reaches a much larger audience than trying to sell it privately via forums or whatever...

It was initially doing poorly enough that I had resigned myself to start taking it to Cars and Coffee until I find a buyer. I wasn't upbeat on that because I think the chances of finding a buyer there is really small, especially for something like this - it needs a huge audience to find an interested party. There's also the risk and wear and tear driving the car there every week. Once I decide to sell something, I stop using it to avoid possible damage.

Other than the economy, it's near impossible to know what the "weather" will be on BaT; you pays your fees and takes your chances. If the first auction never happened, I'd be happy with what it bid to, because it DID go above my reserve (even above the reserve I initially set - before BaT made me reduce it, grr). Being objective about it, being at all unhappy means that I'm on the slippery slope of greed, and that's not good.

Before I finally let this go, there was a comment late in the second auction, "that fuel leak cost you $22K." Yes it did, but what the commenter doesn't know is what it avoided. My wife and I had met the first winner part way through the auction, and we strongly hoped that he wouldn't win. Without going into why, avoiding that was worth a lot, and ironically, it worked out that way!

In reply to kb58 :

I agree there is a time/financial/life-force risk in selling something so custom to the wrong buyer. 

In reply to kb58 :

After the first buyer backed-out I read the comments in original auction posting.  I get the impression you're much better off with a different buyer.  When BaT was new I used to check it regularly.  I even sent a draft auction post in hope they'd hire me as a part-time writer.  I rarely visit the site these days.  I feel like I'm living on a different planet than their target audience & many of the people who comment there.  

There was a lot left unsaid about the first winner, and yes, absolutely agree.

BTW, the new owner is in the Memphis TN area, so if you're around there, maybe you'll see her!