Bring a Trailer.com - Anyone used it?

I'm selling my MGB-GT (it's listed here or course).

I've looked thru adds on BaT.com but never sold or bid.

Has anyone used it for either?

Whats your thoughts / opinion?

Thanks,

TJ

Is there a blog , website , Facebook page of people who have sold  on BAT ?
 

might make interesting reading and get some tips on the best way to deal with the "experts" posts etc.

I think there are several of us on here who have sold cars on BaT. I only sold one car on there about two years ago and it was generally a decent experience, and I would probably consider selling on there again if I ever plan to sell my Maxton or Elise.

You have to bring a certain amount of patience - the process of getting the vehicle listed takes a while (I think in my case it was about two months until it went live) and you have to make sure you proof read everything they write as they don't use your copy that you provide when you submit the vehicle. Also, make sure you take good photos of the car.

As to meeting their acceptance criteria, that seems o be a little hit and miss. They happily listed my S2k, but they also rejected a very nice Honda GL1000 that had been restored to a superb standard but didn't have a stock exhaust (because those are unobtanium). Yet I see other bikes on there that seem to have been restored to, shall we say, a much less discerning standard.

The main headache with my sale was the logistics of getting the car picked up - that was pre-BaT affiliated shipping, so the buyer used uShip and had an experience almost as bad as I had when I tried to use them to ship a couple of cars across the country during our house move. They eventually picked it up, but I s33m to remember it ending up over a week later than they promised, with the usual shenanigans of not keeping anybody informed so I had about 1/2h notice. This was obviously not on BaT but still part of the overall experience.

Not sure if the shipping option via BaT is better as I haven't used it, but I don't think it can be much worse.

I can't speak from a seller's perspective, only a bidder's (but not a winner as I'm still a bit tepid with online auctions). 

The comments are what make BAT great, but they are harsh if they smell blood. In my experience the best sellers are very active in the auction, answering questions, providing additional information, pictures, and videos. I'm sure this is challenging for the majority of sellers that aren't dealers, and auctions apparently go live with little notice to the seller which can catch them off guard.

I'll 2nd the good pictures, especially high quality, detailed, mechanical & undercarriage. If I'm buying something site unseen and older/classic, my big concern is rust so I go right to those photos first. I may not be an average cross section so YMMV.

It's definitely a great way to reach a huge audience. Being an auction, you're a bit at the whim of the market participants during that time period, which can cut both ways.

It does take a good few months to get your car accepted and the copy approved. 

Copious amounts of professional pictures can make a significant difference in the final price.  Like 100 or more well lit photos of every little detail, Not a handful of exterior and interior shots. Definitely get shots of the underside from a lift. 

Interacting with the commenters is critical. Answer every question no matter how mundane or stupid it is.

Here's an article on Bring a Trailer that might help–it's an in-depth item that explains how it came to be and how buying and selling on the site works:

Bring a Trailer: Today’s Auction Company for Today’s Auction Shopper

I sold two cars from BaT–not recently, but not a hundred years ago, either. 

I'll second (third) that you need to be 100000% committed to answer every question, no matter how stupid it seems. If someone asks if the car is made of green cheese, you need to reply.

In my case, some people questioned if my Mini had been rebodied because it had fender-mounted marking lights. That's how the Innocenti Minis came, but I still had to take the time to scan the pages in the book explaining the lights and post. 

Also, we recently sold a car–our '75 Pontiac wagon–via eBay. I went that way because the car wasn't perfect as BaT can afford to be selective. eBay was quick and easy. 

I've sold a couple, including a Miata that went for $83k and another that went for $40k :) I've also assisted in a bunch of auctions - if one of "our" cars is listed, I participate to help out the seller.

Their in-house writing style is terrible. Expect some back and forth trying to get acceptable verbiage, and you'll have to accept some losses. They won't use the word "stroker", for example, even if the engine is legitimately stroked using a kit called, say, a "Flyin' Miata stroker kit". They also consider the odometer to be suspect if any work has been done anywhere near the gauges, even if the actual odometer has not been touched. And they love to use the word "allegedly", like it gives them some sort of impartiality for the auction they're making money off.

Good photos are KEY. That's true of all sales. The in-house photography service they offer is acceptable and well worth the money, they even brought in a second photographer the one time we used it because the first did not meet their own standards. On our most recent sale, I even did an extended, narrated drive video that I think helped quite a bit as it showed just how well-mannered the car was.

Definitely interact in the comments. Be friendly, honest and accurate. You will not get any warning that the auction is about to go live, even if they promise it. It's also up to you to promote the auction somewhere else, their volume is such that a new auction will immediately get overwhelmed by the next ones.

I do like the fact that auctions are extended until all bidders have stopped. No last-minute sniping here, it's more fair to both buyers and sellers. So your auction might run longer than expected, but that's probably only going to be a few minutes.

Post-auction is just normal shipping etc. Nothing unusual about BaT versus any other remote sale there.

I'm part way through the selling process now. I thought it would take a few weeks of back and forth before my listing went live. Nope, I'm on Day 46 from first contact and they've yet to supply their first draft description.

A couple weeks ago I politely inquired if they needed anything else (read: "what's taking so long"). They said that it takes a while because they have (literal quote), "...1,300,000+ pageviews on the site each day and nearly 800,000 users on BaT, thousands of great sellers like yourself are trying to access our marketplace at the moment..." Neither "reason" has anything to do with new listings, unless their editors spend their days looking at listings instead of doing their job.

Yes, I'm a bit annoyed, and if it takes a while, fine, just say so, don't make up lame excuses. The real reason seems to be a simple lack of staff.

I've sold two cars on BaT.  The first one was much quicker.  As the site has grown service is definitely slipping on their end.  Sad part is it is still one of the best ways to reach more buyers.

In reply to kb58 :

It does seem to move reasonably well once your listing gets to the top of the pile. First draft is the longest wait IIRC.

A good friend has ~1 hour left on the sale of his 964 there. Big money already! It's been interesting to get a front row seat to the process.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1992-porsche-911-carrera-2-coupe/#comments-anchor

In reply to Keith Tanner :

A buddy sold a car on BaT that had DeDion rear suspension. He said that they insisted on calling it independent suspension. He wasn't sure if they honestly didn't know, didn't care, or figured that it would increase the car value and their commission. Regardless, they wouldn't change it.

Regarding the term "allegedly", yeah, it comes across as "this is what the seller claims, but who's to say for sure." It implies mistrust, and as you said, like they feel the need to distance themselves from something, implying that it may not be true.

As an aside, I used to work in Field Support. We had four response timeframes to provide written reports: four hours; three days; a week, and four weeks. Based on the relaxed response time I'm seeing, a BaT editor would have a tough time getting hired by us. I'll quit poking at them when they send the draft of my/their description.

I've sold two on there, a V8-swapped XJS a loooong time ago when you really did need to bring a trailer, and my Z06 last year. I have attempted to sell various other items and cars over the last 3 years and well, as you see, none have made it to a listing. Some are understandable, like the P38 Rover I had that was a pile, others were more questionable. Simply put, BaT has a stranglehold on the market and can afford to be very selective. If the car you are selling is "common" (there's at least 1 listed at all times), you are going to get nit-picked and wait your turn. If I want to sell my 986 Boxster S, it's going to take months for my spot in line. On the other hand, if you have something truly rare, they will absolutely bump you up ASAP. If you can get in and get listed relatively quickly, it's a great platform, it's just not for every car.

dyintorace said:

A good friend has ~1 hour left on the sale of his 964 there. Big money already! It's been interesting to get a front row seat to the process.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1992-porsche-911-carrera-2-coupe/#comments-anchor

Sold for $111,964! 

Javelin said:

...If you can get in and get listed relatively quickly, it's a great platform, it's just not for every car.

Humbling but as expected. I guess I should be happy that they accepted my one-off, be patient, and sit down.

dyintorace said:

dyintorace said:

A good friend has ~1 hour left on the sale of his 964 there. Big money already! It's been interesting to get a front row seat to the process.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1992-porsche-911-carrera-2-coupe/#comments-anchor

Sold for $111,964! 

this is one of the most interesting/entertaining things about BAT to me. On almost every listing I see, someone thinks it's a deal. 

I have no idea on whether this is a good price or not, the air cooled 911 market is way too nuanced for a casual observer such as myself. 

In reply to GM > MG :

Need mr2s2000elise to come to the courtesy phone. He seems the most active BaT seller on this forum. Seems to have nothing but praise for BaT; but then again, he also appears to have the "6th sense" of what BaT buyers are looking for.

So I just sold my VW Corrado on BaT, auction closed last Thursday.  Previously they'd agreed to list my LSx swapped 951 but we couldn't agree on an acceptable reserve price so they declined to list it.

They accepted the Corrado no problem and had it listed within a month I think, which I was pleasantly surprised by.  I paid the extra $250 to have one of their contracted photographers come over to my house and take the pictures, which was TOTALLY worth it.  He was there several hours and had a specific BaT supplied check list of pictures to take.  I think my auction had 110 pictures or something?

Really the only potential sticking point is the reserve price, if you set it too high they'll negotiate it with you and not accept the car at all if they think the reserve price is too high. 

Yes the write ups are a bit generic and they're also vague on purpose, to give both them and the seller some wiggle room for interpretation.  I was a little annoyed that they didn't list everything I asked them too, maybe they have a word count limit or something?

Once the car is listed you need to be prepared to be active on the listing, answering questions and posting pictures of things that people request.  It helps alot if you're a subject expert on the car you're selling, otherwise people can nit pick the car and you can't really respond properly.  My friend sold his 993 C4S and couldn't really properly respond to a comment that was just off base.

The buyer of my car is using the BaT shipping service, I just got an email from them today saying that a trucking company has accepted the job and I'm waiting to hear what the pick up date is.

Once the auction closed I got in touch with the buyer, talked to him and sent him my bank info.  He wired the money to me that day, the next day I sent him the signed title, extra sets of keys and two bills of sale.  One he keeps, the other he signs and sends back to me.

It was a pretty painless process, my one complaint is I would've liked to have gotten more for the car but that's not BaT's fault.

I sold 3 vehicles on BaT.  They brought significant premiums over what I could have gotten anywhere else.  But I also chose that venue because they were faultless examples with no excuses.  I also chose no-reserve auctions on all three.  If you have a realistic expectation of what the car is worth, BaT is going to yield the highest result and No Res auctions close higher than auctions with a reserve.  

Mainstream cars or cars with stories will fare better through more traditional outlets.  

I window shop BaT, but I'm not well-heeled enough to buy there. 

David S. Wallens said:

Also, we recently sold a car–our '75 Pontiac wagon–via eBay. I went that way because the car wasn't perfect as BaT can afford to be selective. eBay was quick and easy. 

From most of the comments I think that BaT would not be suitable for me.

The quick and easy way is my favorite way to do anything...

Thanks for the info guys, most appreciated.

And I'm done whining, as BaT just sent my draft description.

Just had two auctions go through. Their insistence that the cars did not have a title because my home state does not issue titles for cars over 10 years old was infuriating. Both cars had clean titles the next owner can certainly use in the registration process, but BaT put all over the listing that the cars didn't come with titles. Meanwhile, I see on other auctions that were perfectly happy to say, for instance, the car resided in North Carolina but was being sold with a Washington State title. Zero consistency. 

My writer even went so far as to change the language on my other listing written by another manager to put those Godawful words, NO TITLE into the description. Absolutely maddening. 

One car sold, but the winning bidder was a total flake. Didn't have the funds. Not kidding. Thank God the second bidder reached out to ask if the deal went through. Ended up having to do all the legwork on my own to sell the car anyway. 

The other didn't meet reserve. I don't think there's any magic here unless two people really want what you've got. No different than eBay and not worth the wait. 

Javelin said:

...Simply put, BaT has a stranglehold on the market and can afford to be very selective...

Although BaT seems to be the reining incumbent, Cars & Bids seems like an up and coming alternative:

https://carsandbids.com/