[Rotate]

Hey everyone,

Looking for some feedback on these auction sites. As a serial collector, long time petrolhead, and someone who has worked in the industry I've been considering getting into this space. I actually have one of my own cars going onto BaT next week and have mixed thoughts so far regarding the service.

As is best practice, would be super helpful to get some feedback from people with any experience using these sites. What do you like, what do you dislike, what do you wish they would do, etc?

More than happy to pay it forward however I can.

Thanks!

[smyles]

Check e9x M3 forum.

[wdb]

I bought my Z4MC on BaT. I like the 5% buyer's fee. Seller didn't like the pressure to set a low reserve.

I've also had very strong evidence of shill bidders on BaT, and brought them to the attention of the admins, who essentially ignored me. How strong you ask? The car was local so I went to see it in person. The seller told me his reserve and offered to sell me the car on the spot for a bit less. Later during the last day of bidding the car was pushed up to $100 below reserve by two brand new bidders. Ahem.

All in all though I think BaT does a pretty good job of keeping sellers honest.

[TheDudeMan]

IMO BaT is a joke. 90% of cars on the site don't represent the actual market, however they are creampuffs. I rather take my chances and use local listing to find cars without middle man fees or local dealers where I can negotiate.

[Rotate]

Really appreciate the feedback so far. I too have been suspicious of some of the bidding activity though it is a tough thing to enforce.

[j0oftheworld]

Careful, as certain cars get NO love on BaT! I think the target audience tends to be +/-80's kids finally getting a chance to buy they're 90's poster cars.

[86Zed]

Two of my friends have purchased cars on Bring a Trailer without issue. In one instance it was a local car my friend had seen for sale on/off over the course of 18 months.

I myself have bid of 5-6X cars seriously. Sellers in general have been super transparent and cars well represented, however usually sell towards the higher end of the market range in terms of $$

[to_riffic]

Bought my E46 M3 on BaT, no regrets. Seller was local, so it made the process really smooth. Have also bought out of state and have never had an issue outside of BaT

[wdb]

Originally Posted by to_riffic

Bought my E46 M3 on BaT, no regrets. Seller was local, so it made the process really smooth. Have also bought out of state and have never had an issue outside of BaT

I bought a local car too. It's a leap of faith to buy sight unseen, to be sure.

[Josh-PA]

I sold my z3 on BAT. I got good money for the car, but it wasn't a flawless process. The ad took a couple of weeks for them to list after I got them everything they needed. I was very on top of the listing during the live period. The winning bidder flaked out after he won and pretty much disappeared and BAT wasn't helpful. Luckily the 2nd highest bidder and I struck a deal the same day and all went well. Just FYI, once the auction completes, you and the seller are pretty much on your own to close the deal.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1998-bmw-z3-23/

I don't think I could have gotten the value for the car I did without having the BAT visibility and it was nice to have a finite period of time for selling (ie: I knew it would be sold at the end of the auction). If I had another car that I thought would do well on there I'd use them again.

[Josh-PA]

Originally Posted by j0oftheworld

Careful, as certain cars get NO love on BaT! I think the target audience tends to be +/-80's kids finally getting a chance to buy they're 90's poster cars.

This is very true. I know for instance it is the place for M2 sales to go and die.

[to_riffic]

Originally Posted by Josh-PA

I sold my z3 on BAT. I got good money for the car, but it wasn't a flawless process. The ad took a couple of weeks for them to list after I got them everything they needed. I was very on top of the listing during the live period. The winning bidder flaked out after he won and pretty much disappeared and BAT wasn't helpful. Luckily the 2nd highest bidder and I struck a deal the same day and all went well. Just FYI, once the auction completes, you and the seller are pretty much on your own to close the deal.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1998-bmw-z3-23/

I don't think I could have gotten the value for the car I did without having the BAT visibility and it was nice to have a finite period of time for selling (ie: I knew it would be sold at the end of the auction). If I had another car that I thought would do well on there I'd use them again.

Originally Posted by Josh-PA

I sold my z3 on BAT. I got good money for the car, but it wasn't a flawless process. The ad took a couple of weeks for them to list after I got them everything they needed. I was very on top of the listing during the live period. The winning bidder flaked out after he won and pretty much disappeared and BAT wasn't helpful. Luckily the 2nd highest bidder and I struck a deal the same day and all went well. Just FYI, once the auction completes, you and the seller are pretty much on your own to close the deal.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1998-bmw-z3-23/

I don't think I could have gotten the value for the car I did without having the BAT visibility and it was nice to have a finite period of time for selling (ie: I knew it would be sold at the end of the auction). If I had another car that I thought would do well on there I'd use them again.

Yeah. They ban those that flake out and I guess you could make another account and bid on something else but I just didn't want that to happen nor intended that to occur.

[bagekko]

Never bought or sold, but IMHO its gotten to big and greedy. From people I know that have sold on it, they aren't as great to deal with as they used to be in the past. Almost everything ends up overpriced, to often I can't believe what cars have sold for. The community that comments still its best feature, though the comments can get brutal and not constructive more often these days. I feel they are spoiling and inflating the market as Barrett Jackson did to muscle cars. Like ebay in beginning BaT used to be mostly individuals selling, way to many dealers and brokers selling on it now.