BAT competition

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

I listed my M5 on this auction site in case anyone is interested. So far the experience has been good.

2000 BMW M5 available for Auction | AutoHunter.com | 3499902

Classic and Modern Collectible Cars available for Auction - AutoHunter™. The Hunt is on!

autohunter.com

 

[Nicad]

I'd pay $1101 for that. Can Paypal as a friend to save fees. I'd love a car so clean underneath. In Toronto that would have to be a 2020 model. Will watch where this goes. Did you take those shots? I'd kinda like some polished up beauty shots with a nice warm colour temp if I was buying such a magnificent car.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

I got a local offer and set my reserve at that price- It's a really nice car, just needs a good owner, one who will keep it maintained and put a little into her as they move along. All indications are that this is a really reliable car- I say that because I have only put a few hundred miles on her and don't know her history before that. I took the shots on a very cold day (for Austin) :-(

 

[tferrer]

Peter - Did you ever consider going to BaT? Only cost 99 bucks and these cars seem to do very well there. The car has obvious needs but there are always folks looking for something that isn't perfect and a platform for some sweat equity

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

There is a bunch of BaT competitors popping up. I believe competition is healthy, but I fear that competing with BaT at this point is like competing with eBay. Like eBay, BaT has the critical mass in their niche. There is no car auction site where you can get more "eyes" on your car for sale than BaT, and no car auction site you can go to with more cars if you are a buyer. It will be tough for competitors to draw sellers and buyers away from BaT. I do hope that at least one of BaTs competitors come up with that silver bullet that enables them to become real competition. It would be a good thing for us car guys.

 

[Nicad]

How much does selling through BAT end up costing? I have two cars left that I might want to sell. I haven't gone to BAT in quite a while. Used to peruse it almost every morning several years ago.

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

$99

Sell Your Classic, Exotic, or Collector Car - 2,500 Cars Sold a Month

Bring a Trailer is the best place to sell vintage, exotic and classic vehicles. Your dedicated auction team will help guide you through the entire process and get your car sold.

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Keep in mind that because BaT is currently the "go to" place to sell a car, they can be picky. They make their money when the car sells and the buyer pays BaT 5% of the selling price. They only accept cars either no reserve, or at a reserve they are pretty sure will sell the car.

 

[tferrer]

Dick's right. BaT will only accept what they believe is a reasonable reserve. Having a popular model does help a bit with that. Many of the cars on BaT get sold afterwards if they don't meet reserve as Bat provides the seller with the contact info of the top bidder. I've sold several cars on there and always did fine.

 

[Nicad]

Pretty sure they would take my Miata or 2002. Will keep that in mind. I'd like to sell to an American because for now the $$ are worth a lot more than ours.

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

Canadian cars have not always done well with US buyers on BaT. For whatever reason, importing a car from Canada to the US is a big mystery to many, plus lots of misinformation floating around. If you do list your cars, it would be good to post a detailed process to import along with contact info for some known good brokers.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Peter - Did you ever consider going to BaT? Only cost 99 bucks and these cars seem to do very well there. The car has obvious needs but there are always folks looking for something that isn't perfect and a platform for some sweat equity

BAT always beats me up on my reserve, quite annoying

 

[Arde]

Looks like a pretty solid M5. Not sure you can call it reliable after a few hundred miles .
The small box wired to the battery is intriguing. Does it house a couple of AA batteries in case you need a jump?

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Arde, good guess, it's actually for my electric razor!

 

[John H.]

I had a one family (ours) owned cherry 1996 Mercedes S600 with 80k miles and BAT wouldn't even consider selling it. They can be super picky, and frankly even though we have bought two cars on there, it will have to be a special car to make me bite again. If you do submit, know they take a long time to get your listing up live and I have heard that their descriptions leave a bit to be desired (see Hack Mechanic Rob Siegel write up on his experience on Facebook).

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

I had a one family (ours) owned cherry 1996 Mercedes S600 with 80k miles and BAT wouldn't even consider selling it. They can be super picky, and frankly even though we have bought two cars on there, it will have to be a special car to make me bite again. If you do submit, know they take a long time to get your listing up live and I have heard that their descriptions leave a bit to be desired (see Hack Mechanic Rob Siegel write up on his experience on Facebook).

We need to keep in mind that BaT is a for profit business...not a service. They get to make the choices on which cars and at what reserve they are going to run. We may not like everything they do, but that is true of a lot of businesses (even some BMW dealerships )

I agree their listings stink. They all look like someone just filled in some blanks. The seller does get the opportunity to review the listing before it goes live, but BaT won't change much (except for factual errors). I think they want to make sure they can not be held liable for misrepresenting a car. The seller does get unlimited opportunities to "sell" the car in the interactive process during the sale period.

 

[stphers]

BAT has certainly changed since the original start up fellows sold out to a big publishing firm about a year ago much more picky than before as always, when a big company takes over, some things just get lost

Thanks, Rick