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Anyone have experience in listing cars on Bring a Trailer?

I've sold two cars on BaT and you can bet I sent them fresh pictures of that car that I took very recently. I even had to talk them into posting all the pictures I sent, at first they said it was too many. It is entirely reasonable of them to demand fresh pictures. As a buyer would I be happy knowing I bid on a car with pictures taken who knows how many months ago prior to whatever fading/scratches/wear took place afterward???

And yeah, don't use consignors. There was a notorious classic car consignment chain around here that went bankrupt recently called Specialty Sales. They'd actively chase you out of the showroom if you expressed an interest in inspecting a car -- I think they made their money from extracting monthly "advertisement" fees from consigners. And if by some act of god they actually sold a car, they would delay payment for months (eventually the DMV pulled their license). Cracked open a bottle of champagne the day they went under.
 
I was going to post a rare Honda CBX on BAT, but after reading your Issues, I have reconsidered. Thanks for the Post and I'm sorry to hear of the problem. You do have a beautiful Challenger!

I wish I could afford it!
 
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I have bought one vehicle and sold two on BaT. My only beef with them is that they are VERY reluctant to undertake a reserve auction from a Canadian seller. Their reasoning (excuse) is this offsets the reluctance of US residents to bid on vehicles located in Canada. This reluctance is real, I have experienced it in both of my sales. One issue is the incorrect assumption that getting the vehicle across the border is a hassle. Not so, I do it all the time (in both directions). There is a procedure that has to be followed, that is all. You can pay a broker to do it for you (I don't) but that ads cost naturally. Second issue is the hangup over the term "Title". In most, if not all Canadian provinces, the "Registration or Ownership" is the title. Just a different name for a similar document.
For the vehicles I sold, I got more exposure, and probably greater selling price by utilizing BaT than I would have by other means. In both cases, the vehicles were purchased by a Canadian bidder. One even bought a third vehicle that I had not committed to selling yet. I have gave up on Hemmings quite a few years ago. They just did not make the transition to the online world sufficiently to stay competitive.
BaT can afford to be demanding of the vehicles they accept. I have been told that their acceptance rate of submissions is in the 5-10% range. This means your submission better be top notch. On the subject of photos, as a potential bidder, I would not accept old photos, no matter the quality. I want to see the most recent photos possible of what I am bidding on. BaT has a photo guide available on their website. Both of my listings photos were taken with a cell phone. They were accepted without condition and there was no mention nor pressure to use their photo service.
Would I utilize BaT again? Yes, for a purchase or a sale. Just make sure you educate yourself to the best of your ability prior to listing/bidding.
 
They responded to me this morning that they understood my taking further pictures challenges with the car being stored with limited accessibility, along with the fall time crunch caused by the storage building becoming packed with cars being brought in for winter, so if I wanted to delay my approved listing until spring that would be OK with them.
The agent did suggest the photography service they offer. Of course, the limited accessibility of the stored car is no less a problem for their photographer than it is for me, in fact moreso.
I do agree that detail pictures must be fresh, and I did take a bunch last weekend, and could get into the building to take more soon, but overall "beauty shots" I don't think its very critical if they are older. We all see ads and listings for cars that look great in pictures but later we're told by someone who knows the car, inspected it, or in some cases bought it sight unseen, that its a perfumed pig. Unless something major changed with the car like a big dent, rust broke through a panel, or paint started peeling off, someone looking at a pretty picture in an online ad is not going to see deterioration of a car that has occurred in recent years. That's why in person or having someone look at a car before buying is important.
I am not totally happy with the prospect of waiting until spring though, I'd like to follow up with Volo about having them try to sell it now. But I am concerned if I was to do that, and BaT was to become aware of it, they might take offense to that and cancel my delayed listing, and maybe even put me on a naughty list. :nutkick:I'm frustrated that Volo took over a month to respond to my inquiry as I would have worked with them to see if we can work something out before I went the BaT route.
 
@XS22J8R I'm a believer in following of the path of least resistance. You can pay the $300 and add $300 to your reserve. If it sells at reserve, you break even. If it goes higher, you win.
 
SlingLow said:
@XS22J8R I'm a believer in following of the path of least resistance. You can pay the $300 and add $300 to your reserve. If it sells at reserve, you break even. If it goes higher, you win.
Click to expand...
The money isn't the issue. Though I believe my skills at car photography are as good or better than even most pros, despite that, if I could throw $300 or even $500 at them right now, and fresh pictures they like would magically appear from the heavens, so we could get my listing running in a month, I'd do it.
But the car is stored in a building, with several other cars between it and the door. I must impose on the guy managing the place to get it out, which I did last Sunday, and it's not practical to pull another favor so quick, nor do I have the time with a couple busy weeks coming up.
As I mentioned before, the car can be tough to get pictures of that really "pop", which I think is pretty important when trying to sell a brown or (metallic green) car. If I swap a car for it in May so I can have it at home, I can take it out to a nearby spot I like to take car pics and take the new pictures at various times to try to recreate the best shots I've gotten over the years when I got the right lighting, but now aren't acceptable because they are "old".
I'm on lunch at work now, which believe it or not requires to be here 5 days a week precluding galivanting around to spend hours taking pictures of my cars and such, and our IT in their infinite wisdom decided to block Flickr a few years ago, so I can't post a link, but if you search "schroederbrad41" you'll find my Flickr site which has about 26,000 pictures so far, mostly car events such as every year of MCACN and Moparty, along with dozens of other shows and cruise ins. If you have time, take a look and enjoy. And maybe that is part of why the subject struck a nerve with me, car photography being a passion, then having them tell me my pictures aren't acceptable. :icon_fU:

10-18-15 (8).jpg
 
After reading al your posts...

Go somewhere else...

It's becoming a clusterf--k, with them...

There's gotta' be an easier path of/or less resistance...

where ?
I have no idea, but it has to be less complicated, easier to sell...
 
Again, from the perspective of a buyer I am glad to hear that BaT is insisting on having lots of recent high-quality photos. BaT is primarily a site for remote purchases that don't typically involve an in-person inspection. With that in mind, pictures are of paramount importance. It doesn't sound like it is the right platform for you.
 
Richard Cranium said:
Here's a 70 that's on there right now ....

[/URL]

And recent 71 Challenger sales ....

[/URL]
Click to expand...
That 70 is quite the turd! Reminds of what the goose left on my Scat Pack I talked about in another thread today.
Balancing out the pluses and minuses of both cars, I believe this 70 is equivalent to mine value wise. I think $108K is pretty high, the reserve I agreed to with BaT is quite a bit less than $108K, I can’t disclose what, as I don’t want to show my cards or get spanked alledging I’m trying to sell it here, but take my word, it’s much less.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-dodge-challenger-r-t-24/
 
My experience with Hemmings was much better than BAT.

D
 
So......BaT requires a certain coverage of photographs before they accept your listing, correct? Otherwise it's just setting the reserve and listing, correct?

I believe I read somewhere if the car doesn't sell on BaT they really don't want you to come back and relist. They want a successful auction on the first listing and if it doesn't sell, or you drop the reserve it's game over.

I assume eBay is the better alternative?
 
I listed my ‘70 Cuda 6.4 hemi on BAT a few years ago and paid extra for a photographer, but it wasn’t $300 back then. They just reach out to photographers in your area, and the first one assigned had zero experience shooting cars so I requested another and it turned out great. BAT has a list of required photos sent to the photographer and he picked a great spot with a mural that looked good for the color and shot a boat load of pics then uploaded all of them to BAT. You can post more pics and videos while your auction is live. also helped them write my listing and they negotiated on the reserve which was expected. If you decide to list it on BAT, I recommend you pay close attention to the posts and questions. Listings with more attention and fast responses from the sellers do better. The best thing about BAT is the buyers are vetted, legit and are dinged a percentage of the sales price immediately when the auction ends compared to EBay or other online sites.

IMG_5684.jpeg


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IMG_5675.jpeg
 
Billccm said:
So......BaT requires a certain coverage of photographs before they accept your listing, correct? Otherwise it's just setting the reserve and listing, correct?

I believe I read somewhere if the car doesn't sell on BaT they really don't want you to come back and relist. They want a successful auction on the first listing and if it doesn't sell, or you drop the reserve it's game over.

I assume eBay is the better alternative?
Click to expand...
BaT USED TO not let you relist immediately if ever. NOW there are 'relists' all the time...if you are a dealer.
ebay definitely not better imnsho.
 
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