Bring a Trailer-Auction Site

[Rudy Nelson]

I'm wondering if any one of you has any experience with "Bring A Trailer" selling a car.
They auction it off but don't seem to handle the money part.
I have a 55 Continental that is 95% restored over a 20 yr period, that I wont be able to finish.
It's my last car after working on Porsches for 50 years.
I'm not familiar with Bring A Trailer, but it seems to be getting good prices for vintage cars.
Any advice or direction on how to market is appreciated.

Tried to attach some pics, but they failed for some reason.

[Mark Sabbann]

Hi Rudy. I had a 356C on Bring A Trailer in 2018 but it didn't sell at that time, so I don't know about the money handling part but I can share this:

You need to take a lot of photos of your sale items. Take them from lots of angles and in good light. Use a tripod for steady photos or find someone with photographic experience to help you out. Organize your parts in the photos so they present well. A messy pile of parts is harder to sell and raises questions about what someone is buying. Make it easy for buyers to want to buy.
Provide as much complete information about what you are selling as possible and include photos of any paperwork or other written items.
Point out in your description any flaws or possible issues. Note any work done by other entities if you haven't done it all yourself. Provide a history and chronology where appropriate.

Be prepared to field questions from auction watchers along with some sometimes dubious comments. There are many folks out there that think they know more than they do and feel the need to tell the world.
At the same time, questions from the field are a good thing and can help educate the audience while keeping you on your toes. Besides your project as the subject matter, a lively exchange between you the Seller and the various commenters helps an auction and can draw in more people. Respond promptly to questions that come up and offer relevant background info as needed. If you don't know an answer, it's OK to admit that, or if you need time to dig for further information on something, indicate that too. Car guys and gals like a good story with a car so if there is one, 'sell it'.

You might have a price in mind that you would like to reach, your 'reserve', or what the minimum money would be that you would accept. Bring A Trailer will want to try to keep your reserve lower than maybe what you want. They are trying to make money by ensuring that a car sells so they want an achievable reserve to facilitate that. They will give a bit when negotiating that reserve price so stand your ground but also allow yourself a reasonable expectation on what the project is worth. Study some of the past 356 auctions to get a feel for the auction and commenters format.

Hope that helps. I think several Registry members have sold cars on BaT. Where are you located?

[Bill Lawless]

I would also get the Kardex to picture, everybody will ask..
I would also fine tune your own description to add as a comment as BaT tends to harp on some issues and not even mention points that are big selling item..
And just an FYI, you need patents as it takes them over 2+ weeks to write it up and post..
Personally, In my opinion, I think eBay is better for projects as they are listed with a ton of very high priced stuff...

[Rudy Nelson]

Mark, thanks for your lengthy info and advice! You give me some solid background on how to tackle this.
My car is in the San Francisco Bay Area. A solid CA car with no rust issues. Ironically it is the same color yellow as your car.
Funny enough, BaT sold a yellow 356 for $112.000. Doesn't run, needs a lot of work, has the wrong steering wheel etc https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1955- ... upe-pre-a/
I wonder if you have any history on that color yellow, since it's not an original color but became popular for some reason.
Thanks again.

[Rudy Nelson]

Thanks Bill, I will check into eBay as well. I got the COA and some receipts.

[Mark Sabbann]

Yes, that Continental auction will be a good reference. There's some good info in some of the comments too. My yellow C was originally from the Santa Cruz area.

[C J Murray]

If your car is really nice I would sell it privately. The pre-A cars attract a customer that may be too esoteric for BaT. They also tend to require reserves that are on the low side. If the car has a lot of minor flaws or is done to a lower quality level then BaT may be really good. Talk to them about reserve.

[Vic Skirmants]

I have sold two cars and not sold a third. I even bought back one of my old SCCA cars for stupid money.
Personally, I think BaT is a great venue. Can't really get excited about eBay.
Personal sales by word-of-mouth are great, but you have to find that mouth.
Read all the details on how BaT works. $99 is all you pay, as the seller. Unlimited photos!
Bidders have to be legit, and no snipe bids seconds before the end. A bid comes in right at the end, the auction runs for 2 more minutes. One of our cars went 19 minutes over.
The comments and discussion are the best part. If someone posts an ignorant comment, better people will correct it, and knowledgeable ones will point out the good things, that the seller even missed.

[Bill Lawless]

I will admit one thing, even if it's not your car selling it fun to watch the end of a BaT auction... Just went you thought it sold, 2 seconds left and somebody bids...

[Rudy Nelson]

I have sold two cars and not sold a third. I even bought back one of my old SCCA cars for stupid money.
Personally, I think BaT is a great venue. Can't really get excited about eBay.
Personal sales by word-of-mouth are great, but you have to find that mouth.
Read all the details on how BaT works. $99 is all you pay, as the seller. Unlimited photos!
Bidders have to be legit, and no snipe bids seconds before the end. A bid comes in right at the end, the auction runs for 2 more minutes. One of our cars went 19 minutes over.
The comments and discussion are the best part. If someone posts an ignorant comment, better people will correct it, and knowledgeable ones will point out the good things, that the seller even missed.

I did notice that the comment section on BaT can actually talk up the value of the car by pointing out relevant details.
I had two 'word-of-mouth' wanting the car but they were dealers and didn't go higher than $110K for a car that is sound, running and authentic.
I'd like to sell it to someone who will enjoy it.
I can't figure out how to make the pics upload.
Is there a thread on trouble shooting this?

[Tom Coughlin]

Rudy: I read your post just after figuring out how to get a picture on Talk. Use the right click on your mouse to copy your picture and then right click again into the text box, right click paste. In my case it didn't show up in preview but it did publish. Good luck-here's my '55.

Oops, that trick didn't work, so try this. Underneath the text box to the left is a button with three unnamed lines. Click on it, attachments shows up with an add files box. Use the "add files" to select from pictures you have on your computer). You may have to click on "Full editor" .

[Rudy Nelson]

Good looking 356! tom
Where is the 'full editor' button?
The add files wont load
v

[Tom Coughlin]

Rudy:

Damned if I know. I started in the computer industry in 1966 and have to admit that I'm still forced to "hack" my way through the software we use here.

As I type this page, below and to left of this text input box is a small box that says "OPTIONS". Next to it, to the right is another smaller box with three horizontal lines that you want to click. When you click, the word attachments appears and after you click that and "add files" box appears.

Why they couldn't just leave the "add files" box visible I leave to the rest of the world.

If "add files" isn't working for you, try that right click, copy the photo stored on your computer and paste it (with a right click, then you select paste) into the text box.

[Rudy Nelson]

Thanks for your persistence Tom,
Ive done copy & paste, control c & v, drag and drop. nothing works,
When I use 'add files', they load bit there is a yellow triangle triangle under status with a !
I'm going to try to post a link, to an earlier test video we did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxQ2V65 ... e=youtu.be
Now control c & v worked!

[C J Murray]

You have to hand it to BaT, they make it look easy, like hunting baby seals...

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1958- ... ting_ended