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I troll the site just to see some cool cars. I do notice some cars are purchased somewhere else and then refreshed and sold on BAT within 6 months, so it's a business for some.
Despite some of the pseudo-experts, I have picked up some great information on the site. I started looking at 308s for sale there after I bought mine, and some of the knowledge and details posters provide are outstanding.
I love BaT. Sign up for the daily email. It is my morning cup of joe read. Very entertaining!
I sold my 1988 LR Defender on BaT and it was a great experience. Thought I would get around $45k. BaT wanted the reserve at $42k. Okay. Sold for $46k, so I was happy. I also sold my Beck Porsche 904 to a guy who then removed the engine/tranny and sold the roller on BaT for what I sold the whole car to him for. And finally, I first saw Fat Boy on BaT and bid $45k. At $48 it RNM, so I kept looking. Then six months later I see it under consignment in Dallas. I negotiate, have Elwood (Chris) inspect it and get it for $40k. So you just never know.
I have bid on a couple dozen other cars over the years and they always went for more than I would pay, so I've determined for the most part if you photograph and represent your vehicle well, it is a sellers site.
I really enjoy the banter and the experience as you learn an amazing amount about vehicles you may be interested in buying, but don't know the details. BaT will educate you pretty quickly as long as you ignore the few idiots.
Best of luck and let us know when you go live so we can talk it up!
I have been watching them for some time and seem to be be very euro-centric, American muscle seems to be low on their list. No problem, it's their choice! The results are great because you actually see what the car sold for and the archives are pretty deep.
I just noticed you can see individual bidder's history... really interesting aspect of BaT! So I'm bidding on an auction and click on the name of another bidder. He/she has just joined the site this month and has already bid on 11 auctions without winning any. Hmmm.
I just noticed you can see individual bidder's history... really interesting aspect of BaT! So I'm bidding on an auction and click on the name of another bidder. He/she has just joined the site this month and has already bid on 11 auctions without winning any. Hmmm.
Yup. As others have said it is a fun thing to watch and I go on every day with my morning cup of cup coffee. I normally scroll through the various offerings and follow 2 or 3 that interest me. It is very interesting to also look at the individual bidders. You have a number of Trolls on there that love to make negative comments and have been on forever and never made a bid. Then there are the newbies who have made multiple single bids on a wide variety of vehicles (suspect they simply make silly low bids to feel like part of the game). It is like watching a soap opera about something that I actually have an interest in.
If I were to sell my car today (not happening though - and I have some "standing offers" for it already) and it didn't go "word of mouth" first - I would put it up on BaT...
Last edited by Frankie the Fink; Apr 17, 2020 at 12:59 PM.
If I were to sell my car today (not happening though - and I have some "standing offers" for it already) and it didn't go "word of mouth" first - I would put it up on BaT...
Me too, with many but not all of my fleet. Always better to sell to someone who knows the car - someone willing to pay because they know the risk is low.
Although I could easily sell on BAT and I do enjoy watching it, I don't think I could be a buyer unless the car was close by and I could inspect it first. I don't see taking a chance bidding on a car sight unseen no matter what the description is or how pretty the pictures are. I would also want to have it professionally inspected before I bought it and I don't see that in reality you can do that during the bidding process when you don't know whether you will be the successful bidder. I always thought that was the weakness of the concept but obviously there are some that are willing to do it and it doesn't seem to negatively affect prices.
Once you purchase, you have the right to inspection and reasonable rejection. At the seller’s option, they can then go back to the second highest bidder.
BAT seems to get higher than routine prices for good high quality (mostly special interest of some sort) cars. I get an email from them every morning that allows you to look over all their auctions. Worth a look if you have not seen it.
Once you purchase, you have the right to inspection and reasonable rejection. At the seller’s option, they can then go back to the second highest bidder.
Its prob much like eBay (and for the same reasons), a winning bid on eBay is nothing more than an "expression of interest" in buying a car, it is not legally binding (same with real estate bought online)....regulations vary too much from state-to-state for anything else to apply...
Now - whether you lose your 5% credit card "hold" to BaT if you back out, I have no idea...
Last edited by Frankie the Fink; Apr 17, 2020 at 04:01 PM.
I was looking for a medium to sell my low mileage 03 Lightning PU recently. I thought about BAT but decided it would be a fall back approach as the seller fees looked pretty substantial. Looked at Ebay but I never could figure out their sellers premium for special interest cars. All I could find was "it depends" on classic and special interest cars. Depends on what? Never did find out. I'm sure the answer is out there since many people use it but I finally gave up figuring it shouldn't be this hard to figure out. Finally decided for the cost and avoiding seller premiums to just go with AutoTrader. After I finally got the understanding that when someone expresses an interest in your car - you have to track them down to see if they have any questions, I got about 50% trolls and 50% apparent serious parties. Finally a guy from Chicago jumped in his truck and came down here with a jacket full of cash and tried to give me more than I tentatively agreed to over the phone. I refused all but $100 which he insisted I keep for helping him load the truck and giving him a roll of Road Wrap to cover the front of the truck with. On the way back he sent us an email and said he was so happy with the truck and experience that he was buying me a new Sony 55" TV and having shipped to us. Pretty happy with how it turned out - especially considering so many people said they would like to look at the truck but were currently locked down for the pandemic. I had that truck for 17 years and 18,000 miles of runs to Lowes with a little trailer and also car cruise ins. It was immaculate and hadn't been on a wet road for 15 years and sold it for about $5 or 6,000 less than I originally paid for it new off the lot. It was an interesting experience.
Who buys some car seller a big-screen TV after trying to pay over the asking price for the offered car ?
Sounds like somebody needs some therapy...
I sold more than a few cars over the years, early on as a dealer, and later as a private owner - no customers were offering me bonuses and all my cars were turn key, ready to go...at fair prices.
Who buys some car seller a big-screen TV after trying to pay over the asking price for the offered car ?
Sounds like somebody needs some therapy...
I sold more than a few cars over the years, early on as a dealer, and later as a private owner - no customers were offering me bonuses and all my cars were turn key, ready to go...at fair prices.
You're rewarded for what you sow …. not everybody operates like a "shonky" used car salesman
Who buys some car seller a big-screen TV after trying to pay over the asking price for the offered car ?
Sounds like somebody needs some therapy...
I sold more than a few cars over the years, early on as a dealer, and later as a private owner - no customers were offering me bonuses and all my cars were turn key, ready to go...at fair prices.
It's a weird year Frankie. The guy said he had been looking for a clean, un-abused Lightning for some time and he said he just had a good feeling about mine after we talked so he drove over night to get here. I took $1,500 off my price on the phone which we tentatively agree to, but I think he was pretty surprised by the truck when he saw it. It was pristine - could pass for a brand new vehicle lacking the new car smell. In the end after the TV and extra $100 I didn't end up much below my original asking price.
I was selling the truck to take over my wife's Highlander as an everyday vehicle which I badly needed and buy her a new one. We went SUV shopping last week and she found one she wanted and I had a price in mind to offer as a starting point - about $5,000 below sticker. But I kind of held back and he said he would see what they could do on the vehicle. He returned a few minutes later and handed us a piece of paper and said well that was short and simple - it was $1,000 less than I was going to start at. For once I was real glad I kept my mouth shut - I said that look good to me.
It's a weird year.
Back to BaT - very interesting to go and look at the auction results for various cars. If anything I think there were some bargains scored there for mid-years.
Emailed to me as a subscriber today.BaT continues to see record site traffic and strong results this month. Here are some statistics on auction activity through the first two weeks of April (and % change from April, 2019):
