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Bring a Trailer (BaT) Auctions: Worth Listing Your Car or Not?

RNM on the Yeep at ~$15k. Comments speculated that the current owner was in it for >$20k and was expecting to turn a profit. Looks like he'll need to wait longer and list elsewhere.

:pc1:
 
Klink said:
I go through BaT spells. Have for years...
:matrix:
Click to expand...


From the BAT Thread -

If any group exemplifies people with “first world problems“ it is certainly us. The vacuuming marks are rather like the old cleanup guys’ yarn about making sure to leave lint on the windows so the customer knows you cleaned ‘em” And like the lint on the windows, I find them absolutely infuriating. Fortunately, both conditions are easy to repair in minutes.
I work at a Benz dealer and I have purchased MBUSA sourced mats like those in this 140 as little as a year ago, and for 124 and 126 vehicles within the last couple of months. Of course, they were black because any right thinking person would install only black or a color nearly as dark as black as accessory floor mats. It’s where your feet go. If they are the same color as the seat upholstery, for example, they look horrible in no time unless one removes his shoes before stepping into the car which would be unseemly even for us.

Uuuummmmmmm????

I have champignon colored floor mats, and I have been known to take off my shoes when stepping into the car....... :-)
 
Jlaa said:
I have champignon colored floor mats, and I have been known to take off my shoes when stepping into the car....... :-)
Click to expand...

I have black all weathers in both FL cars, and I still drive barefoot most of the time. I don’t like driving in flip flops, which is mostly what I’m wearing...

;-D

maw
 
I looked at a couple E55's for sale in Portland a couple weeks ago. They were both $2000 cars and it showed.
 
Maui said:
I looked at a couple E55's for sale in Portland a couple weeks ago. They were both $2000 cars and it showed.
Click to expand...
Ken, you aren't in the market for another car, are you? :D I assume it was W210's you looked at?
 
maw1124 said:
I have black all weathers in both FL cars, and I still drive barefoot most of the time. I don’t like driving in flip flops, which is mostly what I’m wearing...

;-D

maw
Click to expand...

Not to get off topic, but the all weather mats are great and they're a lot less expensive than the carpeted mats, too. I have them in a couple of my cars.

Dan
 
Klink said:
Oh, boy! Looks like I got mine in the nick of time!
:stormy:
Click to expand...

maw1124 said:
Didn’t know you pulled the trigger on one. You’ve been quietly putting in some good work over there,Young Man!

maw
Click to expand...

Maui said:
I looked at a couple E55's for sale in Portland a couple weeks ago. They were both $2000 cars and it showed.
Click to expand...

It was an easy decision: It was a friend's one owner since new car with a known history and in overall good condition, BUT (there's always a big but) It needed a shifter unit, an airbag/SRS control unit, an evaporator, and some other ends and odds. He didn't want to fix it, chosing instead to spend his money on an AMG GT and a CPO '16 E350, because first world problems require first world solutions...
:gsxracer:
 
Last edited:
Klink said:
It was an easy decision: A friend's one owner since new car with known history in overall really good condition, BUT needed shifter unit, airbag/SRS control unit, and an evaporator. Didn't want to fix it. Chose to spend money instead on AMG GT and CPO 16 E350...
:gsxracer:
Click to expand...

Surely you jest. AMG GT?
 
I have tried several remedies to slow the spread of this MB disease to no avail, however, I am pretty sure that constantly reading info on this site does not help fight the disease and may even promote it.

Also, I don't recommend attending GTGs, Cars and Coffee, or any other MB event. They only added fuel to the insatiable MB fire.

So, be forewarned all who peruse the 500E web board. I have found that the disease seems never ending and can grow worse with time.
 
Klink said:
It was an easy decision: A friend's one owner since new car with known history in overall really good condition, BUT needed shifter unit, airbag/SRS control unit, and an evaporator. Didn't want to fix it. Chose to spend money instead on AMG GT and CPO 16 E350...
Click to expand...

Yeah yeah yeah. I hear these stories from Rex all the time. He has a list to call me for. You techs are always first in line, in much the same way the accountants know first which businesses will be sold by the current owners, and which ones are worth buying.

I suppose the key word in Klink’s post was AND CPO ‘16 E350.

maw
 
Maui said:
I couldn't help but go look when I saw two E55's on CL for $2k each. It's a terrible disease I have. ... I keep thinking about your 210. It's a sickness I can't seem to shake.
Click to expand...
Any time you want to take it for a test drive, just let me know! :3gears:


Maui said:
Surely you jest. AMG GT?
Click to expand...
I had to read his post three times, but I finally figured out his friend bought the GT and CPO E350. Klink took over the E55 that the friend didn't want to fix. At first, I also though Klink had jumped into a GT...

:jelmerian:
 
Lots of ''dads'' out there will be fighting over this ''for the kids''..

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/porsche-936-go-cart/

proxy.php
 
gsxr said:
*facepalm* Selling a high-dollar vehicle 101: Obtain both an AutoCheck and CarFax personally, BEFORE listing it anywhere publicly. Post both reports publicly in the listing (if the selling platform allows) and/or make copies available.
Click to expand...


Regarding the Carfax/Autocheck issue....

BaT could simply raise the listing fee to $150 (or whatever) and then furnish a copy of BOTH reports as part of the service they provide. Reports would be pulled within a day or two of the listing going live.

I've seen listings with crappy photocopied photocopies of 18 month old Carfax reports. Or the seller taking flip phone-quality pictures of the reports, with resolution so bad that it might as well be a Chinese dinner menu.

This isn't rocket surgery. Give the bidders more tools to take good decisions.
 
ace10 said:
Regarding the Carfax/Autocheck issue....

BaT could simply raise the listing fee to $150 (or whatever) and then furnish a copy of BOTH reports as part of the service they provide. Reports would be pulled within a day or two of the listing going live.

I've seen listings with crappy photocopied photocopies of 18 month old Carfax reports. Or the seller taking flip phone-quality pictures of the reports, with resolution so bad that it might as well be a Chinese dinner menu.

This isn't rocket surgery. Give the bidders more tools to take good decisions.
Click to expand...

You have to wonder if Carfax would shoot this down since it is commercial use. I think I saw something about Carfaxs being used for private use. Otherwise, BAT just buys an unlimited membership and does 1,000 reports a month. Carfax would have a fit.
 
I believe that CarFax has a commercial subscription service for customers such as dealers. I have to believe that's the case, as I know someone in the industry and they can get me pretty much unlimited CarFax reports whenever I need one.

Dan
 
For example:
Dealers may publish links to "Free" Carfax reports on Autotrader.
Cargurus displays a very simplified Autocheck report.
Ebay offers Autocheck reports to sellers to diplay on the listing.
Dealers often have links to Carfax reports on their websites.

I have no doubt BaT could negotiate deals for their website. If they wanted to do so.
 
This seller has listed eleven vehicles on BaT over the past two years.

https://bringatrailer.com/member/americanmotorscorp/

Their success rate is an astonishingly-low 18.2%. (That's 2 Sales and 9 RNMs)

I watched their auction for an FJ40 that ended today, and also read through their other comments from earlier auctions. I can sum up their interactions using 3 words.... evasive, defensive and uniformed.

These folks are a case study in how not to make money selling cars on BaT.
 
But the question begs, why does BAT continue to let them list? Also, BAT usually defines the reserve so you don't make a stupid one. At least that's been my experience with them. So who's the idiot here?

Dan
 
ace10 said:
This seller has listed eleven vehicles on BaT over the past two years.

https://bringatrailer.com/member/americanmotorscorp/

Their success rate is an astonishingly-low 18.2%. (That's 2 Sales and 9 RNMs)

I watched their auction for an FJ40 that ended today, and also read through their other comments from earlier auctions. I can sum up their interactions using 3 words.... evasive, defensive and uniformed.

These folks are a case study in how not to make money selling cars on BaT.
Click to expand...

On the flip side, look at Bruce Mendel. The majority of his sales are late model Mercedes. https://bringatrailer.com/member/bruce_m/

76 cars listed on BaT. 74 sales. 97% sale rate! 36 of those cars were no reserve. So he paid $7,600 to sell all those cars. I'd say he only lost on one car. This W221 S600 from last month: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2007-mercedes-benz-s600-18/ Other than that, all seem to be at market price or above.
 
ace10 said:
This seller has listed eleven vehicles on BaT over the past two years.

https://bringatrailer.com/member/americanmotorscorp/

Their success rate is an astonishingly-low 18.2%. (That's 2 Sales and 9 RNMs)

I watched their auction for an FJ40 that ended today, and also read through their other comments from earlier auctions. I can sum up their interactions using 3 words.... evasive, defensive and uniformed.

These folks are a case study in how not to make money selling cars on BaT.
Click to expand...

Its pretty fascinating to explore the differences in PG commentary across models. Almost like a little social experiment with each one.

I also enjoyed the nickel and dime bidding approach that everyone was taking on the FJ. lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

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Well, here's another BaT oddity...


This is a nice little Toyota Pickup.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1994-toyota-4x4-pickup-4/

I'm sub'd to the auction, since it's local. Last night, I received an email from BaT as follows:

Capturebat.PNG

So I check it out this AM to see what kind of drama had unfolded, and there's this:

Capturebat2.PNG


But here's the thing... they didn't do an email blast to announce the correction. I get that there may have been a technical issue, but the Seller has been harmed. And the manner in which they have remedied is insufficient, IMO.
 
I'm posting here, rather than on the swampy A124 FS thread because my thoughts pertain more to the platform than the car...

So the question is.... WHY did BaT accept the listing?

Of the car models I regularly follow, which is a pretty decent number, this one ranks among the most notorious from the past year.

Why....

Greed? 5% isn't a large auction vig in the world of cars. But a buck is a buck.

Ego? Does BaT think that their platform will go where none were able to go previously, and actually find a buyer for the car? The car has been on GCFSB, Hemmings, ebay, and probably every other one in existence.... for over a year.

Laziness or perhaps incompetence? Did the seller approach BaT with an apparently amazing example and BaT found themselves unable to open up a Google machine browser and check the VIN?

Publicity? They saw all the information out there about the car and figured that any publicity is good publicity for BaT. The listing might get picked by auto news outlets and give even more exposure to BaT, despite them looking like absolute fools for accepting the listing.

Or how about just for the LULZ? Maybe they have a sick sense of humor, and just want to see this guy get wrung out, yet again.
 
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