Does BAT use bots?

[PJmak]

I don't see a point of bidding 10 or 20 or even 40k on a car that's basically guaranteed to sell for at least 70k.

Why bid one or five thousand dollars on a car that's a 25 thousand dollar car?

This is a well reputable site and cars don't sell there for cheap. You'll pay premium even for a car that needs work if its a desirable model. You don't go to BAT to find a deal so why are some people consistently betting on all sorts of cars with small amounts?

 

[nocfn]

Stupid is as Stupid does... Sally Field (Forest Gump)

 

[PJmak]

Stupid is as Stupid does... Sally Field (Forest Gump)

So you tell me this...

If you are bidding on a low mileage pristine 500E on a auction site like BAT that has no history of any good deals ever happening basically.....why would you bid 5k on it when you know the car is worth 40k plus? Are you expecting the bid to not go over 5k? Whats the thought process is all I want to know? We are not bidding on an item that could sell for whatever price here. This is a well known site where cars sell for record breaking numbers.

Why are you driving the price up right from the start? Chances of you getting a car like that there for less than what's its worth are very very slim so why not wait till the last hour of the auction and come in to see if you still have a shot at it?


Having bots in place to get the auction going up until a certain number would motivate other sellers to bid so it would make perfect sense to have them. This would work especially well if there is a reserve. Whether this is legal or not is also a question or concern.


I'm really hoping you weren't calling me stupid just because I'm simply asking a question that I don't know an answer to.

 

[JAB12]

@PJmak. You and I have the same train of thought on this one. Bots, shill bidders aside, there is a small percentage of Bragg -a-diots (bragging idiots) out there that for whatever reason take pleasure in making sure you know they 'bid' on any particular car. Even if their bid was $2K on the first 2 hours of the listing on a $100K market priced car. I hear it all the time at the cars and coffee and it is just pathetic. BAT has lost its credibility in my opinion and that has been discussed here in other threads extensively.

 

[gsxr]

It makes sense, sort of, on a no-reserve auction. But for a reserve auction, it does seem silly.

 

[Bogeyman]

If you watch Ebay it happens all the time.
Who knows - is it children with their parents login?
I don't see where it affects anything either way - just background noise.

 

[msq]

I think they may allow it to happen for user engagement, which they obviously want, and to help the seller. Think of it this way - say a car is worth ~$70K and they put a minimum starting bid at $55K and publish it, this does two things:

- The $55k gives some vague indication of where BAT and the seller see the value of the car (the $55K is obviously not the value in the above hypothetical, but by setting a floor and publishing it - you start to imply the value). As you know sometimes a $70K car sells for maybe $125K on BAT when you get two guys who really want i and go nuts over it. I think exposing a floor like say $55K decreases the odds of the $125K happening as the buyers want the car but may not want to look like the fools they are by paying $125K on a car that had a floor of $55k.....I don't know, this is speculation on my part.

- as @JAB12 says, you get guys who want to say "hey I bid on a Z8 today but didn't get it" - except they never say the other part of the story "no one would ever sell a low mileage Z8 for $5K, but I was maybe hoping to get the right wheel for that" :-0

I don't know why they allow this, the above two points are only guesses on my part, but if its part of the reason at least I understand their motivation - I have no clue.

My opinion that BAT is 0% about the buyer these days, its about helping/promoting dealers cars and the new owners maximizing the BAT asset. I still like looking at the cars there, but I can't imagine buying a car there anymore. I could imagine selling one there.

 

[JAB12]

The following is now a constant on our local cars and coffee:

“Hey did you see that 993 4S that sold this week on BAT for $135K?”

some randome response: “yeah I bid on it before it got out of hand”

@msq what they conveniently omit is that their bid was between $2-$5k at start of auction and did not bid anymore after that.

Its comical to hear as I take my next sip of coffee and stare at my turbo for the umpteenth time....

 

[maw1124]

I'm really hoping you weren't calling me stupid just because I'm simply asking a question that I don't know an answer to.

I doubt that very highly. And the “I bid on it” comment is just funny to me. Never heard that one. “This supermodel walked into Neiman Marcus as I was on my way to work at Sears... I tried to get her number.”

I see no reason for lowball bids, but I do see the logic of starting the bidding low and slow, knowing the real action is in the last two minutes.

What I have noticed lately is the early bid that looks more like a ”set the floor” reserve bid from a shill, and I’m seeing it more and more. I’ll use @gsxr as an example selling his E63 P30, and the moment his No Reserve auction posts, I bid $18.5k just to set the floor for him. Seeing more and more of that, The MB Market or Cars and Bids look a lot more appealing to me, or even eBay.

I don’t know about bots, but I see plenty of BS... or maybe it is BOTS... Bullshit On The Spectrum.

None of these sites seem to step in and ensure consummation of any transaction, which has always been a credibility mark for me.

maw

 

[msq]

I doubt that very highly. And the “I bid on it” comment is just funny to me. Never heard that one. “This supermodel walked into Neiman Marcus as I was on my way to work at Sears... I tried to get her number.”

This is a riot.....I just spit water all over my screen laughing......classic.....

 

[Sam SL]

About 2 months ago a friend of mine wanted me to bid on a 67 Morgan for him on BaT . He gave me a budget of $38,000. Even though I know everything happens in the final minutes of auction's close I still placed an initial low bid days ahead just to make sure my account is current and the bid goes through successfully. I did not want to fumble around last minute and end up losing the opportunity to get him the car. For me it's like throwing my hat into the ring.

 

[Blackfin]

I’ve placed a low bid on a car on Bat at the very beginning just to have it on my radar or as a place holder so that after doing my week of due diligence I still want it, I will set a reminder on my phone for when there is 15 mins left.

I’ve bought 5 cars on bat (most long ago when they first started the auctions) and sold 8 cars and some parts. I’ve got no problem with those people doing early and low bids for no reason, we’ve got to get the number up to real and market values some how.
I think OP doesn’t like that all cars, including a 300sl Gullwing starts at $0, but what’s the harm with letting someone feel special and bid on a car they know they can’t afford but won’t win since it’s so far below a reasonable reserve?

 

[Harv]

Companies usually don't sell for tens of millions of dollars without thorough investigations of every piece and operation of said business. I don't know.

I think a lot of people place low bids on high dollar cars so they can automatically "watch" the listing. If you bid, you automatically get emails throughout the listing duration.