I'm considering listing my 1992 500E on BAT and wondered if 500E Board members have a view on the pricing impact of listing with our without a reserve? By way of background I listed this car in 2022 with a reserve which was not met. I've addressed the concerns which bidders expressed during the auction and plan to sell the car in the near future. Also, other than BAT, do 500E Board members recommend sites other than BAT for successful 500E auctions. Thanks, Michael
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FOR SALE Reserve or No-Reserve on BAT?
- Thread starter Coho
- Start date
The question can be answered by deciding, do you really want to sell the car? Or are you just trying to see what you'd get for it?
I see a lot of people have a reserve of $45,000 (a random number) and the car will bid to something like $43,550 and not sell. So now what? You keep the car and try to hold out for an undetermined amount of time looking for that extra $1,500? Sure, reserves are great if you have an $80,000 car and it bids to $71,000. You can justify that, but too many people think they are going to get every penny and turn down money placed in your hand when these values on collector cars are really subjective to begin with.
You are generally going to get somewhere in the ballpark of the value as long as you bring really good photos, answer questions, and be honest. They are over 600,000+ registered bidders, so you aren't going to find a bigger audience all in one place. Dean sells almost all his listings at No Reserve and those he doesn't usually sell as well. The best vintage and classic cars for sale online | Bring a Trailer
Do your research. Let us know when you decide. 500E & E500
I see a lot of people have a reserve of $45,000 (a random number) and the car will bid to something like $43,550 and not sell. So now what? You keep the car and try to hold out for an undetermined amount of time looking for that extra $1,500? Sure, reserves are great if you have an $80,000 car and it bids to $71,000. You can justify that, but too many people think they are going to get every penny and turn down money placed in your hand when these values on collector cars are really subjective to begin with.
You are generally going to get somewhere in the ballpark of the value as long as you bring really good photos, answer questions, and be honest. They are over 600,000+ registered bidders, so you aren't going to find a bigger audience all in one place. Dean sells almost all his listings at No Reserve and those he doesn't usually sell as well. The best vintage and classic cars for sale online | Bring a Trailer
Do your research. Let us know when you decide. 500E & E500
I've done it both ways on BaT, for varying reasons, and I totally agree with Harv, especially his opening question.
In the case where I used a reserve, on a 1965 220Seb that I had done a very limited restoration, I had a "floor" amount that I wanted which would cover my complete cost with a realistic profit. The car ended up selling for nearly 35% over reserve! While auction psychology is tough to decode, setting a bidding war aside, I would attribute a significant portion of that amount to the hours of time and effort that I put into presenting the car as transparently and honestly as I could.
Another car I sold, a 350SDL, was a driver-quality car that I needed to move out of the corral to make room for other cars. I was happy to break even on the dollar side and consider the use and enjoyment I got out of it good enough "profit". BaT wanted NR, so I went that route.
Again, this was no garage queen or concours car, by any stretch of the imagination. I had around $4k in it including the acquisition cost, and having done my due diligence I knew it would be a contentious car to sell being unfairly known as a "rod bender". I bit the bullet and went NR, while doing every possible thing I could presentation-wise to make it desirable.
I think the hammer dropped around $5k, so I was happy. The buyer was a major flake, but I was able to get past that - I thought. I got a reminder of his flakiness about 6-8 months later when I got a certified letter from the U of Maryland's Campus Parking Division with a demand notice for unpaid parking fines. Seems Mr. Flake had never put a plate on the car but was parking it all over campus without a sticker or whatever was required. They ended up getting the VIN off the car and tracking me down as the owner - also because Mr. Flake had never titled or registered the car, either!
I politely informed them that I was no longer the owner, nor had I been for some months. I also provided the contact information I had for Mr. Flake.
Dan
In the case where I used a reserve, on a 1965 220Seb that I had done a very limited restoration, I had a "floor" amount that I wanted which would cover my complete cost with a realistic profit. The car ended up selling for nearly 35% over reserve! While auction psychology is tough to decode, setting a bidding war aside, I would attribute a significant portion of that amount to the hours of time and effort that I put into presenting the car as transparently and honestly as I could.
Another car I sold, a 350SDL, was a driver-quality car that I needed to move out of the corral to make room for other cars. I was happy to break even on the dollar side and consider the use and enjoyment I got out of it good enough "profit". BaT wanted NR, so I went that route.
Again, this was no garage queen or concours car, by any stretch of the imagination. I had around $4k in it including the acquisition cost, and having done my due diligence I knew it would be a contentious car to sell being unfairly known as a "rod bender". I bit the bullet and went NR, while doing every possible thing I could presentation-wise to make it desirable.
I think the hammer dropped around $5k, so I was happy. The buyer was a major flake, but I was able to get past that - I thought. I got a reminder of his flakiness about 6-8 months later when I got a certified letter from the U of Maryland's Campus Parking Division with a demand notice for unpaid parking fines. Seems Mr. Flake had never put a plate on the car but was parking it all over campus without a sticker or whatever was required. They ended up getting the VIN off the car and tracking me down as the owner - also because Mr. Flake had never titled or registered the car, either!
I politely informed them that I was no longer the owner, nor had I been for some months. I also provided the contact information I had for Mr. Flake.
Dan
@Harv there is nothing subjective about collector car values in a fair (no shill bidding) auction. Exactly the opposite - fairly held auctions are very Objective when bidders are freely placing bids on a car. The highest bid wins on a No Reserve auction. Just remember the under bidder was just one bid increment below the winning bid.
Can the peanut gallery debate if a winning bid was too high or a good buy? Yes, but make no mistake -a winning bid is exactly determined and supported by the under bidding.
Can the peanut gallery debate if a winning bid was too high or a good buy? Yes, but make no mistake -a winning bid is exactly determined and supported by the under bidding.
I've generally done no reserve and have done better than I expected. For me, once i've decided i want to sell a car i want it to go.
Last week i sold an 83 BMW 735 though, that went much lower than i expected (still didn't lose any money, but under market, imho).
SO in the future, i'd probably ask for a reserve.
Last week i sold an 83 BMW 735 though, that went much lower than i expected (still didn't lose any money, but under market, imho).
SO in the future, i'd probably ask for a reserve.
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