eBay vs BAT vs auction for selling a car?, thinking of selling my six again... Options

[siverson]

Does anyone have any experience selling a car via auction? Specifically, I am thinking about selling my six again and Gooding & Co could take it in their Scottsdale auction in January.

I advertised my car many months ago for $95k, and had lots of interest and someone bid it to $85k on eBay, but a deal was very made. I haven't been in a big hurry since I still really like the car.

Gooding charges $1000 to place it in the auction, plus they take 8%-10% of the sale price. Plus the buyer pays a 12% premium. And they require no reserve for anything less than $250k. The rep I spoke with said the "expected price" in the catalog would be $80k-$100k. Hmmm...

So... suppose it sells for $100k in auction, I take home $91k best case, and the buyer pays $112k.

What's the best way to sell a six at the moment? BAT? eBay? Auction? 914world? Other?

Thanks,
Steve

[DickSteinkamp]

So... suppose it sells for $100k in auction, I take home $91k best case, and the buyer pays $112k.

Worst case, there are not 2 guys there that HAVE TO HAVE the car and it sells at the low end of their estimate (or lower?)

Then there are transport costs of the car to the auction. Transport costs for yourself. Hotel, food, etc. while you are at the auction.

I've sold high end collector cars on both eBay and BaT. I would not consider a big name auction. It's a real crap shoot and I don't have the guts. I would also not consider an ad for a car of the caliber you have...here, or anywhere else. You will limit yourself to your asking price (and probably less) as opposed to an auction if those two guys that HAVE TO HAVE it are participating.

It is reasonable to sell on both eBay and BaT. About $100 for each. The key is plenty of high res pictures and a complete description (including any "warts").

You can list any reserve you want on eBay. BaT is more picky since their real revenue stream is the 5% from the buyer...not the $100 from the seller. They are big enough now that they can pretty much dictate the reserve, and they make it low enough that they are pretty sure there will be a payday for them.

You write your own listing on eBay. I write HTML so I imbed pictures in my write up instead of having all the pictures grouped together. Since I am hosting my own pictures (Flickr) I can have more pictures than the eBay allowed maximum. You have the potential of more "eyes" on your ad, world wide, than any other venue I can think of. With a good ad and plenty of pictures, what the car sells for (or what it bids to if it doesn't sell) is pretty much how the market values the car.

BaT writes the listing. You provide the info and pictures that they work from. They keep consistency that way, but their writers are not the best (IMHO). You get to interact with buyers questions and comments almost real time. You sell yourself (as a knowledgable, honest guy) as well as the car.

I'd try BaT. I'd put together a complete history (of the car...not 914s), description, and at least 80 pictures. Tell them what reserve you are looking for and see what they come back with. If it is your number or one you can live with, give it a shot.

Here are the 18 914-6s that have been sold on BaT. $82k was the high water mark.

Keep in mind that it is easy to buy a car. Tough to sell one.

Good luck with the sale!