Fans of classic cars, we are truly in boom times when it comes to buying and selling the ones of our dreams on the internet. A current leader in the online experience is auction site Bring A Trailer.com, which has grown exponentially since its first sales year in 2014. Like other well-established auction sites such as eBay Motors, Bring A Trailer (known as “BaT”) uses a 7-day auction cycle (10 days for select elite vehicles), but that’s where the similarities end.
Unlike eBay which sells used cars and parts of all types and condition, B aT has an application process for sellers, and only enthusiast vehicles in decent condition are accepted. Sellers must thoroughly document ownership status, and all applicable VIN numbers are run through Carfax for an overview of reported accidents, ownership changes, maintenance history, odometer readings, and more to look for discrepancies. A complete selection of vehicle pictures showing the exterior, interior, engine bay, and trunk are required, and shots of the vehicle underside are strongly encouraged to pique buyer interest. Once a vehicle is accepted for sale, an individual BaT representative works with the seller to gather info on specific maintenance and repair.
After discussing favorite cars and trucks we saw come and go on Bring A Trailer, myself and a few friends decided to take turns selecting one vehicle each morning that was ending that day, and write down our best guesses as to what its final sale price would be. The goal was to challenge ourselves with vehicles that were a little more unique, and therefore harder to gauge because fewer comparable sales existed. Once the pick of the day was shared in the morning before we began our respective jobs, only a few necessary minutes were allowed to come up with a price after looking over pictures, descriptions, and comments specific to the listing. This way, no one had much time to spend gaining an advantage by researching market values.
So what did we notice after a few months of doing this? When it came to ourselves, we all became better with our predictions, but not enough for any one person to end up monopolizing the wins – final bidding and market factors were just too unpredictable. We observed that despite the fact that each of us was born in a different decade and had unique automotive experiences, we shared a surprisingly high number of likes and dislikes. And, we noticed none of us seemed to have any distinct advantage when it came to final sale prices of vehicles we may have preferred and thought we knew best.
Before I get into what we observed about the Bring A Trailer experience itself, it’s important to understand a few things about what makes BaT significant. When it comes to the auto auction experience, BaT has effectively leveled the playing field when it comes to quality special interest vehicles. No longer is it necessary to spend large amounts of money and time to fly to an in-person auction.
And no longer must you be rich enough to afford entry at higher-level auctions such as Mecum or Barrett-Jackson, because cars of equal quality can be found on BaT over a wide price range. Someone with $10,000 to spend will find a number of good choices, as will those with a few million dollars to burn. There truly is an enthusiast vehicle for every budget on this website.
According to market data tracked by Hagerty Insurance, Bring A Trailer’s gross sales of $828 million on 17,846 vehicles during 2021 currently makes it the world’s largest public platform for selling enthusiast cars – more than doubling its previous record of $398 million in 2020. Hagerty Insurance also noted, “Five years ago, BaT cars were still mostly going in the $20 thousands range. You wouldn’t think of selling a $1 million car there. That’s clearly not the case anymore.”
The success of Bring A Trailer inspired classic car publication giant Hemmings to start their own online auction site in 2019, and it’s inspired other upstarts such as Cars & Bids (which faithfully mimics BaT in layout and function), Marqued, and Collector’s Exchange. None of them come close to BaT’s volume of 80 cars per day, and none can match the level of members who watch the site faithfully, comment, and end up bidding. To that end, the BaT site registered more than 200,000 new users and drew nearly two million comments across all its listings in 2021. To me, it’s this factor that makes Bring a Trailer auctions uniquely special.
Commenting on popular 2021 trends was BaT’s co-founder and president Randy Nonnenberg, “One category that really emerged last year was the increased demand for classic trucks and four-wheel drives — Scouts, Broncos, Blazers, Land Cruisers and old farm pickup trucks. There’s a continuing evolution in what is highly prized and highly collectible and nostalgic. Twenty-five- year-old cars from the 1990s are becoming ‘old’ classics, and cars from the early 2000s are highly sought after.” I’ll vouch for this fact after seeing a low-mileage 2000 Acura Integra Type R and a 2008 Honda S2000 CR both sell for $112,000 each.
OUR GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
Bring A Trailer, and websites like it such as Cars + Bids, are their own unique form of social media. In the comments field of any given vehicle for sale, you’re likely to find plenty of car talk, nostalgia, joking around, shared stories, and general camaraderie – equal to the best of any automotive Facebook group or forums page. There’s the enjoyment of seeing a car or truck resembling one you admire, own, used to own, or want to buy – and finding out what the marketplace decides it’s worth. Given these factors, it’s really no surprise to see membership has grown so fast.
The enjoyment of seeing adrenaline-filled, intense bidding action that can possibly occur at the end of the week on any vehicle can be as enjoyable as any sporting event. And if you’re comparing predictions on final price outcomes as we did, BaT auctions can be as stimulating as any form of gambling.
When it comes to vehicles preferred by older demographics such as baby boomers, do not underestimate or dismiss the value of an automatic transmission – even if it seems out of place on a particular make and model. There are plenty of self-proclaimed “aging street racers” with replaced hips and knees that take a less favorable view of 3-pedal setups these days.
If you click on anyone’s BaT sign on name, the site will show you their complete history when it comes to bids placed, auctions won, vehicles they’ve listed for sale, and comments made. At times, knowing someone else’s history can be helpful in guessing future behavior.
Sellers that are deliberately vague about details, or don’t offer explanations about things that are legitimately questionable will very likely be called out by watchers in the know. It’s an additional form of vetting that goes above and beyond what BaT does officially, and can be a very effective method of keeping everyone honest.
Sometimes, however, you’ll come across those that draw attention to a flaw or flaws on a particular vehicle in such a way as to create doubt about the vehicle’s worth as a whole – implying that it’s really a sow’s ear underneath all the pretty paint. It may be legitimate, but such comments can be mean-spirited for no real reason. Once in awhile, you’ll even see a horrified commenter attempt to swoop in at the end and actually buy the car – hoping for a lower price because other would-be bidders were scared off by the aspersions cast. We know BaT does not condone such behavior, but the reality is with 80-plus cars coming on each day, they can’t police everything.
The direction that the stock market is trending over any given day, week, or month can have a noticeable effect on bidding. It may not distort the sale price of every vehicle, but human nature generally dictates that when one is blessed with an abundance of easy money, one is more likely to spend it on luxury items. If you’re reading this, you already know classic cars make the best kind of jewelry.
While a higher stock market that makes wealthy people even wealthier tends to make it harder for the rest of us to afford what we’d like to buy, the promise of high sale prices does tend to bring out the best low-mile, showroom-condition beauties that would never be seen otherwise. Sometimes, admiring the best from afar is a joy in itself, and better than having nothing to admire at all. At least that’s what I try to tell myself.
Even if you never plan on buying or selling, you can learn a lot about mechanicals because enthusiasts of specific vehicles enjoy sharing their knowledge about year-to- year changes, interior features, powertrain details, common problems to look for, you name it. And if you know something unique, it’s fun to share as well.
During the course of most BaT sales, there are always bidders who will bid low amounts early on, then never return. If you’re the seller, it’s helpful that your vehicle is being bid upward. But often, when you click on one of these bidder’s names to see their history, you’ll see they throw low bids out on lots of cars but never actually win anything. Granted, there are “bargain seekers” perpetually hoping for a low sale price, and others that do it just to be in the game. Selling a car with no reserve tends to bring them out, but it’s hard to really be sure why they do what they do.
If you found economics classes to be a little dry and hard to follow, Bring A Trailer is truly a lesson in supply vs demand. For example, I noticed a 1992 Nissan Sentra SE-R in showroom condition with only 445 miles on it sell for a whopping $33,500 – a perfect case of demand meeting extremely low supply . On the other hand, V8-powered 1986- 91 Mercedes S-class sedans in excellent condition with higher miles tend not to catch much wind beneath their wings, selling in the low to mid-teens. Because there are a lot of them on BaT, we see demand meeting an excessive supply.
Equally intriguing was a 2004 Porsche Carrera GT supercar originally owned by comedian Jerry Seinfeld that sold for $1,865,000 – significantly higher than similar ones on the site. To me, this represents a slightly different type of supply-vs-demand reality. Big-name celebrities of all walks have a relatively easy time cashing in when it comes to selling their own high-end premium cars. If the hit albums, movie deals, or pro sports contracts have dried up and the money’s no longer rolling in, a celeb need only invest some of their remaining money into buying a new Ferrari, Rolls, Porsche, McLaren, or other car that wealthy people tend to covet. The purchase may cost $200 to $300- thousand up front, but after driving the car around publicly for 5,000 miles or so, it won’t be hard to sell for a tidy profit sooner or later.
Occasionally, you’ll be able to determine that a seller hasn’t owned the vehicle they’re selling very long. Recent market increases may be allowing them to turn it over for a big gain. Or, you may notice people have spent a lot on repairs and reconditioning, but aren’t making any profit – and that they’ve barely added any miles or enjoyed driving the car during their ownership. Sometimes, owners just enjoy having a prized possession to look at. That said, we emphasize speculating on classic cars for profit is tricky, and should be done only with higher levels of vehicle knowledge and caution. The joke that “the easiest way to become a millionaire in the old-car hobby is to start out a billionaire” stays evergreen for a reason.
I tried, and failed, to devise a formula for accurately predicting final sale price results. Taking notice of what the price was early in the morning of the final day, I noticed bidding that day drove the price up by about 25% to 33% on about one-fourth of the vehicles. Otherwise, there seemed to be no real pattern, as last-minute bidding was extremely unpredictable.
I’m somewhat at a loss to describe the regular parade of low-mileage Buick Grand Nationals selling for 6 figures on BaT – defying basic supply and demand norms. For those not familiar with the Grand National, it’s a model based on Buick’s Regal coupe that featured all-black paint and a high-performance turbo V6 for model years 1984-87. During the final 1987 production run, 547 commemorative “GNX” editions were made. The “X” stood for Experimental , and through a partnership with McLaren racing that upgraded the turbocharger, intercooler, and other miscellaneous items, engine output was significantly boosted to 300 horsepower.
It seems as if every 1987 Buick Grand National and GNX model made was stashed away and never driven, only to appear decades later as trailer queens on auctions now – making supply very plentiful. As a typical teenager in the 1980s, I liked these enough to have a poster of one on my wall in order to ease the pain of not being able to afford one. And while these cars truly are a special subset of all the 1978-88 GM A-body cars, I’m amazed GNXs are selling for over $200,000 now. Poster on the wall aside, I’ve always found it disappointing that, for an “experimental” vehicle, GM forgot to experiment with better brakes – all GNXs and Grand Nationals left the factory with rear drums. Drum brakes?! Granted, GM is famous for cutting corners, but these are cars made in the late-1980s, not the 1960s.
What observations do you have to share?
