It's been three weeks since starting with Bring a Trailer and my auction is yet to go online. When asked, they say it will be soon. Meanwhile the season is slipping away.
Is this timing typical of the company?
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Seems to be. They list when they want to list. I'm sure other guys (Roy) have it all figured out, but what/why they do things is a mystery to me.
You can't time your listing. Couple years back, mine went around 4th of July weekend & did not make reserve. Oh well.
I seem to recall that mine took 3-4 weeks from the first contact before it went live.
My experience with BaT was excellent. I'll bet just about everyone who has sold a speedster/spyder on BaT would agree. The BaT process took at least a month, or so, before lighting-up online. Timing is at their discretion. My guess is they have a fixed infrastructure that limits them to a certain number of "closings" on a specific schedule. So, basically, you get-in-line.
Because of this restrictive capacity they can be selective about what they accept for posting (they have more than enough to pick and choose from). They make money on "closings", not "listings". So, both you and BaT have the same motivation: SOLD.
Specifically, in your favor; BaT will probably time your listing so as not to compete with a similar listing at the same time. As an example, the last thing one would want is to list together with 6 other VMC speedsters closing the same day. They seem to always have a number of speedsters in the queue that they pepper-into the listings spaced over at least a day apart during the listing period.
As they say: GLWTA. You have an exciting day coming up in a few weeks!
Similar experience as many above. I've only listed a few cars on BAT and they took about a month to go live. I inquired about a listing during the Covid-time "hype" and my guy told me they expected to be closer to 60 days approval to going live, but it could be longer.
I've offered this advise previously, but will reiterate. You can find a HUGE difference in hammer price based on quality (not necessarily quantity) of photos. GOOD start and driving videos. Good interaction. Thick skin.
In addition; there are a few things that BAT doesn't tell you that can affect the sales, both positive and negative.
#1 They allow edited and photoshopped/corrected photos. I disagree with this for so many reasons, but will just leave it at that.
#2 The one that really bugs me, and possibly effected one of my auctions, is that they can drop your reserve at the last second, even if it is below your reserve price, with the caveat that they have to cover any difference between your reserve and the hammer price. In my case they dropped an $80k reserve at $77.5K with (from memory) just a few minutes left. The car got no new bids, the buyer sent me $77.5k and BAT sent me $2.5k, making me "whole". I guess they decided they'd rather make 1/2 of their normal commission than make nothing on a reserve not met scenario. After the fact I was contact by several of the losing bidders who were rather upset and "bowed out" because it looked like it was not going to make reserve. I even had a few offers over there hammer price, but of course I honored the winning bid and moved on. Anyway, just sharing... I still love/hate BAT and currently it is still one of there top places to list.
My $0.02
What's the reasoning behind folks putting in absurdly low bids? First bid on my car was $1,000. Which was soon topped by a whopping $2,500!
What are these people thinking? Do they really believe anyone is going to accept their offer?
BAT is not just an auction, it is often a spectacle with a vigorous debate occurring in the comments. The low bids are usually just guys playing around and getting the ball rolling before the heavy hitters step in. The comments are often helpful and revealing, but sometimes they can be harsh or unhelpful. In the end it often builds the hype and directs the trajectory of the final bids. I have learned many interesting things from knowledgeable bidder comments, and also important things I may have missed because I’m emotionally caught up in a particular car and only see shiny paint.
I believe that if you bid, you automatically get notified of any other bids. It's a way to follow a particular auction and feel like you have skin in the game, even when you don't.