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Bring a Trailer - Any Canadian Seller Experiences?
Bring a Trailer - Any Canadian Seller Experiences?
I'm considering selling my highly modified 997 in the next couple of months, as soon as the final work is done on the project car. It seems that Bring A Trailer seems to be the place to list highly modified cars, and Porsche's especially seem to be bringing top dollar on the site.
I am a bit concerned about the potential delay in listing, as I am trying to catch the Spring/Early Summer market and heard BAT sometimes can delay a listing up to 2 months. Also, I know that the site is working great for US sellers, but Im wondering if Canadian cars are getting the same types of bids.
Any Canadians on hear with first hand experience listing a car on BAT? What was your experience like? Did you get what you thought you were going to get? How did you arrange transfer of funds? Did it go to a US or Canadian buyer?
I have heard it takes months to get approved. Also heard there's negotiation required to get the reserve you want, they naturally want cars to sell. Been a few nice Canadian Porsches recently sold, here's one for sale now, a nice 92 RS Clubsport.
I think it doesn't matter if the car is here. What matters is the car. maybe some unfamiliarity from some US buyers with the import process into the US.
thanks for the info. The months long delay is what I was concerned about. And then I have heard the the buyers can potentially backout, leading to a relisting and further delays. However, it doesnt seem like that is very common, as they still have to pay the 5% when they win the auction.
There are a couple Canadian sites doing the same thing without the delays. However, Im guessing the exposure is nowhere close. Maybe my best bet is to register with BAT as soon as the car is ready, then keep listing other places. If I get a sale before the BAT auction, then I can just cancel it.
When I sold the 72 a few years ago I got in touch with them. No approval time, it could've gone live that day, but yeah, the reserve. They wanted it 10% lower than my absolute minimum so I passed.
I have dealt with BAT and Cars and Bids. the delays is in negotiating a reserve, they can be non responsive and unrealistic at times since they want to sell the car and make comm. Also delays in the seller getting the ad and photos ready. I would suggest you start talking to them soon and tell them when the car will be ready. BAT has the most eyes watching. In my opinion it is hit and miss on a car located in Canada. I would suggest offering to export the car to buffalo for a flat fee, but becomes complicated as you would want to be paid first. there are lots of buyers here in Canada but some specialty cars the market may be in the US. Be careful of exchange as the US dollar is expected to continue to drop relative to CDN over next few months.
Curious what year 997 and what mods?
Cars and Bids is easier to negotiate with and more responsive but less viewers.
Thanks for the great advice guys. I sold a Audi S6 project car recently, and didnt want to deal with the whole BAT thing. I know I took a big hit on the selling price, as the car had fans worldwide. But for the relatively low price it sold for, it wasnt worth the extra hassle to get an extra $3-5k.
On the 997 however, I really think Im going to have to get as much exposure as possible, due to all the mods and work that has gone into the project. Im not expecting to get back all the money I put into it, but I wouldnt want to sell if for the same price as a stock 2008 997 C4s with factory paint would go for either.
My project thread has almost 60k views, so hopefully there will be some interest in it at auction. Ill take a ton of pics once all the work is done. It is currently getting all mechanical stuff finished up before it goes back to the bodyshop for the final work there.
I sold one of my classic cars on Bringatrailer last year. It's a car I imported from California over ten years ago, so I knew it would be easy to sell it to a U.S. audience.
From submission to auction going live it was about 3 weeks and that was with regular nudging to get them to list it ASAP. I also wanted to catch the Spring/Summer rush, and I had read that the pandemic was causing car values on Bringatrailer to spike. Submitted all my info and photos middle of May and the auction went live the second week of June.
I liked my experience overall. Didn't have to deal with any test drives, so zero time wasted. They didn't haggle with me on the reserve (mine was the total outlay I had in the car, which had since appreciated generously).
My car went to a Canadian buyer in another province. I felt that I got maybe 10% less than I would have if I were a U.S. seller because there was a lot of concern about importing back into the U.S. (paperwork, border shut-down) despite it being a U.S. car originally but it's hard to say whether that was the main factor or whether I just didn't have two bidders that really wanted the car badly enough to bid it higher.
I’ve bought 2 m3s off bat. Both already here in Canada. Both great deals for me. I sold my 997gt3 and barely it made sense. IMO you’ll get creamed selling that on bat. Despite the offer to ship across boarder thing, most states guys won’t want to deal with especially from a non dealer, too many question marks potentially. But that’s just my opinion.
I’ve bought 2 m3s off bat. Both already here in Canada. Both great deals for me. I sold my 997gt3 and barely it made sense. IMO you’ll get creamed selling that on bat. Despite the offer to ship across boarder thing, most states guys won’t want to deal with especially from a non dealer, too many question marks potentially. But that’s just my opinion.
curious what do you mean "sold my 997gt4 and barely it made sense"? do you mean the price was too low?
04-02-2021, 02:52 AM
Bring a Trailer - Any Canadian Seller Experiences?
