Hey there,
Great car by the way. I had 2000 GPW with red interior, miss that car and regretted selling it.
I'm pretty familiar with BAT and C&B's and watching these sites is part of my daily ritual. I can tell you that from what I've seen you will historically get more for your vehicle on BAT. They have been around longer, more people are familiar with them and they have more volume. Every week, I see vehicles on there that sell for batshit crazy money, well beyond what they should ever sell for. I'm talking about regular daily drivers not just the special, rare or limited cars. Something like an S2K, you will get very good money for, prob over MSRP. They recently sold a 09 CR for $200k, granted it was new but that's 4x what it was worth new.
Did you look at the stats for the s2k?
S2000
*Some BAT Cons:
-I heard that BAT takes at least a month or so before they'd consider posting it so there's that to consider.
-In some cases BAT may tell you what the Reserve is, you may only be able to choose NR or Reserve.
-BAT Buyer fees are 5% of the sale, where C&B is 4.5%.
-You're dealing with a bigger auction house that has alot of volume, whereas C&Bs is a smaller, newer operation. C&B's just had their 2 year anniversary.
Some C&B's Cons:
-They aren't as well known and established as BAT. They haven't sold nearly as many vehicles.
Here's my response to your Q's:
- Should I sell at no reserve? The sites seem to encourage that, but I don't want the car to be stolen by a low bidder. This is a gut call, but use the historical data I sent you in the link to determine your color, yr and mi to determine what someone would actually pay, you could see if a similar car sold for more based on NR vs Reserve. If you go C&B's I suggest putting a reserve for whatever the lowest you're willing to take for the car. Typically you get more money for NR because people bid sooner and that starts bidding wars sooner. The more bids the more money you get.
- Can I cancel the auction if pricing is below my threshold? No, that's the point of having a Reserve. If you want to do something like that then EBay allows that to some extend. You would have to buy seller fees so keep that in mind.
- Seems to me that Cars and Bids is easier (BAT has to 'approve' of the listing) and also cheaper - free to list - and is focused on newer (post '80) cars. Pros/cons? Yea I'd say C&B's is more flexible than BAT. BAT is selective about the cars they choose. I like both and I would touch base with both places and see what they say. *see above.
- Also - I've never sold to anyone out of state...anything to be on the alert for re: scams etc? I personally haven't sold on either site but I've sold over a dozen vehicles private party. I think you'll be fine, if something makes you uncomfortable then don't agree to it. You can ask the auction house for help and guidance if you feel there is foul play. In the past when i sold to out of state buyers, I would Take Certified Checks and MO's only. This large amount I would avoid cash, personal checks and wire transfers. Get a Buyers Order template online and get things signed so there's a record of what you agreed to with the Buyer.
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