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Selling Cars at Barrett Jackson Experiences.

beaverretriever

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I want to sell a fairly high end car at the next one in Scottsdale as I was too late for Vegas. Who has done it? Good and bad?

I have a good friend who answered a lot of questions for me who sells all the time but all his luck has been super good so curious what negatives have happened to people.

He has sold a new GT500 and a couple new C8s and made about 20%! Can't believe people are buying new Corvettes and GT500s 20k plus over retail so they don't have to wait.

I'm sure I'll get a few heart palpitations with that no reserve! Haha

What say you RDP brain trust?
 

JD D05

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My buddies sold a truck and it did not go so well. It appears that somehow everyone who was interested had an agreement to not drive it up. And the BJ people did not even tell the crowd that it had an Any Level Lift and triple turbos. They talked about the color and factory navigation lol.
 

MK1MOD0

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My buddies sold a truck and it did not go so well. It appears that somehow everyone who was interested had an agreement to not drive it up.

Not to be argumentative, but I have a VERY hard time believing that. Most buyers today are not even on site. They are internet bidders. ............ I do feel that many sellers watch way to much discovery TV and think their cars are worth WAY more than they really are. Big auctions usually give a real good index on pricing.
 

MK1MOD0

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BTW, I’m not a big BJ fan. Too many issues over the years. But still feel it’s a good place to sell a hot ticket item car.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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With the buyer and seller premiums, does selling a new collector car like that (C8, GT500 etc) via BJ warrant the extra costs? I don’t have any experience, but I always wondered if the higher prices paid at a BJ auction covered all the fees, transport, etc.

I could have made $20k selling a C8 from my couch is my point. With highly custom or very rare cars, I certainly see the value to a live auction.
 
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JD D05

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Not to be argumentative, but I have a VERY hard time believing that. Most buyers today are not even on site. They are internet bidders. ............ I do feel that many sellers watch way to much discovery TV and think their cars are worth WAY more than they really are. Big auctions usually give a real good index on pricing.

There were 3 built Super Duty's there. Friend told me 5 separate guys were separately asking questions all weekend. Later all seen together and all 3 trucks went to guys in the group. If you don't believe that or even if it did happen or not is moot. For sure though it was worth way more than what they got.
 

JD D05

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Not my style truck other than the turbos...went for 90 I think.

 

ShotgunGrooms

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No... Why?
With Reserve?
No Reserve - Fun!

Not for me anyways!

Spend the couple hundred on good car ads, "Run till it Sells", take good pics - ask your price.....Classic Auto trader, Classic Car.com, Craig's List, eBay... Advertise the hell out of it, they will come to you.
 

beaverretriever

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No... Why?
With Reserve?
No Reserve - Fun!

Not for me anyways!

Spend the couple hundred on good car ads, "Run till it Sells", take good pics - ask your price.....Classic Auto trader, Classic Car.com, Craig's List, eBay... Advertise the hell out of it, they will come to you.


Funny you say this. He ran all his cars on multiple venues like you state. Tons of tires kickers and when he took his GT500 to auction sold around 22k over MSRP (he paid msrp)

I guess people just get excited to buy when they are there.

However Bring a Trailer might be a thought. Unfortunately they pick and choose what they want to list. Not sure if this car is exciting enough to go on there.
Edit: just looked at bring a trailer and there have been a ton of what I want to sell on there and all brought way more than I would have guessed! Hmm, that may be the place to sell.
 
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SBMech

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Funny you say this. He ran all his cars on multiple venues like you state. Tons of tires kickers and when he took his GT500 to auction sold around 22k over MSRP (he paid msrp)

I guess people just get excited to buy when they are there.

However Bring a Trailer might be a thought. Unfortunately they pick and choose what they want to list. Not sure if this car is exciting enough to go on there.
Edit: just looked at bring a trailer and there have been a ton of what I want to sell on there and all brought way more than I would have guessed! Hmm, that may be the place to sell.

BAT can't force winners to pay, they only secure THEIR 5% or whatever it is from the winning bid via CC.

BJ, EBAY etc have better methods for gaining payment if it sells.
 

Mike K

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If you don’t want to risk “no reserve” ... then get ahold of Russo and Steele ... in Scottsdale ... I hear Drew is doing a lot of selling “virtually“ for clients. Cool guy BTW.
 

pwerwagn

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My buddies sold a truck and it did not go so well. It appears that somehow everyone who was interested had an agreement to not drive it up. And the BJ people did not even tell the crowd that it had an Any Level Lift and triple turbos. They talked about the color and factory navigation lol.


I have a buddy that had the same thing happen with a truck. Pretty nicely built Kodiak, he was expecting something near the 100K mark and got like 38K.

Maybe its a truck thing? Seems like classic trucks sell well there but I haven't paid attention to newer trucks.
 

sirbob

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Bring a Trailer: Seller pays zero commission, the buyer pays 5 percent commission. You can list for as little as $99 bucks...
BAT can't force winners to pay, they only secure THEIR 5% or whatever it is from the winning bid via CC.

BJ, EBAY etc have better methods for gaining payment if it sells.


BAT could be a good option as others have mentioned... However, I often see cars re-listed because of buyer failure to complete the sale.

I have sold or bought at BJ / Russo & RM.

BJ - Hard to make a deal on the block as a seller (as no reserve for almost all of their cars) and the key details of the car often get over looked and not shared. At Scottsdale they do allow a reserve but the seller pays for it in higher fees.

RM - Very hard to get a car listed with them but they are premium at what they do - they will do reserve easier than BJ but its very hard to get them to accept your car. They don't do "muscle" - they like European sports cars or classics.

Russo - easy to list with them / they will do reserve / Drew will work with seller on the block (ie give up his fees from seller if that's the deference between making a deal and not). They will sell muscle / euro classics / euro sports cars.
 
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SBMech

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Honestly I've always thought Mecum had a better selection of nice hotrods/muscle cars at near real world pricing than any of the others.
 

Blackmagic94

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I want to sell a fairly high end car at the next one in Scottsdale as I was too late for Vegas. Who has done it? Good and bad?

I have a good friend who answered a lot of questions for me who sells all the time but all his luck has been super good so curious what negatives have happened to people.

He has sold a new GT500 and a couple new C8s and made about 20%! Can't believe people are buying new Corvettes and GT500s 20k plus over retail so they don't have to wait.

I'm sure I'll get a few heart palpitations with that no reserve! Haha

What say you RDP brain trust?


I’ve sold 7 vehicles there. What are you trying to sell.
 

2Driver

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It seems like 80% of the cars on BAT were just acquired by the seller. Maybe that’s just part of the market ie traded like stocks, I don’t know.

Plus there’s the BAT description LOL “ It’s said to have had an engine rebuild, it’s said to have been kept in a heated garage” the transmission turns the 4:10 gears which turns the 18” wheels on this deep blue Chevelle which has been said to have never been driven in the rain.
 

C-Ya

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I’ve have done Barrett Jackson twice with the same exotic car. Both times, bidders came close to my reserve and I held my ground......... I regretted it both times that I did not except the high bid. The problem is, once you are on that stage, it’s overwhelming. Things are going fast and at some point, the auctioneer is going to put you on the spot, to make a decision.....while you are experiencing an acute case of tunnel vision. I could barely think...... both times. But heck, I had a great time, a full access pass, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
 

spectras only

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You can get screwed at BJ if the auctioneers drop the hammer prematurely. especially if they have someone they know in the bidding crowd that wants a certain car badly. ;) I would never enter a car with no reserve there!
 

monkeyswrench

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As a few have pointed out, there are some negatives with BJ. There is definitely a type of politics or hierarchy going on. It really also depends on the car. There seems to be both more interest, and flexibility, between auctions as well as vehicle type.

As my friend used to say, "There's an ass for every seat". He hustled lots of cars, some of them ugly as hell, but he knew how to find the venue to show them.
 

Willie B

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… not sure what happened… but I no longer can get Barrett Jackson with my DIRECTV package???…Dunno???
 

Blackmagic94

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If they put you in the wrong day and time block and the room isn’t full or drunk you can lose big. Ask me how I know lol

Russo isn’t any better either to be honest. Been there done that. I just sell my builds direct or sit on it now.
 

sirbob

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My buddies sold a truck and it did not go so well. It appears that somehow everyone who was interested had an agreement to not drive it up. And the BJ people did not even tell the crowd that it had an Any Level Lift and triple turbos. They talked about the color and factory navigation lol.


There were 3 built Super Duty's there. Friend told me 5 separate guys were separately asking questions all weekend. Later all seen together and all 3 trucks went to guys in the group. If you don't believe that or even if it did happen or not is moot. For sure though it was worth way more than what they got.

Your buddy's issue wasn't some sort of collusion, it was he listed at a no reserve auction and there were no retail bidders in the room that wanted his truck.

Those guys were probably dealers that were going to resell the trucks.

Ask yourself this question - you are at Barrett Jackson and you see this truck that you totally get and know all about the cool shit thats been done to it. Its exactly what you have been looking for and you know its worth 100gs... The bidding starts and stalls at about 38 - you look over a see a few guys talking while bidding.

You...

A) Stop bidding because they must of made a deal to buy it low.

B) Put another bid in and keep putting another bid in, again and again up to the 100 you know it's worth and end up taking it home at 75 - because thats when the dealers dropped out.

Your buddy didn't have 2 buyers in the room - thats not BJ doing him wrong, even if they didn't hit what he thought were the high points of the truck. Thats why I won't sell in a no reserve auction (I buy in them!).
 

JD D05

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Your buddy's issue wasn't some sort of collusion, it was he listed at a no reserve auction and there were no retail bidders in the room that wanted his truck.

Those guys were probably dealers that were going to resell the trucks.

Ask yourself this question - you are at Barrett Jackson and you see this truck that you totally get and know all about the cool shit thats been done to it. Its exactly what you have been looking for and you know its worth 100gs... The bidding starts and stalls at about 38 - you look over a see a few guys talking while bidding.

You...

A) Stop bidding because they must of made a deal to buy it low.

B) Put another bid in and keep putting another bid in, again and again up to the 100 you know it's worth and end up taking it home at 75 - because thats when the dealers dropped out.

Your buddy didn't have 2 buyers in the room - thats not BJ doing him wrong, even if they didn't hit what he thought were the high points of the truck. Thats why I won't sell in a no reserve auction (I buy in them!).

I don’t think they could put a reserve on it for some reason I don't know. As far as the high points it had a 25k triple turbo kit on it and made over 1000HP I think that's everyone's highpoint not just what the seller thought.

This is all second hand from a good friend and he wasn't mad or anything he just didn't have a good experience. I would irritated I guess also, it was a true Sema build and won awards at Sema and BJ talked about the color, navigation, and the fact it was a four wheel drive...
 
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Bobo57

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what do you think the value of you’re ride is?
 

sirbob

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I don’t think they could put a reserve on it for some reason I don't know. As far as the high points it had a 25k triple turbo kit on it and made over 1000HP I think that's everyone's highpoint not just what the seller thought.


HAHA - I get it! THIS Fr HAS 1000HP!!! says the auctioneer... I know the dealers knew what it had.

For the longest time BJ would not accept a reserve. Most of their auctions still don't but some of the big boys would not list the real high dollar stuff with them so they started a few year ago - but you pay for it in higher fees. unless your somebody who does a lot of cars with them..

If you are a regular guy selling 1 car, you don't get much love - here is the fee schedule / pay it or don't.
 

JD D05

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HAHA - I get it! THIS Fr HAS 1000HP!!! says the auctioneer... I know the dealers knew what it had.

For the longest time BJ would not accept a reserve. Most of their auctions still don't but some of the big boys would not list the real high dollar stuff with them so they started a few year ago - but you pay for it in higher fees. unless your somebody who does a lot of cars with them..

If you are a regular guy selling 1 car, you don't get much love - here is the fee schedule / pay it or don't.

Interesting. Funny part was a stock Super Duty literally the truck right before them with a shit lift kit and that it went for 15k more.
 

bonesfab

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I don’t think they could put a reserve on it for some reason I don't know. As far as the high points it had a 25k triple turbo kit on it and made over 1000HP I think that's everyone's highpoint not just what the seller thought.

This is all second hand from a good friend and he wasn't mad or anything he just didn't have a good experience. I would irritated I guess also, it was a true Sema build and won awards at Sema and BJ talked about the color, navigation, and the fact it was a four wheel drive...

And some folks were wondering how many time it made the 1000 plus hp and how many more times were left in it before the pin fell out.. That's the problem with some of the over built stuff. It scares most people away.
 

nowski

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Lots of platforms out there to sell a vehicle it all depends on what road you want to choose...

My neighbor just sold this ZR1 last week for a $152k and of all places Craigslist.

My buddy is thinking of putting his one family owned (rare Euro with manual 5 spd. trans) immaculate 66 Mercedes 230SL on Bring a Trailer. He likes the zero commission plus the amount of money the site is bringing in for the right cars. He also has the original wheels, steering wheel, Pagoda hard top and numerous hard to find extra parts...
 

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JD D05

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And some folks were wondering how many time it made the 1000 plus hp and how many more times were left in it before the pin fell out.. That's the problem with some of the over built stuff. It scares most people away.

Dowel pin?
 

Blackmagic94

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Hahahaha ok. I was wondering if people still thought that was a thing.

lol. But the point is sometimes someone will pay more for something stock is more desirable then a fully molested rig.

The trick with auctions is to have a vehicle for sale that day that no one has for sale that day that way the few bidders that are interested will only be fighting over your rig.

I’ve made some money on Hmmwvs but lost some as well at auctions. I was the first person to take a mil issued Hmmwv to Barrett years ago. The next show there was 6 others and the market was half of the first show I did
 

JD D05

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lol. But the point is sometimes someone will pay more for something stock is more desirable then a fully molested rig.

The trick with auctions is to have a vehicle for sale that day that no one has for sale that day that way the few bidders that are interested will only be fighting over your rig.

I’ve made some money on Hmmwvs but lost some as well at auctions. I was the first person to take a mil issued Hmmwv to Barrett years ago. The next show there was 6 others and the market was half of the first show I did

Ya I understand that people like Mercury power etc.
 

beaverretriever

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There's a similar R8 Spyder on BAT right now, auction ends this Sunday. Lets see how she does...

On BAT you get 7 days of auction experience, on Barrett-Jackson you get maybe a minute.

Anyways Good Luck on your future sale, Bitchen Ride BTW...


Definitley not a car that would be something I could afford just to keep around. Good deal on car that I planned to sell.


Thanks for all the input everyone. I knew all the baller boys and girls on here would have some knowledge!
 

Tank

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What if you back out of the no reserve sale? As in your car ended up selling for a fraction of what it's worth and you're like, "nah, change my mind" LOL
 
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