Boris3 said:

Never done BaT. Just read the FAQ, so you have to place each bid individually? Not like Ebay where you can put in a max bid amount and it automatically bids for you up to your max? 

Yes. You put in your max bid, and it automatically goes up to that price. You put in the max amount you want to pay. It does not bid it up for you.

Jdesign said:

1. Two of the bidders said they would have bid more, BUT the notifications BaT sends out warning the auction ends in 30 mins via text and/or email went off 7 mins to close and when they checked in to bid, it was already too late. I believe them as I got the same text 7 mins before the close. Oh well, I was happy with the price and feared relisting it would bring a lower price.

Never done BaT. Just read the FAQ, so you have to place each bid individually? Not like Ebay where you can put in a max bid amount and it automatically bids for you up to your max?

REKIII said:

Oh, and congrats on the sale.  The process seemed OK as I've read a lot of horror stories from BaT.  Glad yours went good.  It helped a ton that the seller and buyer were decent people it seems.

Thanks!!

I agree that it's a combo of cutthroat and optimization.

straight6pwr said:

why is auto transport such a f*d up system? why is it all so under the table/run by brokers/unreliable? gotta be thousands of cars sent around the country everyday.

It seems like it is this way because it is so cutthroat.  No one wants' to pay another $800+ for a car they just got a good deal on.  Then you have the drivers/owners wanting to optimize their load.  The combo of those 2 things couple with potentially crappy people on both ends (drivers and sellers) that bad shit is bound to happen.  It seems that people I know that spend $1500+ on enclosed carriers never have issues.

I'm to the point where if a plane ticket and gas/hotel is even remotely close to a high end transport I'll just go get it myself.

straight6pwr said:

although I believe them too, thats just putting the blame on someone else for being lazy. if you're bidding on something and want to win it, you should probably know when the auction is going to end and not rely on some random notification to remind you.

why is auto transport such a f*d up system? why is it all so under the table/run by brokers/unreliable? gotta be thousands of cars sent around the country everyday.

Yeah I agree, that's why I wasn't going to fuss about relisting it or taking other offers. Would have just made a bigger headache.

AND yeah IDK. WHY do they all say they will be there at XX:XX but never show up at that time or at all. The guy that did show up was texting me and was very responsive the entire time, and was RIGHT on time. It was shocking.

Jdesign said:

Two of the bidders said they would have bid more, BUT the notifications BaT sends out warning the auction ends in 30 mins via text and/or email went off 7 mins to close and when they checked in to bid, it was already too late. I believe them as I got the same text 7 mins before the close. Oh well, I was happy with the price and feared relisting it would bring a lower price.

although I believe them too, thats just putting the blame on someone else for being lazy. if you're bidding on something and want to win it, you should probably know when the auction is going to end and not rely on some random notification to remind you.

Jdesign said:

3 days later, 3 auto transport companies later, a driver arrived with an open carrier and was extremely worried worried about loading the car due to the front lip. I tell him I can remove the front lip and I call the buyer so he can okay removing it. With out the front lip the car is loaded no problem. I took video, pictures, and documented the whole process and the driver was very careful with the car as he seemed to really like it. 

why is auto transport such a f*d up system? why is it all so under the table/run by brokers/unreliable? gotta be thousands of cars sent around the country everyday.

I agree with you guys, there is a lot of comments from those who are likely just there to cause a stir. Here is my step by step experience with this BaT transaction;

1. I Submit a 4 page document containing all the information about the car, 60+ images of the car, and my $100 listing fee.
2. I get an approval email that the car is accepted and I am assigned an auction manager which mentions that after his edit it takes a month for the car to go live.
3. The auction manager asks for more recent photos as the ones I submitted were somehow back dated, this is resolved per my response. 
4. The auction manager then takes my 4 page document and condenses it into 4 paragraphs and asks me to review them. 
5. I fix all the errors and rewrite the paragraphs (3 times or more) due to data errors ( wrong size wheels, using odd descriptions to parts that don't exist)  
6. Finally I approve the text, expecting that I have a month until the car goes live so I can add remaining photos of the underside, new pin stripe and re-painted front lip.
7. A hour later I get a notification that the car is now live on BaT. ( What happened to the month before it goes live?)
8. I add pictures 2 days later during the auction and the auction manager adds them within minutes of me submitting them.
9. The auction ends and I get a few private messages after the auction.
10. Two of the bidders said they would have bid more, BUT the notifications BaT sends out warning the auction ends in 30 mins via text and/or email went off 7 mins to close and when they checked in to bid, it was already too late. I believe them as I got the same text 7 mins before the close. Oh well, I was happy with the price and feared relisting it would bring a lower price.
11. The winner may have had no prior bids, but you have to start somewhere. Turns out he was a pretty nice guy and he explained that he didn't think he was going to win. The buyer flew in from New York to inspect the car, pay in full, and ideally planned to be there when it was loaded onto the transporter.
12. Unfortunately, the transporter didn't meet his promise and never arrived, or returned the buyers calls. The buyer had to fly back to New York without seeing it loaded. 
13. 3 days later, 3 auto transport companies later, a driver arrived with an open carrier and was extremely worried worried about loading the car due to the front lip. I tell him I can remove the front lip and I call the buyer so he can okay removing it. With out the front lip the car is loaded no problem. I took video, pictures, and documented the whole process and the driver was very careful with the car as he seemed to really like it. 

Onto the next!

Also you can tell the people from the south who have never experienced rust and freak out over some surface rust on large cast suspension parts.  Someone commented on the Volvo along the lines of "I think the rear control arms need replacement because of the excessive rust"  They are similar to an E36 rear trailing arm, not going to rust through that in a lifetime...

Boris3 said:

Surprising. Looking at the bidders, the winner had no track record of any other bids at BaT. None of the other folks had been solely BMW focused or bid on earlier auctions of the same/similar cars. So much for the science of it all.

Congrats on the sale! 

the only science of BAT is that BAT wins, regardless if the buyer/seller are happy. they've figured out how to rig the system.  all i hear is negative stories about sales that fall through, forced "no reserve" auctions that end unexpectedly low, and obviously way over-the-top nit picker commenters that never even bid. its like they assume everything is a lie and your hiding secrets and a unseeable spot of rust is the end of the world.  but, people keep going back, so what do i know *shrug*

Boris3 said:

Surprising. Looking at the bidders, the winner had no track record of any other bids at BaT. None of the other folks had been solely BMW focused or bid on earlier auctions of the same/similar cars. So much for the science of it all.

Congrats on the sale! 

Agree, I noticed that as well. Thanks!

Congrats on the sale!

B C said:

yep, thought it would break $7,000 for sure.

Nice job though, you did well on it

Yeah either way, I still came out on top and now have more room in the shop. I find it hilarious that the winners name is Yikes. How fitting is that. 

Nice job though, you did well on it

straight6pwr said:

Just one last bid to 6400 at the last second, was hoping to see more action!

Same. Oh well.

Boris3 said:

I think straight6pwr has probably nailed it at $6800

I would agree with this too

Jdesign said:

Down to the final hours gentlemen. Currently @ $6200.... Sorry @patsbimmer1 

I'm happy to be wrong in this instance!

You've already done better than two prior sales at BaT, and since yours is higher mileage the one that sold for $14k is out. As for the ones that didn't sell: two reserve not met cars were $3100 (137k, but yours is cleaner), and $7200 (129k)

someone said:

mrwilliamsburg 15

In the description it mentions new spacers on the wheels. Can you explain that? If they are the correct wheels they shouldn’t require spacers

CAN YOU EXPLAIN THAT?  Sherlock Williamsburg has got it all figured out that your trying to pull a fast one.

It must be hard to not call these people idiots since you are trying to sell the car and all.