575 on BAT

Rob I honest to god did not even know there was an auction portion to this site till you mentioned it. I think you need one of those landing pages right when we all come to Fchat for the first few times to really announce its existence. I also just checked and 2 of the cars you've thrown up have been 512bbi and 458, both spectacular ferraris, but both on the higher end price wise and the 458 was black. The 308 you put up was an odd color and had low miles for its age but high miles for being a Ferrari I guess you could say as silly as that sounds. Obviously all colors look good on a Ferrari, and many people like other colors, but I think its fair to say Red is what most buyers, especially first time buyers would be after and command the most. I think if you auctioned a couple low mileage rossa corsa classics like a Testarossa then you would see higher bids. Even BAT struggled with the last 2 575's fetching $82k and $84k those were silver and gray. The red one up now is already at $87,500 with 6 days left....

I don't think its a slight against you or Fchat its just the pool of buyers for pricier Ferraris isn't that big to begin with and then most people who buy a car like this want to see it in person. I drove 150 miles from miami to naples to go see my 575 and buy it. I then waited a week after I paid for it for a major to be completed and then my wife drove me up to get it. A ferrari is tough to buy at an auction without seeing its condition first hand ie orange peel paint, curb rash, are doors dinged. Hell I drove up and saw mine and I missed a little ding on the roof of the car which now can't be fixed without dropping the headliner! These cars are awesome but every little thing costs quite a bit to fix so when we buy one, I think I speak for most of us that we'd rather pay $10-15k more and get the right one than just get any one. You prob feel the same as a Ferrari owner yourself. So for me auctions are cool and I def used ebay to search for one close to me, but in the end I had to see it in person and drive it before I took ownership and I think thats why BAT doesn't command top dollar and yet auctions like sothebys do.

BAT is cool if you inherit a car or have something you wanna get rid of and a dealer lowballs you. You can prob get rid of it on there but to sell a pristine Ferrari, it really isn't the place, I think a 7k mile testarossa got like $115-120k a few weeks back too.

 

Ow wow, I mistook BaT for F-chat auctions. I don't even know where on the site they are, but I've never looked!

 

Rob the problem too is, we're all enthusiasts on here, most of us probably overvalue our cars and its gonna be tough to get a person or dealer to pay us what we want. Take Taz for instance I don't think a wholesale bid gets him to part with his 575 hell I dont even think a record price for a 575 F1 would. I know I called Ron Tonkin about trading in my 575 for a stradale and they offered me $82k for a beautiful red/tan low mile 575 recently and I thought I stole the car paying a hair over $100k bc all the others listed wanted $120-150 same miles and color. So to get someone to pay top dollar for a car is going to be tough when we're all enthusiasts and all so demanding of the final car we buy. I still think its an awesome idea and I hope it works, Id love to buy my future ferraris from enthusiasts.

 

Just goes to show what you don't see when you're not looking for it!

 

I look at them, but i'm not in the market for those cars and imho the market is soft. But I am glad you all are doing the auctions, I have more faith in the integrity of your board than in a lot of auction houses out there.

 

need followers...... i missed both auctions but i think it is also weird that you cannot go back and look to see what transpired. or am i off on that?

 

ahh, it will take some time for users to get familiar with. the layouts are compartmentalized...

are there listing fees for this first auctions ?

 

Rob, with all due respect for this auction effort on F-Chat: when I first heard about it I instantly wondered why one should pay an additional 2.5% on a transaction that could (and likely would) occur seller-to-buyer if the same car were advertised in the Classified section.

In other words, and maybe I am missing something here, what benefit would an F-Chat auction give over the same transaction occurring with due diligence directly between the two parties involved?

 

Rob running the auctions really costs you nothing extra, your thing is attempting to build up a loyal following to the auctions right? If that's the case you should make it the lowest fees around and in the early days that should be zero and up from there. Obviously you're a businessman and you have your requirements but internet businesses run at losses for a long time. Obviously if you want to motivate more to sell and more to buy then what better way than completely making it pointless to sell on BaT and build a big following here and then based on how those auctions go raise prices from there. That would be my goal, you have the audience, now you have to motivate them to get to buying and selling on your platform. Dealers have all these fees that are just annoying as could be, you could have a platform that could sell your Ferrari in 1 week for no fees, that probably gets you a ton of people lining up to sell cars and buyers not having to pay fees line up to bid as it gives them a little more ammo to bid with.

Just my 2 cents

BAT is awful, if you could list a Ferrari and have commentary from a Ferrari only base, which you have here, cars would get more useful insight and I believe higher bids in the long run.

 

It's one of 9 equally sized options at the top of my screen. I think getting the word out is still your main problem.

Scott

 

I think it's definitely possible. Some additional publicity around this subject might help.

 

The reason BAT is cool and can charge 5% is bc you get stuff below market value, but getting stuff on here most buyers are going to be asking and seeking top dollar + a 2.5% fee. BAT if you notice most of the cars that sell, sell for way below their values bc its usually dealers tired of something in inventory or someone getting rid of a car. Really go sift through all the Ferraris that have sold recently.

1 .A 2002 575 just sold last week with 28k miles for $84k
2. A '78 308 just went for $34k
3. A 308 GT4 just sold for $50k
4. A 28k mile testarossa sold for $85k

Those prices, those aren't coming from Ferrari enthusiasts which this site is full of. Nobody on here would sell at those prices unless they absolutely had to and thats why the fees are fine bc you're stealing cars on BAT and I dont really think you're going to get the same type of deals on here considering most of us know what the cars are worth.

 

Not on the "old" skin that I'm using! This is what I see:
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I don't consider this "the BIG menu...."

THIS could be the BIG menu at the top.....
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Whatever number of live auctions.....continuously scrolling L to R.....I can't miss it......!
(that's the most free design consultation I've handed out this week........)
You're welcome!

 

83 alerts! How do you live with yourself? Clean that mess up!

 

rob -

can you redo the auctions so they model the typical for sale threads ?

so you have the intro, description and pictures and then page down for commentary and bidding .... but everything in one place.