Greetings, FChatters, If any of you have been following these 8-Seies in the marketplace, particularly on "BaT", you may have seen an 850Ci with similar mileage and condition to this one go for $43000, plus fees of course. This car's owner is ready to sell, and should an offer come anywhere close to that figure, would likely consider it. Keep in mind that your offer would not require a buyer's premium like the auction sites require, which at minimum is a 5% savings right to your wallet. This is such a lovely car. Don't miss out. TC
It can be, they are picky as to what they'll accept, and from acceptance to auction can be 2-3 months
BaT acceptance has sucked lately. it’s not so much about bringing a trailer anymore I’m sending my business to Cars and Bids. Test the waters with the competition
And Cars and Bids beats BaT ever so slightly on every category, insertion costs, buyers premium, etc But as of now, they don't have NEARLY the power or market share BaT has.
I never actually investigated BaT’s buyers fees but interesting: Buyers pay 5% If you win a BaT Auction we charge 5% of the final bid price, with a minimum fee of $250 and a max fee of $5,000. The fee for sales higher than $100,000 is capped at $5,000, thus it ends up less than 5%. The fee on a $1,000,000 purchase on BaT is 0.5%.
BAT requires sellers commit to reasonable reserves prior to listing vehicles. A car like this would likely have a reserve price much lower than the current ask. It could be fine if bidding takes off, however, if commenters start to scrutinize and it's an off day, the seller might be forced to take a lot less than they wanted to originally. BAT wins either way, they want all cars to sell so they get their 5%. If your car sells for more they win as well, but their ultimate goal is a guaranteed sale.
I sold my Canadian market 850i/6 on BAT several years ago, and was satisfied with the process. I hired a photographer, and provided copies of all documentation, records, import paperwork, BAT took the information and provided the copy for the listing. At the time, the final sale price was in the upper range of market pricing, as my car was low mileage, manual transmission, and Non-US market Sport seats. I wouldn't hesitate to list it, if the car is correct. The open commenting system can be brutal for poorly presented cars. If it can withstand the critical eyes of commenters, it will generally bring a fair value. BAT's Buyer's Premium system is pretty good, the last time I purchased, which was several years ago, any bid is immediately processed for the 5% fee, if the bidders CC doesn't clear, the bid is not placed. I don't remember ever seeing an auction sell where the bidder didn't collect the car. It really helps weed out shills and non-payment. I do miss it. Image Unavailable, Please Login
We have a BaT listing teed up and ready to go, but there has been a "flood" of 850s there of late. Tough to compete against the CSis with manuals, even though they sell for over $100k now days. Many of the other cars have had high mileage, and lower prices realized because of that. This being a relatively late 850, all the improvements are in place that were done through the life of the model, such as the bigger engine, etc. However, in spite of its great condition, we realize any new buyer will need to accept the history as we know it. I have attempted to obtain any documentation that would assuage any concern the CarFax would generate, but privacy laws being what they are make this a difficult proposition, short of finding a stash of documents under the spare tire. Cars & Bids is likely the next stop for the car, as there seem to be a good variety of cars there. It does require exclusivity, so the posting here and elsewhere would need to come down. Would rather do business with this group, if possible. I have responded to all PMs and waiting to see who wants to come out to see the car. TC
You can't "pull" an ad from here, but what I've found when listing with BaT, and upcoming C&Bs, just make it "taken off the market", and that should suffice. A mod could even remove the listed price too as to not confuse any potential buyers.
Cars on BAT of late sell for above fair market value. If this car is worth anywhere near the asking price, have no fear, BAT is the place to list it. I'm afraid the salvage title and slushbox are working against you in this case and comparing this car to a CSI is apples to oranges. That being said, it's still a beautiful car with low mileage so as long as expectations are realistically adjusted, there should be no disappointment.
You are right about the flood. We have an 850i 6-speed in the line-up of BaT currently, and ours was a feature in Bimmer magazine. We have no idea when it will go live.
Yes, BaT routinely "pays" up to 5% when the high bidder is within 5% of the reserve, .....BaT pays the difference, the seller gets his reserve, and the auction is marked "sold"
OK Chatters, Time for another price adjustment. Now this fine car can be yours for $39,900. After looking into Cars & Bids, we decided to keep things here and elsewhere, and drop the price. Thanks TC
They crunched you on a reserve I assume? I sold a car with them a month ago. The volume of buyers is very low vs BaT, and prices are commensurate with the 'options pool'. Probably best not going on there until they gain more volume.
Yes. They know their audience, I'm sure, and likely believe any little paperwork blemish is a deal killer. Oh for the old days when the actual condition of a car was what you judged them by. I bet most of us used that as the criterium for purchases then. To me, unless it spent time underwater or rolled into a ball, something explainable is a point of discussion, not full rejection. I don't own this car, so can be patient. TC
Greetings again, F-Chatters! A very similar 1997 850Ci just passed through BaT this week and sold for $46,750. A car in comparable condition, with half the miles, should be worth more, right? Even if you take into consideration the story this car has, an asking price below this result should be reasonable. Never the less, we are lowering the price to $38,500. That is an almost 20% discount to the price BaT got for basically the same car. Thanks to all for your views and comments. TC
