The automotive world has been undergoing serious changes over the last ten years, and now these transformations have touched the classic car market. Previously, this segment was considered quite stable, but now the situation has changed dramatically.
A vivid example is the recent case with a Toyota. After a series of successful sales of this brand’s pickups for big money on Bring a Trailer, one of the models suddenly fell short of the expected price level. The displeased seller did not hesitate to express his emotions in the auction’s comments.
This 1982 Toyota Pickup was preserved in excellent condition. It is equipped with an almost new 2.4-liter 22R Stroker engine, a manual 5-speed transmission, Old Man Emu shock absorbers, a two-range transfer case, a Warn grille guard and winch, and a set of spare parts. Similar models recently sold on this platform for over $40,000.
However, the auction representatives seemed to doubt the high value of this particular specimen. As the seller admitted in the comments, he asked to set a reserve of $17,000, but the organizers refused.
When asked by one of the users: “Why did you agree to a no-reserve auction if you expected to get $30,000?”, the car owner replied: “I wanted to set a minimum of 17 thousand, but BaT did not agree. In the end, they could have paid me that 2 thousand difference. Long story short, I will never use their services again and will not recommend them to anyone.”
Photo BaT
The seller learned an important lesson: a no-reserve auction truly does not guarantee a minimum sum. In this case, the losses amounted to about $14,000. According to the man, he bought the pickup for $17,000 and invested another $12,000 into it before the sale, but received only $15,000. Not the best result.
Sometimes, no-reserve auctions lead to fierce bidding, as buyers know the car will definitely be sold. But it also happens that the seller gets much less than expected. In this situation, there were other options: to refuse the auction’s advice, choose a different platform for the sale, or find a buyer privately. This case has become a clear lesson for everyone.