Sales advice

[robmog]

Hey all,
Seeking opinions about the best way to sell a car.
Ebay?
Bring a trailer?
Craig’s list?
Professional buyers (from the back of Esses magazine)?
Here?
Thanks

[The chief]

If I were selling a P car it would be on BAT, the hotbed for all things Porsche these days. International exposure for 99 bucks! not much risk with a reserve

[trdking]

I second that great spot

[john rice]

Professional buyers are buying at wholesale. If their price seems geneous- you underestimate the market. Only good for a fast sale.

BAT- I agree with chief- up to a point. Look at BAT ads. Thoroughly describe the car with tons of good images. Be prepared to deal with idiot questions from people who don't bother to read your ad, people who know a lot more than ou do asking questions you will need to research to answer, and try to research enough to have a reasonable reserve. From what I see mint cars that are well presented, etc do quite well. I do like BAT but have no illissions that it is perfect. [I miss the old days with the super funk early BATfeatures.Gone forever, but that means there is room for a "new vesion" of BAT, doesn't it?!]

Ebay - If you put the same energy into your ad as BAT it could be as good or better source with a wider viewership. Pay close attention to strictly monitoring who can or can't bid to help avoid bad bidders.

Flip a coin. That works too. Good luck!

[blucille]

Paul Kramer at autokennel if you don’t want to deal with the nay-sayers who will tear apart your car on bring a trailer

[john rice]

If you are in the area I agree that PK could be a great option. He puts a lot of work into presenting cars he is selling and does a gerat job of it. [Why didn't I think of that?]

[Jules Dielen]

BAT or here, but both crowds can be rough. Ebay gives you exposure but you are left answering 500 questions from many people who can't afford the tires on your car. BAT seems to be a bit more professional. Here on ESR you probably have the best in-crowd.

If you don't want to deal with any of that, i agree a knowledgeable Porsche consignment would be your best option, but you will have to give up some of your $.

[Tom F.]

Had success with Hemmings, lots of attention from overseas there.

[767driver]

BaT, Paul Kramer at Autokennel, Pelican, EarlySregisrty, Rennlist in no particular order. If you want to deal with a real live person call Paul.

[Unobtanium-inc]

Professional buyers are buying at wholesale. If their price seems geneous- you underestimate the market. Only good for a fast sale.

BAT- I agree with chief- up to a point. Look at BAT ads. Thoroughly describe the car with tons of good images. Be prepared to deal with idiot questions from people who don't bother to read your ad, people who know a lot more than ou do asking questions you will need to research to answer, and try to research enough to have a reasonable reserve. From what I see mint cars that are well presented, etc do quite well. I do like BAT but have no illissions that it is perfect. [I miss the old days with the super funk early BATfeatures.Gone forever, but that means there is room for a "new vesion" of BAT, doesn't it?!]

Ebay - If you put the same energy into your ad as BAT it could be as good or better source with a wider viewership. Pay close attention to strictly monitoring who can or can't bid to help avoid bad bidders.

Flip a coin. That works too. Good luck!

I have to clear up a couple of mis-conceptions here.
1. Dealers do not always buy at wholesale. I routinely have one of my European buyers reach out to me with a request for a specific car and they are more than happy to pay over market for me to find it. Why? Because they know they can trust me. So just because a dealer shows interest in your car, doesn't mean you under-priced it.
2. BAT has it's virtues but until they clean up the peanut gallery atmosphere you won't see any of my cars on there. I've openly seen guys get clowned for bidding on a car. If you don't think that hampers the overall bidding you're kidding yourself. Also, it's hard to set a reasonable reserve on BAT, they apply a lot of pressure to have no reserve or a very low reserve, I've bought several cars from people who were about to put it on BAT, but couldn't risk under-selling the car.
3. Ebay is still a viable way to sell a car, just put everything out there, take lots of real pictures, not pretty pictures, but real pictures. I get very few questions on my cars on ebay because I usually answer them all in the listing, and show every angle people are going to ask about.

Bottom line, there is no magic bullet to selling a car, a lot of it depends on how much energy you want to put into it and how much exposure you want with the general public. Most of the cars I buy are from guys with large collections who want to sell a few cars off quietly, and don't want anyone seeing what they have or trying to buy cars that aren't for sale.

---Adam