Marketing Strategy of my 73S Greatly Appreciated

[RickS]

When I originally bought the car 12 years ago, it was going to be my 'keeper'. As everyone knows, prices have gone stratospheric and driving this car as a modified hot rod is not in the cards. As a result I am letting this car go and have replaced it with an SC which I can modify and hot rod to my heart's content.

Those of you who have seen this car on the S Reg, on the last 6 months it has been returned to stock. However, ever since I have owned the car, it has been completely gone through, including a windows out re-spray in the original Gran Prix white, with a motor and tranny, and rebuild. Every other item that didn't measure up was either replaced or refinished. I would call the car #1 Driver Quality. The paint is flawless with zero rust, the front seats (not sport) were just recovered in leather with hounds tooth inserts by Seattle's best shop, It has a new German Dash, windshield, refurbished gauges, recovered wheel and on and on. All the metal on the engine was re-anodized a month ago and the motor presents and runs like new. What I am asking for is your help are strategies to market this car to a national and world wide audience.

Two possible listing sites are eBay and Bring a Trailer. Since one would have a reserve and the other a stated price they are mutually incompatible. Another would be to list it on several sites and have them point to eBay, but my preferred sale would be to sell it directly without taking the eBay hit and dealing with the tire kickers. Another option is using a broker who is shopping for discriminating buyers. The downside here is that the car does not have its original sporto, the carpet is not correct (but a very nice gray perlon), and the original matching numbers motor is a block which will go with the car, while the car is powered by an extremely nice 2.7RS spec built on a 74RS case with a real RS MFI unit rebuilt by Gus.


Any been there, done that, suggestions, pitfalls to look out for? Many thanks in advance.

[smclaughlin]

[snip]
Two possible listing sites are eBay and Bring a Trailer. Since one would have a reserve and the other a stated price they are mutually incompatible. Another would be to list it on several sites and have them point to eBay, but my preferred sale would be to sell it directly without taking the eBay hit and dealing with the tire kickers.
[snip]

I recently sold a '72T. I listed it on three forum/websites including this one and someone submitted it to Bring a Trailer. I wanted to go this route first because I have been lucky enough to buy several cars over the years I found through such forums. These outlets generated some mild interest, but when I put it on eBay it sold almost immediately and was completely hassle-free. Maybe I got lucky, I don't know. You mention the 'eBay hit' - eBay motors charges nothing to list a car and a flat fee of $125 for a successful sale: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/motorfees.html#national. Adding a reserve price is another $15, for a grand total of $140. I'm guessing that's 0.1% of what your car would sell for.

-Scott

P.S. - gorgeous car!

[georgepvalerio]

Email sent. Thanks George

[pu911rsr]

I'd run an ad here, pelican and ebay, and on the pano site if you are a PCA member. ebay is great marketing site if nothing else.
GLWS,
Phil

[Eminence Gris]

I sold a car 3 years ago as a Bringatrailer exclusive. I also listed a '73S for a friend on eBay this year.

So I have some directly applicable experience.

First, Bringatrailer is in 911-burnout mode. The comments are getting increasingly negative. That said, it is a big community of enthusiasts, some of whom seem well-heeled. Bringatrailer favors the original, so your swapped-in engine, no matter how desirable, will not be a positive for that crowd.

Ebay is an advertising platform that reaches the world. In the case of the '73S I listed in Jan, it never got close to reserve, but I was contacted after the end of the auction by a collector who did not care where the bidding had ended; just what it would take to buy the car. I named the number and the wire transfer came.

The bonus is that if Bringatrailer subscribers like your car, they will point it out to the site owner, who *may* put the car up there with a link to your auction on an informational basis. That costs nothing.

Ebay fees, as Scott pointed out, are low. Bringatrailer exclusive fees are more than double that, if 1.) they like it enough to accept, and 2.) it sells within 10 days. My black '72 hot rod sold as a Bringatrailer exclusive, but on the 12th day. So, no fee.

Craigslist is a valid place to market a car, as it is searchable from anywhere. You just have to sort through all the phishing scams.

Finally, think about auctions. We are in auction season. There's one somewhere every weekend, it seems, and a large concentration of high-zoot auctions in Monterey in mid-August.


EDIT: I mentioned the 911 burnout on Bringatrailer... As much as Early S is a toxic environment for sellers, Bringatrailer may actually be worse. Read these comments:
http://bringatrailer.com/2013/07/04/...rsche-911-365/

[72targa]

Only from what I have seen and read...

Some have had success with brokers (some of whom advertise in the Esses)...

I've often thought that the duPont Registry magazine is an option for high-end cars...

There's always Hemmings...

My .02

[Louie]

With Monterey in a month I would try to get one of the auction houses to sell it for you. Rm, gooding etc

[beh911]

This thread in and of itself is a good marketing strategy...

Looks like a very nice car

[RickS]

The comments are all very much appreciated. Of course I will post the direction I go.

Beh, I hate being so transparent.

[rockandrollrods]

eBay is fantastic way to get the word out. A lot of cars that didn't meet the reserve on there end up selling offline for much more than the search results of completed listings indicate.