What it’s like to sell a classic car on Bring A Trailer: 1967 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT

In this video, I take a deep dive into Bring A Trailer, the popular online auction site for classic and unique cars. While it’s often praised for its selection, is it really worth the hype? I share my honest thoughts, highlight some of the hidden flaws, and provide insights based on real buyer experiences. Whether you’re considering selling or buying, this review will help you decide if Bring A Trailer is the right platform for you. Buckle up and find out the truth behind the hype!

#bringatrailer #BaT #onlineauction #onlineauctions #onlinecarauctions
#drivecaramel @bringatrailerauctions @drivecaramel #sniping @carauctionsweekly #automobile #alfaromeo #alfa105 #alfaromeogtv #classicalfa #carauctions #carauctiondubai

Follow me on....
Twitter: @CarSpecGarage
Instagram: @CarSpecGarage

[bannister]

BaT is daytime entertainment for retired guys.

[arthurburns]

Hi there. I was one of the 3 early bidders on your 1967 and certainly wish I would have been able to keep bidding, but I was fishing in Alaska during the last two days of the auction and missed out. I later found out the boat I was on during the day had StarLink so I probably could have kept bidding but didn’t realize that I could get Wi-Fi on the boat until after the auction ended. 😢. We had exchanged emails during the auction process and I appreciated your quick response. I’m the guy whose grandmother went to Alabama University if you recall. (I found out in the meantime from my aunt that my grandmother was actually a classmate of Bear Bryant which I thought was pretty cool).

Coincidentally, I ended up purchasing a different Alfa on Bring a Trailer a week or so later. It was a 1965 Giulia Spider (later confirmed to be a Veloce), which is another car that I’ve always wanted. The car was in California and I live in California so I figured the purchase process would be simple enough, but the seller was also more comfortable using The verified checkout process on Bring a Trailer (Caramel), and it really was a mess as you described.

In our case, it was an in-state transaction between two private parties. So there was no complication of an LLC or corporation, but it was still a painful and lengthy process. The auction closed on a Friday afternoon, and I started the paperwork that evening or early on Saturday to verify my identity. The seller did the same but there was some issue with his phone number being mixed up with his daughter’s who was helping with the sale, So the identity verification took longer on his end. Anyway I finally got to the stage on Sunday where I could sign the papers electronically, and the process was very confusing and was not explained well anywhere. For example, it pre-populated the wire transfer information which I later realized w Caramel’s bank information, but was indicated as “buyers” wire transfer information. I figured it out on my own but there was no documentation to explain the escrow process. The seller and I also were frustrated that there was no phone number to call and every time we emailed Support we seem to get a different person responding back, sometimes quite a bit later.

I went to the bank on Monday morning at bank opening and completed the wire transfer. I was traveling for business that week, and left on my business trip thinking that the money would go through the same day or possibly the following day. Unfortunately, by Wednesday afternoon, there have been no change on the dashboard and so I emailed Caramell support. They responded that my wire had not come through and could I please check with my bank to make sure that everything was OK. of course at this point I am extremely concerned because I wasn’t sure if it was a scam or if I had entered the wrong information on the wire transfer, although I was very certain I had done everything correctly. I bank with Wells Fargo but Caramel’s bank is Silicon Valley Bank which you may recall is a bank that actually failed in 2023, and was purchased by another bank. When I checked with Wells Fargo they said that sometimes wire transfers take longer to smaller banks and savings and loans, and so it could take up to three or four days. I’ve never had a wire transfer take more than 24 hours in the past so this was pretty surprising to me. Anyway, after spending a couple hours calling my bank and verifying the wire transfer I reported this back to Caramel, and they said magically that my wire transfer had been received but it had been “flagged” by their bank. I requested a call so they could explain what this meant but never received one. By this time the seller was a little bit concerned and I had to explain the entire situation to them. I flew home on Thursday and when I arrived home they said everything was now good except that the seller had to get a California smog check done on the vehicle as it was a California requirement. I knew this to be completely false because any car prior to 1975 model year is exempt in California! I sent Caramel screenshots from the California DMV website stating this, and requesting a call or email back. The seller was elderly and his daughter had gone back out of state by this time, and I couldn’t imagine the owner having to deal with a smog check that wasn’t even required. I believe Caramel is based in California so they should have known this. Even if it had been required, they should have noted it from the outset rather than waiting until the funds cleared. About 15 hours later they emailed back to say that I was correct and the car was now authorized for pick up. This was on Friday, a full five days after I had made payment via wire. It ended up working out fine in the end, but seem to take way too long myself and the seller through a good deal of stress. For an in-state transaction it should have been much quicker, and I still don’t understand all of the rigmarole they put us through on the wire transfer and smog check. I also wondered about the cost of the service and later concluded that you get what you pay for! It honestly felt like they were purposely delaying the transaction on their end for some reason, but I can’t confirm that.

Sorry for the long winded comment, but I wanted to share my experience as well. I wasn’t even able to schedule shipping for the car until the full seven days after I won the auction. Perhaps I was just being impatient but all of the stress and lack of communication was the worst part. If the dashboard on Caramel had reflected correct information throughout the process, and if someone would’ve simply taken the time to explain what was going on, I probably wouldn’t be nearly as disappointed.

[baitse]

BaT started my listing without consulting with me whether the timing was convenient, despite them guaranteeing they would consult about timing before starting the listing. Classic

[jamesbassett]

I recently sold a BMW 128i on BAT. While the process was somewhat involved, the whole thing went well and the outcome was excellent!

[JohnMcCullough-wrhj]

I sold one last year and they did not have an escrow service. I sold mine across the country and had the money wired to my account. No issues at all. I personally liked the experience and had my son do the photos of the car - he has great camera and knows what to do. Also did videos. Never had to change anything on the car's description.

[mariusthewolf]

Bring the trailer started my listing mid week, while they agreed to list for Sat end. Additionally when we have unlocked the reserve their system sold the car to previous bidder, while bidders were there waiting still to bid, many of them reached out while car sold below their bid. . . Probably the biggest beef i have with them is lowering the car value by forcing you to accept their reserve price . ( you do not to accept their reserve price - but you wont be able to list )

[xlavahott]

BaT needs to hire a User Experience Director and start digging into solving these use cases.

[jrarsenault]

WoW! What a back end hassle, glad it all worked out. As a fiduciary in my business life, Carmel dropped the ball. Especially if they are dealing with those buying through corporate means (vs. personal purchasing). Their manual process is medieval, and without options savvy to the higher profile entrepreneur collector/hobbyists. Them figuring it out? Start with a TQM approach that engages proactively, personally. Very little to upgrade to that approach, lots of off the shelf customer resource management software does it. Automatically and reliably. Incorporating the sadly lacking corporate purchaser aspect into the system, a little more effort. With the laughably low transaction fee level, just get 'er done and place transitioning cost into fee which seems to have plenty of headroom for upgraded implementation.

Whew! Sorry for the loooong rant, but seriously thanks for sharing. Some of us work that way in avoiding needless outlays though enterprise routing of the toy chest. Good luck with second step, we'll be watching ...

[brianmchale]

Purchased 2 cars personally no issues.

[duncankerr]

I asked what the time was, not how the watch worked.

[roscoejones]

It's called 'sniping', but you try to do it with so little time left that no one else can bid.

[DontCryAboutIt]

Sounds like BaT uses them as they are cheap.

[d.powers]

Horses and used cars are best if one looks in the dam thing "in the mouth."

[lrlforfun]

Truthfully? Your video is so dramatized. I hear the drama's good on daytime TV.

[amusingarts]

Seems like That Carmel is just a BS middleman. I sold a car on BAT about 3 -4 years ago. I was in Houston, the buyer in Washington state. He wired me the money I sent signed title USPS register. Once that was done, truck came and picked it up. I have no idea what name he registered it under in his state and frankly shouldn't care.