Yea, looking at that chart it seems that around 75% of the sales since 2015 were in the 15K to 25K range and it seems to demonstrate a very slight upward trend. But, its a small sample size and the cars that end up on BAT do not represent a random sample of s2ks on the market - they tend to be the cream of the crop.

 

I took freq's post to mean that the prices for S2Ks auctioned off on Bring a Trailer have been all over the map when comparing one example to the next, even if the overall trend is still upward. This makes it hard to predict just what any car will end up going for (or if it will even meet reserve). It also makes it hard to explain why cars sold for what they did (if they sold at all).

 

Yeah, I'm watching the prices and trend of S2000 closely as I am preparing to purchase one by March 2019. The recently sold Laguna blue was a bargain I thought, given the mileage. Someone here (and locally on craigslist) is trying to sell the same Laguna blue with almost double the mileage, thoroughly molested for the same price.

 

Well when it comes to the prices of these cars you'll see a decent amount of variation between various regions of the country. Keep in mind that on Bring A Trailer, buyers are paying an additional fee to BAT on top of the money paid to the seller (I think its something like 5% of the winning bid price). Also BAT buyers typically face additional costs for shipping the car. Of course some might choose to go for the "fly & buy" method, but even that still equates to additional time and expense.

 

Indeed. BAT has quite a thing going getting 5% commission on those cars. There are a lot of dollars flying around that site and I am sure the site owners could afford any car offered for sale. They do quite a nice job writing the ads and presenting the cars, I'll give them that.

 

I think that BAT provides a great format for expanding a seller's market reach. Those cars are are going to be scrutinized for sure, but that only tends to make the better cars stand out that much more. With the model that BAT has in place, sellers sure seem to be better off erring on the side of presenting too much information rather than not providing enough. Sellers should show all the good stuff for sure, but they should also make sure that any flaws are at least equally well presented. I'd imagine that's what is really important to those who can't be there to see the car in person. It sure would be for me.

 

 

Here is my experience with BaT. I think its a great platform for enthusiasts, but not without its flaws.
As some of you know, the red 12k mile one that didn't meet reserve is mine. To make a long story short, BaT wanted a silly low reserve, so that they can get their 5%. After much back and forth, they put the reserve where I wanted it. They also don't do much to protect the seller. They say that the purpose of the comments section is so that would be buyers can ask the seller questions regarding the condition of the vehicle they might buy, but in reality, its mostly a bunch of people who have no intent on buying the car (some have never even placed a bid, ever), and some with the intent to attack the seller for personal reasons. When brought to their attention that it has nothing to do with the car on offer, and that it affects the final value of the car, all they reply with is "we are confident it will meet reserve anyway", which confirms that all they care about is reserve, so they can get their 5%. In retrospect, I am glad it didn't sell for the top bid, as the white 60k mile car went for only $1500 less than the top bid on mine, which tells me I can drive the car for years and be at the same place financially, so that's what I intend to do. If/when the time comes to sell, I think hemmings might be a better venue, or even the classifieds here.

 

I've heard similar complaints from a friend who tried to sell with a reserve on BaT.

Did someone make a comment on BaT regarding your FS post here on S2KI and did BaT then delete that post?

 

Something like that, except the individual attacked my credibility as a seller, told buyers "good luck buying from this guy" and so on. All because we got into a conversation here on the value of AP1 vs AP2, which by the way, BaT auctions prove that AP1s sell for more than 4-5 year newer AP2s.