Letting the 100-6 Go

[longbridgehealey]

Well, much as I’m still not entirely convinced I’m doing the correct thing, I’ve kind of decided to let my 1957 BN4 100-6 Longbridge-built Healey go to a new home. Since many of you have helped me immensely over the years, here’s the last (maybe) question I have for you about this car. What’s the best way to sell it? Local ads, Bring a Trailer, eBay, Hemings, etc.? All input appreciated!
As always,
Thanks in advance
Larry

 

[TimK]

I am facing the same situation. My impression is that Bring a Trailer is partial to vehicles that are immaculately restored at great expense by professional restorers. Mine is an older professional body restoration with a lot of interior and mechanical work done by me. It has old tires, a top that doesn’t fit properly. It runs and drives fine with fully functioning brakes, cooling system, engine and transmission. The transmission oozes oil. It’s major appeal is that is a BN7 2 seater.

 

[Healey Nut]

When I sold my two BJ8s I just used autotrader . Wherever you list it you will be inundated with tire kickers , joy riders and low ball car flippers .
You just have to figure out who is actually serious . DONT LET ANYONE DRIVE IT UNLESS THEY PAY A DEPOSIT .
Take them for a ride in it .
I was even contacted by Barrett Jackson car finder people about mine , don’t get sucked into that , you have to pay for transportation there and back if it doesn’t sell .
It took a while for mine to sell but eventually I got pretty much what I wanted for them , just be patient .

 

[longbridgehealey]

I am facing the same situation. My impression is that Bring a Trailer is partial to vehicles that are immaculately restored at great expense by professional restorers. Mine is an older professional body restoration with a lot of interior and mechanical work done by me. It has old tires, a top that doesn’t fit properly. It runs and drives fine with fully functioning brakes, cooling system, engine and transmission. The transmission oozes oil. It’s major appeal is that is a BN7 2 seater.

The two seater is an appeal. Mine is a BN4, so it has the rear seats.

 

[Editor_Reid]

Well, much as I’m still not entirely convinced I’m doing the correct thing, I’ve kind of decided to let my 1957 BN4 100-6 Longbridge-built Healey go to a new home. Since many of you have helped me immensely over the years, here’s the last (maybe) question I have for you about this car. What’s the best way to sell it? Local ads, Bring a Trailer, eBay, Hemings, etc.? All input appreciated!
As always,
Thanks in advance
Larry

Bring a Trailer (BaT) is likely a very good venue, but be aware that they take less than half the cars offered to them. It's not just a matter of deciding to sell your car via BaT. You're lucky to get your car accepted to be auctioned there.

I don't even look at eBay car sales anymore. The sellers there are masters of undisclosed faults. They don't necessarily lie, but they're totally professional at leaving out bad news. Even someone who learns as slowly as I do finally got the message. (Have bought about ten cars via eBay, and regret all but one.)

You could try club publications, but of course when you do that your ad is reaching people who already have a Healey!

Live auctions are a roll of the dice. You can win big, but it's much more likely you'll be disappointed. Few auction companies will allow a reserve price in the expected price range of Healeys. If you can find one that will let you place a reserve on it, great, it might be worth a shot. Keep in mind that in a no-reserve auction your car is more likely than not going to sell for less - maybe a lot less - than you thought was fair. And most people have wildly inflated ideas about what their collector cars are worth. Hagerty, which allows you to name the amount you want to insure your car for (as long as it is not totally out of reason), makes bazillions on over-insured values.

What I'd recommend is getting a professional appraisal and asking the appraiser how he would go about selling it, and ask if he knows anyone who might be interested or perhaps a good place to consign the car. Word of mouth can work wonders, and consignment means you don't have any of the hassles of showing the car, answering emails asking for "more information" and more photos, etc.

But the first thing you should do is adjust your expectations ... downward. Young automotive enthusiasts are buying pickup trucks, SUVs and JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) cars. Funky old British roadsters mean nothing to them. The people who like Healeys are mostly the same age as us, and almost no one in this age bracket is out searching for their first British sports car.

 

[Michael Oritt]

My experience with BAT is that it is frequented by by bottom-feeders and though motivated buyers view and occasionally post reasonable bids one must be prepared for a lot of low-ball offers.

 

[longbridgehealey]

Thanks everybody. So far my thoughts are a fair, what I would have thought of years ago as way low, asking price and a lot of patience.
Larry

 

[BoyRacer]

I would start with an ad on Craigslist. Of course you will get low ball offers. Ignore them. And make sure (if you can) that you have legit buyer before you let him drive it. If it doesn't sell, at least you are not out any money with Craigslist and it will prep you for the grind that comes with selling a car.

 

[2002S2000]

Well, much as I’m still not entirely convinced I’m doing the correct thing, I’ve kind of decided to let my 1957 BN4 100-6 Longbridge-built Healey go to a new home. Since many of you have helped me immensely over the years, here’s the last (maybe) question I have for you about this car. What’s the best way to sell it? Local ads, Bring a Trailer, eBay, Hemings, etc.? All input appreciated!
As always,
Thanks in advance
Larry

PM me please.

 

[nevets]

Interesting point about BaT's less than 50% acceptance rate. Has anyone posted any tips on getting a car accepted by BaT? Based on my own observations, I would say lots of good quality pictures, including underside of car and any flaws, plus videos of car being driven and a walk around. Some listers include pictures of receipts and other documentation. I'm sure there are more...

 

[PHulst]

Interesting point about BaT's less than 50% acceptance rate. Has anyone posted any tips on getting a car accepted by BaT? Based on my own observations, I would say lots of good quality pictures, including underside of car and any flaws, plus videos of car being driven and a walk around. Some listers include pictures of receipts and other documentation. I'm sure there are more...

You're on the right track.
I had no problem selling a car through them in late 2021. The biggest "problem" is the 2 months or more from submission to go live, and they usually do not let you know what the go live date will be. I did work with my auction representative so that it would not be live while I was out of town.

The more photos the better. Use a lift, do it right. 200 photos is a good start, showing the good and the bad.
Look at current or recently ended Healey auctions on BaT and see what the most common questions were, and answer those in the writeup if possible.

 

[NutmegCT]

Just a note on BaT - when I approached them about listing my 1958 Mercedes-Benz 220S, they were very positive about accepting it. I put together the photo and video package, gave a detailed history of the car, and emailed it to BaT. A week later, I heard back: "We can take your car, but you can't put a reserve price on it."

I didn't list - too much risk for me. I then sold the car for my asking price, within a week, on a classic Mercedes forum.

Tom M.

 

[PHulst]

I pushed back and insisted on a reserve.
They still took the car.

I think it’s one of their ways to increase sales and income.

 

[JHaydon]

Is there a reason you're not starting with an ad right here? You've got an audience interested in British cars, and clever shoppers can look through your old posts to get familiar with the work you've done on car.

FWIW, I found my first British car via Hemmings. That's still my first stop when I get the itch to start looking. OTOH, I have very little knowledge of the experience from a seller's perspective.

 

[Editor_Reid]

Interesting point about BaT's less than 50% acceptance rate. Has anyone posted any tips on getting a car accepted by BaT? Based on my own observations, I would say lots of good quality pictures, including underside of car and any flaws, plus videos of car being driven and a walk around. Some listers include pictures of receipts and other documentation. I'm sure there are more...

Lots of good photos is a must. I don't remember the exact figure that Randy Nonnenberg (co-founder of BaT) quoted in a podcast I saw with him discussing BaT, but the average number of photos was a big number; 120 or 180 or something like that, and he wasn't talking about the recond number, but the average number. Some people, and especially dealers, average even more. It's not unusual to find listings with over 200 photos.

Showing the flaws right from the start, will save you some grief. There is a large and vocal "peanut gallery" that surfs BaT constantly. They are unmerciful. Never mind that many of them have never bought a car there, and many have never even made a bid. They make it their life's work to "throw shade" on other people's attempts to auction a car, often dredging up any criticism they can muster, posing loaded questions, demanding more photos of this and that, and videos of this and that, etc. Harming commerce is just some people's hobby.

One of my favorites is the guy who often posts a simple one-word question, "Tonneau?" as if the presence or absence of a tonneau cover is a deal-breaker. He also makes it a habit of asking if the ignition key also fits the boot lock. Another deal-breaker to him, I guess! I supose those are just the best things he can think of to try to embarrass a seller.

So BaT is a bit of a minefield, and you'd better put on your thick skin before you wade in, and bear in mind you are being baited with some people just hoping they can get you to respond with anger or sarcasm, which will only end up hurting you.

All of that said, they often get very good prices on BaT, but the car had better be legit, honestly and completely represented, and the seller had better respond to questions quickly and factually. I sold an early Rx-7 on BaT for what must have been about a record price at the time, and as annoying as it is when one of the peanut gallery tries to put you on the spot by asking for a cold-start video - when they themself have never cast a bid in their life - it's best to go make a cold-start video to post and thank them for their question.

 

[longbridgehealey]

Is there a reason you're not starting with an ad right here? You've got an audience interested in British cars, and clever shoppers can look through your old posts to get familiar with the work you've done on car.

FWIW, I found my first British car via Hemmings. That's still my first stop when I get the itch to start looking. OTOH, I have very little knowledge of the experience from a seller's perspective.

No, absolutely no reason. Doing just a couple minor things to it (tighten parking brake, that type of thing) first, then it will appear. For a quick peak, look at my photo album.

 

[longbridgehealey]

Ok, it’s listed up in the classified section. Still haven’t quite landed on where the listings will go. Car being detailed Tuesday, and then it goes out there on some to be determined site.

 

[longbridgehealey]

Well, after a few weeks of tire kickers, etc. it went live today on exoticcartraders.com in Ft Lauderdale. They will place it on all the major sites, Hemmings, eBay, autotraders and so on. If you go to their site and look under “buy” you’ll find the little devil! I know their system fairly well, we’ve bought from them before. Let’s see what happens

 

[2002S2000]

That is a beautiful car! The pictures are excellent and allow for close inspection, well presented. Good luck.

JS

 

[John Turney]

I went to exoticcartraders.com and got "This domain is parked free is parked free, courtesy of GoDaddy.com. Get this domain."