Online auctions and selling have cemented themselves as a reality and are generating staggering numbers
These were revealed in a recent report on growth for well-established USA player Bring a Trailer (BaT). The company reported that in 2021 it had gross sales of Au$1.25 billion, up from Au$552 million the previous year.
Perhaps just as impressive is the fact it has been selling an average of 300 cars a week.
It’s a sentiment echoed by Shannons Auctions manager Christophe Boribon in a story last month. He commented, “We are seeing two to three times the participation rate that we had with conventional auctions.”
However combined live and online sales are a long way from being over. Mecum in the USA is celebrating what it claims to be the biggest-ever collector car auction result. Its January Kissimmee (Florida) event claimed a total Au$302 million in sales for 2954 vehicles plus miscellaneous ‘road art’ which accounted for Au$3.7 million of that figure.
Curiously, BaT co-founder Randy Nonnenberg noted dual trends emerging: one where classic 4×4 and trucks saw an emerging market, and where late-model vehicles (as in post-2000) were in big demand. “There is a continuing evolution in what is highly prized and highly collectible and nostalgic,” he recently told the New York Times. “Twenty-five-year-old cars from the 1990s are becoming ‘old’ classics, and cars from the early 2000s are highly sought after.”
From Unique Cars #462, Feb 2022