Despite rising interest rates, economic uncertainty, and less collector craziness than in 2021 and 2022, online automotive auction site Bring a Trailer (BaT) managed to sell the most cars it ever has before in 2023.
The auction site, acquired by Hearst Autos in 2020, achieved over $1.4 billion in vehicle sales last year, marking a 2 percent increase compared to 2022 when it brought in $1.35 billion. Likewise, Bring a Trailer set a new record in 2023 by selling more cars than ever before, with over 30,000 vehicles changing hands on the online marketplace. This represents a substantial 19 percent increase compared to the previous year
The increase in the number of auctions was significant for the site, especially as the average transaction price declined from $59,500 in 2022 to $54,000 in 2023, according to CNBC. It’s worth noting that the entire classic car market saw a decrease in sales last year, with total auction sales dropping by 3 percent to $4.19 billion in 2023, down from $4.32 billion in 2022.
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According to Randy Nonnenberg, Bring a Trailer’s CEO, inflation, economic uncertainty, and volatility in the stock market all led to cooling demand among bidders. Although people are still interested in classic cars, the bids are shrinking somewhat from their pandemic highs.
“People were a little bit nervous about their portfolio, so that can slow down discretionary car buying,” Nonnenberg told CNBC. “We thought we might see that people would stop selling or holding cars if they’re nervous. Interestingly, we didn’t see that. We still saw people wanting to trade out into something else. It’s just changed the pricing a little bit.”
Significant Growth in User Base
The website grew its user base significantly in 2023. The number of registered users was up significantly, from 880,000 in 2022 to 1.2 million in 2023. In addition, the number of active bidders has grown to 520,000. BaT sellers have a $99 fixed fee, while buyers pay a 5% fee on the sale price, capped at $5,000.
In order to keep users buying and selling, the site plans to introduce new features in 2024 that makes the process smoother. That includes new services that speed up the checkout process, help buyers with their paperwork, and make money transfers easier.
In terms of trends, Nonnenberg says that the spring is always a big season for it as enthusiasts consider what they will drive in the summer.
“The spring months are really popular on Bring a Trailer because people are kind of coming out of winter, and opening up their garage and starting to care about travel and cars,” he told the news site. “We think we will be right on track for a typical spring for us, which is exciting.”
Meanwhile, he believes that later model cars will become ascendant.
“Even cars from the 2000s are starting to become collector’s items,” he said. “As everything goes electric, those cars from 20 years ago become more special. A lot of people think BAT is for 1960s cars. It’s actually much more modern.”
