1967Porsche 910
Source: Bringatrailer.com
Bring a Trailer, the popular online auction site for collectible cars, posted record sales in 2023, even as classic car prices collapsed.
Bring a Trailer sales rose about 2% last year to more than $1.4 billion from $1.35 billion in 2022, according to company CEO Randy Nonnenberg. Bring a Trailer sold more than 30,000 cars in 2023, 19% more than in 2022.
The growth in the number of cars sold helped offset the fall in prices. The average price of a car sold on the site fell to $54,000 in 2023 from $59,500 in 2022.
The company's growth marked a rare bright spot in the classic car market in 2023, as prices fell from their feverish highs in 2021 and 2022 and rising interest rates took their toll on collectors. Total auction sales of classic cars (both online and live) fell 3% last year to $4.19 billion from $4.32 billion in 2022, according to data from Classic.com. Prices for many models have fallen by 10% or more, according to classic car analysts.
592 Miles 2014 Pagani Huayra
Source: Bringatrailer.com
In an interview with CNBC, Nonnenberg said inflation, economic uncertainty, a volatile stock market and turmoil abroad have cooled demand among potential bidders. But he said sellers are still offering trophy cars and buyers are bidding, even if their offers are lower.
“People were a little nervous about their wallets, so that may put a damper on discretionary car purchasing,” he said. “We thought we might see people stop selling or keeping cars if they were nervous. Interestingly, we didn't see that. We still saw people wanting to switch to something else. It just changed the price a little bit.”
Bring a Trailer's easy-to-use, low-cost platform also continued to attract car enthusiasts. Its number of registered users increased to 1.2 million in 2023, up from 880,000 in 2022, according to Nonnenberg.
The number of active bidders increased to more than 520,000. Bring a Trailer sellers pay a flat fee of $99, while the buyer's fee is 5% of the car's sales price capped at $5,000, a fraction of what traditional auto auction companies charge. The site offers everything from $3,000 motorcycles to $200,000 Porsches and $1 million Ferraris.
The great appeal of Bring a Trailer is the voyeurism of the auctions. Users follow deals and sales in real time and see photos and comments about rare cars. The site has up to 1,000 cars auctioned at a time, and auctions for each car typically last a week, Nonnenberg said.
By 2024, the company will launch a new set of services to speed up the payment process, helping buyers with paperwork, money transfers and other requirements.
Nonnenberg said this year's sales are shaping up to be good or better than 2023, as prices stabilize and bidders gain confidence ahead of potential interest rate cuts later in the year.
“The spring months are very popular on Bring a Trailer because people are coming out of winter, opening their garage and starting to worry about travel and cars,” he said. “We think we'll be on track for a typical spring for us, which is exciting.”
While Bring a Trailer didn't beat its previous record for most expensive car sold on the site (a $5.36 million La Ferrari sold in 2022), it managed to sell two cars for more than $2 million last year. Its most expensive sale in 2023 was a 2014 Pagani Huayra that sold for $2.9 million. He also sold a rare 1967 Porsche 910 racing car for $2.5 million, a 2020 Ford GT “Liquid Carbon” for $1.8 million, and a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT with just 601 miles for $1.8 million. of dollars.
Nonnenberg said more new cars from the 2000s and 2010s are starting to come up for auction.
“Even cars from the 2000s are starting to become collector's items,” he says. “As everything goes electric, cars from 20 years ago become more special. A lot of people think BAT is for cars from the '60s. It's actually much more modern.”
