Why do people sell cars at auction?
Discussion
To be fair I was not that impressed when I dropped a couple of cars off with the auction as we were met in a field next to their auction tent by a couple of employees and it just seemed very unorganised. More concerning was he put a clipboard and keys to one of our cars on the bonnet of another entry car before sitting on the bonnet of a third.
Luckily both cars sold, well one in the room, one after by us taking a below estimate price.
As others have found it was very hard to get the money owed and involved a day out in London and thinking out of the box!
Luckily both cars sold, well one in the room, one after by us taking a below estimate price.
As others have found it was very hard to get the money owed and involved a day out in London and thinking out of the box!
Bispal said:
I sold my F355 at auction in December. I tried for 4 months to sell my low miles, FSH, LHD, Manual F355 privately. Each time a 'time waster' came to view I lost half a day in cleaning, test drives and even arranging inspections. I wasn't being greedy I only wanted £53k and the car had just had £7k spent on bringing it up to really nice condition. I was losing a lot of time & that was costing my business with 'supposed' buyers. The couple of offers I had were so cheeky it was a joke.
The auction house contacted me and said they would sell it consignment for a reduced fee. I agreed and took the car to them. 2 months later it wasn't sold so it went to auction in early December. Almost 3 months later I still don't have my money. Every day I have been leaving messages & emails. I get the same excuse every time, cheques in the post, only the MD can sign and he's out of the country, we are busy preparing the next auction, cheques in the post and round and round in circles it goes.
Selling older exotic or niche cars is exceedingly difficult and time consuming. There comes a point where the time I was spending was costing me more than the auctioneers fee and I was losing faith in the human race with the contemptible time wasting. However as I still haven't had my money its a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire. I have now heard this from numerous other people who have sold at auction, the money is almost always late!
I won't buy another classic car ever again after this experience, and what makes me sick is that the car was for sale for almost 6 months at a reasonable price and someone paid more, with the buyers premium, than I was selling it for but I still got less than I wanted by quite some margin. At least the car is sold and I will hopefully get my money soon but this has been a dreadful experience. What is strange is the amount of people who rant & rave about the F355 and how great it is and its their dream car, but no-one is buying them, even when they are a bargain!
Why do I have the awful feeling you sold your car at the same auction I did in December because I'm 4 months in and struggling to get my money.The auction house contacted me and said they would sell it consignment for a reduced fee. I agreed and took the car to them. 2 months later it wasn't sold so it went to auction in early December. Almost 3 months later I still don't have my money. Every day I have been leaving messages & emails. I get the same excuse every time, cheques in the post, only the MD can sign and he's out of the country, we are busy preparing the next auction, cheques in the post and round and round in circles it goes.
Selling older exotic or niche cars is exceedingly difficult and time consuming. There comes a point where the time I was spending was costing me more than the auctioneers fee and I was losing faith in the human race with the contemptible time wasting. However as I still haven't had my money its a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire. I have now heard this from numerous other people who have sold at auction, the money is almost always late!
I won't buy another classic car ever again after this experience, and what makes me sick is that the car was for sale for almost 6 months at a reasonable price and someone paid more, with the buyers premium, than I was selling it for but I still got less than I wanted by quite some margin. At least the car is sold and I will hopefully get my money soon but this has been a dreadful experience. What is strange is the amount of people who rant & rave about the F355 and how great it is and its their dream car, but no-one is buying them, even when they are a bargain!
Isn't this a rather important situation, which more owners need to be made aware of? Shouldn't there be a thread in the PH classic cars section, since that is where most of these potential car sellers will be visiting? I don't want to start one because I have nothing to do with this topic, but maybe one of those affected should post in there also? You may get more feedback too. Meanwhile good luck with getting all the owed money a.s a.p.
Maranellohouse said:
Drclarke said:
As you can’t name the auction house, can you tell us the location of where the sale was held ?
Around the Kensington area Second time several weeks later was not so friendly, when I got there they went to "get the cheque" but then claimed the car was showing as written off in 1980-something (it was an Italian import to the UK in 2016 with all the relevant paperwork to show its previous registrations in Italy and that it'd never been in the UK when it was supposedly written off) all of which had apparently come to light between my arrival and them processing it in their system. I got the cheque in the end and sprinted to the bank in Sheen and paid for the quick clearing service. The CEO came down and acted apologetic as though it was unacceptable and news to him etc,
I have no idea how much of the stock in their showroom actually belongs to them but they offered to put my car there from the time I entered it into the auction (3 months prior to sale) so I wouldn't be surprised if they offer that to anyone with something interesting.
Concidentally the payment was sorted a week after their subsequent auction, which I'm guessing meant some cash had landed. It was worth going down there, they were not used to an angry bloke in their showroom and I believe if I hadn't it would have taken even longer to get what I was owed.
If you're owed money by them, go and get it and don't leave until you do.
Unexpected Item In The Bagging Area said:
Maranellohouse - if you’re going to pay them a visit to demand payment then it would be worth doing it when they’re likely to be busy with potential customers so that you can embarrass them ie. on a Saturday.
Believe me I would be planted firmly at their door if it wasn't for the fact I'm in Northern Ireland. However cheque didn't get posted on Wed when I was told it would be but I have been "assured" "yet again" that it will be posted on Monday so joking aside it may actually come to getting on a plane and heading their direction.Maranellohouse said:
Believe me I would be planted firmly at their door if it wasn't for the fact I'm in Northern Ireland. However cheque didn't get posted on Wed when I was told it would be but I have been "assured" "yet again" that it will be posted on Monday so joking aside it may actually come to getting on a plane and heading their direction.
If only there were a way for these people to transfer money from bank to bank electronically and not have to rely upon cheques, envelopes and stamps.
t. 
Obviously we do not know which particular auction house is being discussed in this thread, but there has been at least one previous case of an auction house not paying out the money received from selling cars. Below is a post I made on another thread about Coys of Kensington (Sales) Limited. All of this is in the public domain (and was reported in the press at the time).
will_ said:
Coys of Kensington (Sales) Ltd ceased trading in 2004.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2874724/Classi...
"The majority of the 33 creditors are sellers whose cars were successfully sold at that auction but who have yet to receive a settlement, well past the 35 days stated in Coys' conditions of business for that auction."
It subsequently sued its creditors for libel!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2878351/Classi...
[Note the value of a DB6 Vantage!]
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2874724/Classi...
"The majority of the 33 creditors are sellers whose cars were successfully sold at that auction but who have yet to receive a settlement, well past the 35 days stated in Coys' conditions of business for that auction."
It subsequently sued its creditors for libel!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2878351/Classi...
[Note the value of a DB6 Vantage!]
I'm afraid you are reporting fake news, along with anyone else who has voiced their issues. I was told this yesterday 08/04 by senior member of staff at the Auction house in Kensington that I cant name when I asked the question if they actually had the funds to pay me and pointed out that there where others that appear to have the same issues as myself. As from that point the not mentioned auction house has advised me that they will be having no further contact with me. They still have my money though.
The exact quote is bellow.
your reference to Internet forums is really rather passé bearing in mind it is now considered an unregulated fake news generator and is entirely discredited.
The exact quote is bellow.
your reference to Internet forums is really rather passé bearing in mind it is now considered an unregulated fake news generator and is entirely discredited.
Maranellohouse said:
I'm afraid you are reporting fake news, along with anyone else who has voiced their issues. I was told this yesterday 08/04 by senior member of staff at the Auction house in Kensington that I cant name when I asked the question if they actually had the funds to pay me and pointed out that there where others that appear to have the same issues as myself. As from that point the not mentioned auction house has advised me that they will be having no further contact with me. They still have my money though.
The exact quote is bellow.
your reference to Internet forums is really rather passé bearing in mind it is now considered an unregulated fake news generator and is entirely discredited.
Why are you bothering with that?The exact quote is bellow.
your reference to Internet forums is really rather passé bearing in mind it is now considered an unregulated fake news generator and is entirely discredited.
The only way to deal with people like that is to issue proceedings against them.
It’s a straightforward matter of contract.
They will have no defence.
So they will pay.
And if they can’t, once you have judgement, you can wind them up, to stop them doing it to others for a while.
Ferruccio said:
Why are you bothering with that?
The only way to deal with people like that is to issue proceedings against them.
It’s a straightforward matter of contract.
They will have no defence.
So they will pay.
And if they can’t, once you have judgement, you can wind them up, to stop them doing it to others for a while.
I'd love to be able to do that but I'm in Northern Ireland and they are in London and as far as I am aware it works differently plus I haven't the money to take them on because they have it. The only way to deal with people like that is to issue proceedings against them.
It’s a straightforward matter of contract.
They will have no defence.
So they will pay.
And if they can’t, once you have judgement, you can wind them up, to stop them doing it to others for a while.
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