Putting a price on your own car is rarely as straightforward as it sounds. You know what you paid for it, what you’ve spent keeping it right, and, if it’s been with you for a while, probably have a fairly firm idea of how much it owes you. Trouble is, buyers may see things a little differently. That’s where PistonHeads Auctions really comes into its own. Rather than fixing an asking price and waiting to find out whether anyone agrees with you, PHers on the hunt for their dream car compete openly over the course of the sale, with the back-and-forth of people outbidding each other ultimately determining its market value. And if you really want to let the market have the final say, you may not want to set a reserve at all.
Now, that may seem a touch risky at first. Why would I want to sell my car without the safety net of a reserve? Well, one of the biggest advantages of going without one is that it can drum up more interest around the car. Buyers know from the outset that it’s going to sell, rather than wondering whether there’s still a bar left to clear. We highlight no-reserve cars with a badge on the auction listing, making it clear that the highest bidder gets the car. From there, it’s simply a case of putting the car in front of interested buyers and letting them sort out what it’s worth among themselves. With no threshold to clear, the focus is squarely on who wants the car enough to keep going when somebody else sticks another offer in.
Before the bidding even begins, there’s plenty of time for prospective buyers to get properly acquainted with the car. Every auction benefits from a seven-day ‘Coming Soon’ period, giving people the chance to pore over the photos, read through the description, ask questions and arrange a viewing before deciding what it’s worth to them. Once the auction gets underway, things can get particularly lively towards the end. A bid placed during the final two minutes extends the auction by another two, with further bids adding further extensions, so nobody can simply drop in at the last second and hope everyone else has run out of road.
Of course, not everyone will be comfortable going without a reserve, and you may already have a figure in mind when submitting your car for auction. We’ll work with you beforehand to agree on a realistic number, drawing on extensive market data and decades of experience running the wider PH marketplace. Once set, the reserve can’t subsequently be increased, but that doesn’t mean you’re completely tied to the original figure. If it’s close to being met, or has already been met, we make sure it’s clearly highlighted on the listing, while we can also lower or remove the reserve if you’d like to increase your chances of a sale.
Missing the reserve doesn’t necessarily mean the sale comes to an abrupt halt, either. If the bidding falls just short, your consignor will stay in touch with the highest bidders and other interested buyers to see whether a deal can still be done. Even if that doesn’t quite get the sale over the line, you’ve still got a few options open to you. You can relist the car with a lower reserve or move it into the classifieds for free, giving all that interest another chance to turn into a sale. So while hitting the reserve is obviously the goal if you choose to set one, falling just shy of it doesn’t mean the previous seven days have all been for nothing.
But if the goal is to discover what buyers are genuinely prepared to pay for your car, there’s plenty to be said for keeping things simple and letting them decide. A reserve is there if you want one, and we’ll work with you to settle on a sensible figure if that’s the route you choose. A no-reserve auction, though, removes another variable from the equation. There’s no minimum number for buyers to chase and no risk of the bidding getting close without quite doing enough. Just a car, a community of enthusiast buyers and seven days for them to decide who wants it most.
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