The Bring-a-Trailer Selling Process for an Air-Cooled Porsche

How has it been selling my air-cooled Porsche 914 on Bring-a-Trailer (BaT)? Overall it has been a very good experience. I received a really strong price for the car: $27,000. I listed the car at No Reserve to maximize interest and would recommend this to other buyers.

Porsche 914 Sale on Bring-a-Trailer Auction

If I had sold with a reserve I would have put a $15,000 reserve price on the car meaning my Porsche 914 had to have bids of at least $15,000 for the car to sell. I had decided to sell and knew I wouldn’t get hurt too bad so I went no reserve – guaranteeing a sale.

To list my Porsche 914 with BaT it cost $99. The buyer then is responsible for paying a 5% commission on the purchase. In the case of the sale price of $27,000 there would is an additional 5% fee of $1,350 for a total sale of $ 28,350.

The original listing had 84 photos and five videos showcasing my Porsche 914. But, it wasn’t enough. Specific requests came through for additional videos and specific photos. I ended up adding another couple videos such as a request to have a video in the cockpit showing the car shifting through the gears, turning and braking. I thought I had every video covered; cold start, warm start, driving down the road from the car and of the car, a cockpit video showing from a dead stop to cruising the Blue Ridge Parkway, but it wasn’t enough. So, out I went filming more video.

Now, of course, you can ignore the requests, but sellers are encouraged by BaT to be responsive and having bid on cars personally I know this is what a buyer wants.

The other extensive area requested of still photos was not unexpected and were areas I should have photographed to begin with. Porsche 914’s have a history of rusting so there are specific areas that were requested I photograph: battery hell hole, floor pan under the carpets, trunk and frunk under the carpets and remove the rocker panels to show the longitundinals.

I supplied all except for removing the longitundinals as it requires drilling out rivets that I felt would compromise the integrity of the car and therefore its value. When I responded that I was not going to drill out rivets, the poster felt that it was unjustified that I wouldn’t drill out the rivets and then in their words use some metal screws to screw the panels back on. !!!

Bring a Trailer Auction Rules

BaT encourages sellers to remain calm and cool with responses and reply in a timely, courteous manner. Sometimes it was difficult to respect these rules, but I did.

I did have one bidder (Dawgonegaboy) make a personal inspection as they live in the Asheville area. He was here about an hour and a half crawling over, under and around the car. He said it was just what he was looking for and continued to be the high bidder throughout the auction. He controlled the auction throughout and eventually prevailed and won.

True to form, the auction didn’t really heat up until the final hour, but in fact it was really the final ten minutes when the bids got interesting and exciting. All of a sudden CarMotivated who had not commented or bid at all jumped in with a $23,250 bid. Dawgonegaboy didn’t flinch and immediately countered with a $24,000 bid.

This back and forth continued with each waiting till the final seconds to bid with CarMotivated raising the price $250 per bid and Dawgonegaboy countering with the next even amount. Finally at $27,000 CarMotivated hit his limit and I watched the clock tick down signaling “Sold!”

The most recent 1973 Porsche 914 2.0 sold for $27,800 so the price was right in line.

Recent Porsche 914 Sales on Bring a Trailer

My Opinion About Selling on Bring-a-Trailer

If you can get your air-cooled Porsche accepted by BaT then I would recommend the process. They reportedly only accept 10% of the cars submitted so you may not have a choice.

I believe my Porsche 914 was accepted and then did well at auction because:

• It is the most desirable year and powertrain for a Porsche 914

• The Phoenix Red (orange) color is very desirable in a 914

• The car was being offered at “no reserve” so BaT was sure to get their 5% buying fee

• The car was presented with many photos and showed as a clean, stock 914 without questions

Now, it is on to my next purchase. I have been looking for a 1993 Porsche RS America in driver condition for some time but now my search can start in earnest. I had been watching a silver one at a dealer in Indianapolis that is now showing “sale pending” so that option is out the window. Another one will come along.

If you know of a driver quality Porsche RS America for sale, contact me via the contact button on the web site.

See you on the road in an air-cooled Porsche!

Example of a Porsche RS America looking to purchases

Tags: Porsche 914, Porsche 914 for Sale, Bring a Trailer Porsche Auction