MARKET LEADERBOARD

💰 The figures shared below don’t count any other sales such as car seats, memorabilia etc.. All online auction sites are analyzed to put this leaderboard together.

I only include websites that have sold 5+ cars in the chart below. Which means PCarMarket, Hagerty and many others did not sell 5 cars yesterday!

Reflecting on yesterday, it was a notably quiet day in the car sales world, with a mere $4.8 million in transactions. This aligns with the ongoing trend since January of fewer listings across the board, including platforms like BaT, leading to diminished sales.

A special word on Hemmings: their recent website redesign, which I hoped would mark a turning point, ended up being a massive letdown. I won’t mince words here – I've previously vented about their site's poor user experience. The latest UX, which I endured for an excruciating 10 minutes yesterday, only reinforced my view. It's more than just disappointing; it's a complete s**t show.

Alright, let's dive into yesterday's top sales. Just click on the image, and boom, you're right at the listing.

Bring a Trailer's premium listings serve as a platform for showcasing 6 and 7-figure cars for a more extended period than the typical 7-day auction, granting them added exposure. While a premium listing can last up to 21 days, in practice, I've yet to come across one that extends beyond 14 days.

The highest premium sale we've seen so far was the 2017 Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta, fetching a remarkable $5.36 million back in May 2022. Interestingly, of all the premium listings they've featured, only one of the top 10 most expensive sales occurred in 2023. In fact, 2022 appears to dominate the premium listings, it was a year marked by a significant number of high-end car sales on BaT.

As we step into 2024, there's already a noteworthy development to highlight. On Friday, we witnessed the fifth-highest final bid ever on BaT, which reached $3,495,000 for the 2019 Bugatti Chiron Sport. The fact that this vehicle didn't sell could spark a huge discussion in its own right. For the stats enthusiasts among us, it's currently ranked as the 121st most popular listing in BaT's history.

What this intriguing data demonstrates, and what I'm gradually leading up to, is that high-end sales and substantial bids are making a comeback on online platforms. They appeared to plateau during the first half of 2023, but as we ventured into the latter part of the year, we witnessed a resurgence in high-end cars and noteworthy sales. I touched on some of these developments in my recent article on Hagerty's 2023 sales in yesterday's edition.

All signs point toward an influx of high-value listings and sales from the major platforms in 2024. With that in mind, let's finally dive into the analysis of BaT's 2023 premium listings.

Summarizing the Year's Sell-Through Rate:

First Half of the Year: The sell-through rate displayed a fluctuating, "yo-yo" pattern with notable month-to-month variations, indicating inconsistency in the proportion of listings sold during this period.

Second Half of the Year: The sell-through rate exhibited a steady upward trend, signifying a consistent increase in the proportion of listings being sold. This suggests a growing success or effectiveness in sales during these months.

In terms of actual numbers, there were 652 premium listings, out of which 399 were sold, resulting in an average sell-through rate of 61%. This rate is notably lower than their overall sell-through rate. This difference is somewhat expected, considering these are high-end premium listings, catering to a limited pool of potential buyers who seek premium offerings and may not be in a hurry to sell unless they secure that premium price.

Above we can see which months brought in the most amount of sales through premium sales, with December just edging out March.

Below I’ve looked at the average and median prices across the year for premium listings.

Median Sale Prices:

• Peak Month: June 2023 witnessed the highest median sale price, reaching an impressive $404,000.

• Lowest Month: In contrast, February 2023 saw the lowest median sale price, at $290,000.

Average Sale Prices:

• Top Month: Aligning with the median, June 2023 also recorded the highest average sale price, soaring to an average of $471k.

• Bottom Month: The lowest average sale price occurred in October 2023, with an average of $349k.

Below are the quarterly sales for the premium listings. The overall percentage increase in total sales from Q1 to Q4 is 27.05%.

Below are the top 10 premium selling vehicles of 2023, a real eclectic mix, led by the 2014 Pagani Huayra sold for $2,888,888, followed by the 1967 Porsche 910 that sold for $2.5m.

Below are the top 10 highest bids placed that didn’t sell. Top of this list was the beautiful 2021 Koenigsegg Regera that was bid to $2,740,000, followed by this 1966 Porsche 906 that was bid up to $2m. Will be interesting to see if any of these return in 2024 and what would happen.

Overall, from Q1 to Q4, there was a gradual increase in the fees earned, reflecting the upward trend in vehicle sales over the year. The most significant growth in fees was observed in the third quarter, followed by a steady increase into the fourth quarter.

The table above provides a clear breakdown of the number of cars sold compared to the number of listings from each decade. It's probably not too surprising to discover that the two most favored years for premium listings were 2005 and 2006. During those years, there was a significant presence of Ford GT listings, some of which were highly successful, (74% sold) including the sale of of the 4-mile 2006 Ford GT that fetched an impressive $605,000.

Throughout 2023, we've seen fewer car listings on weekends in general, impacting premium car listings as well. However, here's an interesting twist: on weekends, especially Sundays, the sell-through rate for these luxury vehicles has been impressively high. It just goes to show, weekends can indeed be a hotspot for high-end car sales!

In yesterday’s edition, I asked you ‘Can Hagerty Successfully Challenge Established Platforms Online? Surprisingly (to me). 58.7% of you believe they can. I hope they can but have some serious doubts.. Here’s some of the comments we received.