The Daily Vroom

Good morning Vroomers!

Huge welcome to all our new Vroomers! So glad to have you join us getting the latest news, insights, trends and everything online car auction related.

Yesterday we saw an above average Monday in terms of total sales with just over $6.1m sold in online auctions. Below is a breakdown of where those sales occurred.

Generally speaking the average sale price on most days across the whole market sits between $42k-$45k. Yesterday it was $38k. If $100k+ sales are 10% and above then it's an above average day for the top end sales, which yesterday was not.

Feel free to reach out to me anytime with any questions, suggestions, or if you spot an interesting auction I might have missed. I'm always keen to hear what you're seeing in the market or what you'd like more coverage on!

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+ vehicles in the chart below.

The reserve sell-through rate only applies to vehicles listed with a reserve price (not no-reserve auctions). This metric reveals how effectively BaT and C&B convert these more challenging listings into actual sales. Yesterday, both platforms underperformed in this category, with their reserve sell-through rates falling well below typical averages.

YESTERDAY’S TOP 5 SALES

Yesterday's top 5 sales were nicely distributed across different platforms, with PCarMarket, SOMO & BaT all featuring cars in the mix. This kind of variety tends to reflect a healthier overall market.

Want to dive deeper into any of these listings? Just click on the car to take you directly to the listing.

Sale of the Day

Every so often, a listing comes along that feels like a no-brainer. A 1973 Jensen Interceptor Mk III, left-hand drive, part of a well-curated collection, no reserve. The kind of car you don’t see every day, restored and priced to sell. And it did—$32,000 took it home.

A great buy? Absolutely. But let’s talk about how it got there.

First off, the car itself—rare, stylish, and packing a 440 V8 under the hood. The Interceptor is one of those oddball European GT cars that blends Italian design, British craftsmanship, and American muscle. Only 424 of these Mk IIIs were built in left-hand drive, making this one a standout. It’s a car that should attract strong interest, and to their credit, the seller clearly wanted it gone. No reserve, realistic pricing, and a fair shot at a solid hammer price.

But then there’s the way it was handled. The comments section feels like a strange experiment—Hagerty using Broad Arrow specialists (who I hear prefer to deal with their live auctions) to engage with bidders. And if you’ve been around the online auction world, you probably noticed something felt a little... off. These guys are pros at live auctions, but online is a different beast. The tone, the style—it just didn’t quite fit. (maybe, it’s just me!) The high-end auction house polish doesn’t always translate to the fast-moving, interactive nature of online bidding. As I’ve said previously if they’re serious about growing this space, they’d be better off bringing in people who truly understand how digital auctions work.

And then there’s the valuation report. Look, I get why they included it. But saying the car falls between #2 Excellent ($50K) and #3 Good ($34.2K) doesn’t really add much. That’s just broad pricing guidance, not a real insight into this specific car. It didn’t move the needle for buyers, and if anything, it made it look like they were trying to justify the number rather than let the market decide.

Still, at the end of the day, this was a win for the buyer. The price was fair, the car was desirable, and collections like this always add a little extra credibility to the mix. But it leaves a bigger question—how serious is Hagerty about making their online auctions a real contender? The potential is there, but the execution needs (a lot of) work. This is a different game, and if they want to play at the highest level online, they need to adapt. Here’s hoping…

Missed in the Crowd: Why This Ford GT Didn’t Sell

Some auctions don’t go the way you expect. This one should have been a home run. A 51-mile 2021 Ford GT in Liquid Carbon—one of just 30 built in this spec. Ultra-low miles, premium options, a true collector’s piece. But when the bidding ended at $1.435M, the reserve wasn’t met. And that was that.

So what happened?

Let’s start with the basics. This isn’t just any GT. It’s Liquid Carbon, a spec that cost buyers an extra $250K when new. But here’s the thing—this wasn’t the first Liquid Carbon GT to hit auction. And that might be part of the problem. (price perception)

Back in 2023, another Liquid Carbon GT—a 2020 model—sold for $1.79M. That car had 84 miles and a few key differences. First, it was a 2020 model, the first year Ford offered Liquid Carbon. Collectors love first-year allocations. Second, it had exposed carbon stripes, a detail that makes a difference when you’re paying a premium for raw carbon fiber.

That brings us to the 2021. Still incredibly rare, still incredibly desirable—but maybe not as desirable. Painted black stripes instead of exposed carbon. A later production year, which means it's not the "first of its kind." And in a market that’s cooled slightly (for some models) from where it was a year ago.

Then there’s visibility and this is a BIG reason. The 2020 car pulled nearly 80,000 views and had 489 comments. This one, 26,000 views and 69 comments. That’s a huge drop. Less engagement means fewer people pushing the bidding higher. And that’s the real story here—how a car this special had such a massive engagement gap.

Yes, there’s a slight difference in spec. Yes, prices were slightly different in 2023. Yes, the 2020 model can be seen as more desirable. And we’ve seen plenty of auctions where lower views still get the sale. But with a car this special, it needs to get in front of the right audience. The seller isn’t new, but he didn’t tag in previous bidders from the 2020 model. And discovery to me is a big issue on BaT with so many auctions running at once.

I missed this listing entirely until I saw the result. Eyes are spread across the site, but keeping up with every auction is getting harder. The original 2020 auction (in 2023) wasn’t a COVID market anomaly—it just had more focused attention. Over time, as listing numbers have spiked, even standout cars can get buried. Traffic is high, sales are strong—100+ every day with a sell-through hovering around 75% most days. Some listings do sell with fewer views than their predecessors, but this wasn’t just any listing. It needed engagement, and it didn’t get it.

I’d hope they’re working on improving discovery. Because if I missed this one, plenty of others did too.