Good alternative to BaT?

I've been working with them for 2 months and I can't even get them to get the write up right.  Model numbers wrong, etc.

It's like they wrote it up (wrong) and now they are saying I'm not going to fix it.  Oh, and they have words they won't allow you to use, lots of them.  Which makes writing it hard.  I have a factory soft car cover and I'm not allowed to use the word factory, and I quote "The pictures will do the talking"

So is there a "manager path" or better yet what's a good alternative site?

Cars & Bids?

Instead of "factory," couldn't you use the name of the company? (Ie, if it's an Audi, say an "Audi soft car cover.")

I have seen people type up their own description/story on a word doc and put that as a picture along with the pictures of the listing. Maybe you can do that?

Also, what car are you looking to sell?

yeah i  had found that their article writers are not very well versed and basically stick to a rthymn unless its some multi million dollar car and then they get their top tier team to work on it. They can easily make things misleading. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Do they actually have much of an audience?

Before I began this process I read that C&B sold for much less than BaT

In reply to dculberson :

Why should I have to?

In reply to Slippery :

I hadn't seen that before.  With the way they've been I'm betting they won't allow that anymore

In reply to Slippery :

'02 Honda S2000.  I'm the original owner and it's pretty low mileage

In reply to fidelity101 :

It's definitely following a rythym or pattern

Does anyone know if there's a Manager pathway I can follow and how to get to that?

carguy123 said:

In reply to Slippery :

'02 Honda S2000.  I'm the original owner and it's pretty low mileage

I have a 2006 that I bought new with under 40k miles and probably the same factory car cover 

If its like mine, the Honda part number is "08P34-S2A-101".

I don't see why they would not let you state its a factory offered cover. Makes no sense. 

Having just come out the other end of the BaT process, yeah, it can test your patience.  They have a Customer Service group that handles special cases, but that's not really your situation.

When I wrote up mine, I first looked at a few listing to see what their format was and made mine similar, being sure to use terms like "reported to be", "allegedly", and "said to be." I was initially a little offended that they use such statements, because to me it hints at dishonesty. It was explained that, no, they use it because they have to take your word for some things that they can't confirm. Okay...

We went back and forth a couple times and that was it, the high point being when I got to highlight their misspellings and grammar issues :).

Most people, including myself, get tired of arguing and eventually let it go as-is. Here's my best advice:

You can comment in your own auction and set the record straight on whatever they've distorted or gotten wrong.

Just be aware they're a business and want to maximize their chances of getting a commission. That more or less explains why they don't want to put up listings that are so badly written that they fail for that reason alone. As long as you look at them as a 100% money-making venture that just happens to handle cars, you won't go wrong. Oh, and fully expect to be ground down on whatever reserve price you come up with, because again, they want to maximize the chances of it selling. At least they didn't push me to have a No Reserve listing, that would have stung...

Oh, and as far as BaT alternatives go, I used a site called Race-cars.com to sell Kimini, and that worked out well. That said, it may not work well because most there are understandably looking for hardcore track cars, but I think there could still be interest in an S2000.

And after all this typing, no, sorry, I do not know of a Contact Management path to getting your situation resolved.

In reply to Slippery :

It looks identical and I can't figure it out either

carguy123 said:

In reply to dculberson :

Why should I have to?

Because it's their playground, they make the rules. You might not like it, but that's why. 

Steve_Jones said:

carguy123 said:

In reply to dculberson :

Why should I have to?

Because it's their playground, they make the rules. You might not like it, but that's why. 

Exactly. You need to be flexible with them. Like I said, just let it go per their recommendations, then you can correct anything via the auction comments.

I wouldn't even use the word "factory" to describe a genuine Honda cover. It didn't come with the car it's a dealer accessory. Yes it's made by Honda but factory implies original equipment supplied at purchase. 
 

The question is: do you want to sell the car or fight the process? Bring a trailer is the current reigning king of auction sites. Cars and bids might sell yours for just as much but there's no way to know for sure. My suggestion is to work through the process with bat and get the car listed. Sometimes we just need to deal with idiots to get stuff done. This is one such time. 

Another potential alternative to BaT would be Hemmings Auctions. Not sure how much of an audience they have in comparison, though.

dculberson said:

I wouldn't even use the word "factory" to describe a genuine Honda cover. It didn't come with the car it's a dealer accessory. Yes it's made by Honda but factory implies original equipment supplied at purchase. 
 

The question is: do you want to sell the car or fight the process? Bring a trailer is the current reigning king of auction sites. Cars and bids might sell yours for just as much but there's no way to know for sure. My suggestion is to work through the process with bat and get the car listed. Sometimes we just need to deal with idiots to get stuff done. This is one such time. 

He's got it right, BAT is the current place to sell specialized vehicles so follow their suggestions then talk about it in the comments.

BaT didn't blink an eye at the reserve price I wanted for my Corrado.  I'd looked at the previous selling prices of corrados on their site and put my reserve close to that.

In reply to docwyte :

We "negotiated" my reserve price for over a week!!

And my reserve price was considerably less than multiple S2000s that had just sold on BaT in lesser condition

In reply to carguy123 :

Did you choose the Classic $99 option, or did you have them take the photos for you?

dculberson said:

Yes it's made by Honda but factory implies original equipment supplied at purchase. 

I agree with the rest (although I think the reason they are top is their falsely inflated "sold for" prices)

And agree with why the cover is not a factory option. 
But to add to that, Honda does not make any car covers. They didn't even sew the Honda label on it. That's just an accessory, happens to be included in orig. purchase 

Good selling feature, but not really a factory option. 

But yea, they can, either good or bad, play their game however they want. 

BaT is actually a lot more transparent with their sold listings than most other auction sites are. Many auction sites archive prior listings so that you can't see how many didn't meet reserve. BaT keeps all listings up in perpetuity, with the auction result clearly displayed.