Car Sold and Bought Back in the Same Week!, BaT sucks...but there are still good people in the world! Options

[Rick986]

Sorry in advance for the long story...

I feel that BaT screwed the auction on my almost completely original '75 Nepal Orange 914 1.8 by running a near-perfect example in the same color directly against it, ending a day later than mine. Granted, that was a '74 2.0, with some other very nice bits - a truly perfect car. But was it really worth (to somebody) FORTY GRAND more than where mine RNM'd? Were folks distracted from my hot bridesmaid, with all the attention on the supermodel bride?

Then, hours later a '76 was listed that had RNM'd 3 months earlier and eventually went for $44K ($10K more than previous RNM auction). A very nice car...with a 2.0 motor, but not nearly as original as mine. Still, $20K+ more than where mine finished. Now normally, I'd think that I'm just whining about how folks don't love the big-bumpered 1.8 (I get it, many don't). But a fair number of you felt I definitly got burned by BaT.

Anyhow...I moved the car to PCar Market - not a well-known site and definitely not favorable to 914's. In a moment of weakness, they convinced me to set an ultra low (to me) reserve and then pull that reserve at the last minute to "increase bidding"...which didn't happened. The car hammered at $21,500 and I was gutted.

Here's the cool part - the guy that won the auction could tell how bummed I was about the price and frankly, still attached to the car (you all get it). He also felt strongly that he had gotten a bargain and the car was worth way more. He loved it, and everything about the story behind it. Said he had plans to keep it and take it to the next level. But, he let me keep it and simply reimburse the auction fee.

So, she's still in my garage. I'm cool with selling, but I'm not gonna give it away. I'll post it in the classifieds shortly. But I'm curious about what you think about all this. I'm sure many of you were watching these auctions, so you know these cars. Am I wrong about getting burned by the bad timing of BaT? Was I too fast to pull the reserve at PCar? Or has the market for highly original, documented provenance low mileage 1.8's with big bumpers tanked (or the appetite just isn't there)?

Thanks for letting me rant!