BCA/Manheim physical auctions: the return?

[metcars 397]

Highly unlikely. For the big auction houses there is absolutely no advantage or reward in returning to ‘the bad old days’ of physical auctions. Personally, and I’ve been saying this for ages, it was on the cards anyway to move to virtual auctions. Turn the sites over to just parking for stock. Reduced overheads on sites with less staff needed. All buyers have to register with accounts. No more cash buyers. No more ‘bid and run!’. Less opportunity to inspect stock prior to purchase? Etc.

For them it’s a win, win, win!

[It's me 615]

I've been informed a large pitch i often drove by has thrown the towel in,thing is for every buyer that stops there's 2 to take his boots so its win win win win for the auctions,I am still waiting for the auction fever bubble to pop

[Lakeside 94]

I’ve heard from a decent source at BCA that physical auctions won’t return until summer 2021 at the earliest and even then it will only be certain sites. A lot of them will stay storage sites only permanently.

Apparently they’re selling more cars and at higher prices now than they ever did with physical auctions.

Edited November 27, 2020 by Lakeside

[Rory RSC 596]

 News article on the main page saying this with BCA. Aston Barclay and Manheim can clean up here. Motor traders still want to see on older stuff it’s ok buying online stuff for newer bits.

[Tony911 79]

We was down at bca brighouse last week and the lads there told us cafe owners have packed up after so many years and bca are selling off all the kitchen equipment so I can't see that place opening back up. Its a shame because I'm sure most will agree the buzz off being at a live auction is addictive and a good laugh

[GWC 0]

Out of the last batch of six cars I bought from BCA there are two which, had I physically been at the sale so that I could have inspected them, I would not have bid on them at all.

Not good.

6 minutes ago, Tony911 said:

We was down at bca brighouse last week and the lads there told us cafe owners have packed up after so many years and bca are selling off all the kitchen equipment so I can't see that place opening back up. Its a shame because I'm sure most will agree the buzz off being at a live auction is addictive and a good laugh

The days of spinning for a car with £100 to the loser have gone for good.

[pmpants 14]

The last 3 cars I bought from BCA were the week before the first lockdown! Two I bought in person, were prepped and sold as soon as we were allowed with great margins, the third I bought online, and it's horrific! I only pushed myself to look at it this lockdown when I'd run out of things to do! After 5 solid days prep I'll be lucky to get money back, how can people bid on 10 year old plus cars with no appraisal? 

I'd go to auction with 40+ possibles marked down, by the time you've checked them the list has dropped to 5-8 cars.

I can't bring myself to sell sub standard cars, we've built a good reputation over the years, have repeat customers and local garages who recommend us, I'm not going to start buying cars blind and try to palm them off on decent people who trust us. 

If Manheim and Aston Barclay go the same way as BCA I really can't see a future.

I guess there enough traders who are happy to show a car 10 times before finding someone willing to buy, or enough new traders buying and getting stung to keep the conversions up for the vendors, all the time that's the case the auctions would be crazy to let us come on site and see what were buying! 

[A & S 20]

I won't go back to physical auctions, I sit in my warm office and be at 2 sales at one time. Since the first lockdown been buying online on Mondays for cars and Tuesdays for vans which can be any where. We are doing very well buying online, easier to stop bidding if anything is making too much. I never of thought I would buy permanently online, although we don't have a choice anymore. 

[BHM 994]

40 minutes ago, pmpants said:

how can people bid on 10 year old plus cars with no appraisal? 

By bouncing them back if obvious faults have not been declared. No appraisal does NOT give carte blanche to sell blatantly fucked & battered vehicles, far from it! I’d much rather buy vehicles online now whilst we are banned from viewing vehicles, rather than buying online & choosing not to view. 

From what I’ve heard most auction houses (dunno about BCA) soon realised & accepted they will get cars rejected & are accepting them back. 

Edited November 27, 2020 by BHM

[A & S 20]

Set yourself a level you are going to buy at. I only buy from BCA, grade 3 vehicles, no fault warning lights, if there is an assured report check it, if anything like engine smoking, gear selection, or clutch slip etc, swerve it and go on to the next one. I know always going to get one not described the way I would look at it. But hey they are used vehicles so always going to be a risk, even if the top expert or mechanic on here will get caught out at physical auction.

[David Horgan 564]

Cheaper stuff eg sub 4/5k stuff is hard to buy , we always had a few cheapy stuff on stock , now that's  almost a thing of the past as we cant see them . how many of us found a little gem at a physical auction when there in person , 

the meaty stock is easier as its less miles , newer , though the grading as we know is shite a lot of the time and not consistent between auctions sites either . 

miss the buzz . miss the chatter , but hey oh life moves on , soon be a story only about when people actually went to live auctions and bought cars live wont it . 

I collected a car from Notts BCA the other day and saw one of the auctioneers , hes as pissed off as we are , loved the buzz he said , didn't know how much till he got a screen to look at all shift . 

What a year 2020 has been hasn't it , not the best one ever . 

 

[Frank Cannon 812]

16 hours ago, Rory RSC said:

 News article on the main page saying this with BCA. Aston Barclay and Manheim can clean up here. Motor traders still want to see on older stuff it’s ok buying online stuff for newer bits.

[Lakeside 94]

I was sceptical at first with online only. I honestly thought auction prices would fall through the floor as nobody would want to buy unseen, but they did quite the opposite. I suppose if we have no other option people are still going to buy weather physical or online.

As for the high prices I do still think that’s down to lack of stock. I think once Aiction houses get back to number of cars and choice they had pre COVID the prices will settle.

[Frank Cannon 812]

But, the auction houses don't dictate available stock.

It's driven by new and/or nearly new main agent sales and, they are as flat as a witches tit. 

Defleeting didn't drive prices down either. 

[BHM 994]

36 minutes ago, Frank Cannon said:

But, the auction houses don't dictate available stock.

It's driven by new and/or nearly new main agent sales and, they are as flat as a witches tit. 

Defleeting didn't drive prices down either. 

Yep, anyone who doesn’t realise prices will be high for the immediate future must be as green as grass.

Some may see the current restricted availability of stock & the associated higher pricing as a plus.

[LSP Vehicles 11]

As someone who has recently started and could only buy online, I have to say it was daunting at first, well, still is. Especially watching bids on vehicles without images! I can't understand, how, why you would bid on something with no images. I'd like to think if it does become a permanent way, then at the very least they could provide a video with the engine running, rev'd. Then again, that would cost time and money, and looking at the prices as they are, the clearly don't need to do anything extra, especially if it could lead to lower prices.

It defo helps being able to view, bid on more lanes, however the risk does increase not being able to see, more importantly, hear the car.

[Martin F 15]

14 minutes ago, LSP Vehicles said:

I can't understand, how, why you would bid on something with no images. 

Absolutely, glad I’m not the only one who can’t understand this as well.

[justina3 518]

We have a list of cars to watch for the coming week updated with late entries daily, it often happens that we have a car on our list so we have printed off all the advert and any report for safe keeping made all our notes ect, as auction houses lie through there teeth after the event. 
 

and quite often when the car comes up for suction the car in question has no pictures must be a computer glitch I rub my hands with glee as they always go a lot cheaper than they should have. 
 

sadly there is no pattern to this it’s just pure luck.

[Rory RSC 596]

9 hours ago, Martin F said:

Absolutely, glad I’m not the only one who can’t understand this as well.

Sometimes the images are in the condition reports / surecheck   

Manheim are great for this get some bargains

[Huggins 17]

On 11/27/2020 at 10:05 PM, pmpants said:

The last 3 cars I bought from BCA were the week before the first lockdown! Two I bought in person, were prepped and sold as soon as we were allowed with great margins, the third I bought online, and it's horrific! I only pushed myself to look at it this lockdown when I'd run out of things to do! After 5 solid days prep I'll be lucky to get money back, how can people bid on 10 year old plus cars with no appraisal? 

I'd go to auction with 40+ possibles marked down, by the time you've checked them the list has dropped to 5-8 cars.

I can't bring myself to sell sub standard cars, we've built a good reputation over the years, have repeat customers and local garages who recommend us, I'm not going to start buying cars blind and try to palm them off on decent people who trust us. 

If Manheim and Aston Barclay go the same way as BCA I really can't see a future.

I guess there enough traders who are happy to show a car 10 times before finding someone willing to buy, or enough new traders buying and getting stung to keep the conversions up for the vendors, all the time that's the case the auctions would be crazy to let us come on site and see what were buying! 

This is it in a nutshell, left trying to sell a bag of sh!te we'd never normally touch with a barge pole and 9/10 we have to give to much for them to begin with! Then in my experience if you buy an absolute lemon you'll have to live with it as BCA and the vendor were oblivious to the glaring faults.

"how can people bid on 10 year old plus cars with no appraisal? " if you get very close to your screen and study hard on the "beauty shots" (BCA's own term for photo) you'll be able to notice all the bad paint, scratches and damages and bid accordingly. Then you just need to use your powers visualisation to get an idea of  how it's going to smell,sound and run when it arrives 

[Martin F 15]

Well just had Aston Barclay on the phone and they are going back to physical auctions from the 12th April. They seem to be making a lot of changes recently to entice traders, I wonder if this is them leading the way with the return as well. 

 

[metcars 397]

Bidding online has opened my mind to bidding at branches I wouldn’t normally bother with. Prices can be ‘interesting’ even after ‘weighing in’ increased transport costs. I would normally always attend on the sale day to inspect everything. My due diligence. But fortune favours the brave and if bca/manheim do restart physical auctions I will still continue the odd ‘off piste’ rogue bid somewhere distant? 

[BHM 994]

I was talking about this only yesterday, I think many of us have now got used to online buying & I’m in no hurry to return.

With us all currently banned from attending auctions, the auction houses seem to have got their acts together & are doing a reasonable job on the appraisals. The few slip ups that have occurred have generally been sorted to my satisfaction. HOWEVER, once they reopen I assume we’ll be back to hiding behind the excuse of “you had the option to inspect the car, so fuck off”, meaning many of us will be ‘forced’ to attend physical auctions for fear of getting a lemon shoved where the sun doesn’t shine.

[Lakeside 94]

10 hours ago, BHM said:

I was talking about this only yesterday, I think many of us have now got used to online buying & I’m in no hurry to return.

With us all currently banned from attending auctions, the auction houses seem to have got their acts together & are doing a reasonable job on the appraisals. The few slip ups that have occurred have generally been sorted to my satisfaction. HOWEVER, once they reopen I assume we’ll be back to hiding behind the excuse of “you had the option to inspect the car, so fuck off”, meaning many of us will be ‘forced’ to attend physical auctions for fear of getting a lemon shoved where the sun doesn’t shine.

If only that was true in our case, a friend of mine bought a Civic from BCA a few weeks back. No warning lights on the dash, no faults declared. Paid online, booked the collection and went to pick it up. Car started but was barely running on two cylinders and engine management light flashing, took the keys back to the office and refused to take it. Rang the claims line when he got home and was basically told it was sold as seen and had to be collected, so he bit the bullet and went back for a second time. This time it wouldn’t even start, couldn’t even drive it out the car park so gave up. Rang claims line again and was told the car is sold as a car and that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be a runner even though it was showed as running in the pictures. He’s now having to go down the legal route, absolute joke.

[Frank Cannon 812]

Mate of mine last week bought and went to collect an escaped FIAT prototype, the rarely available manual 4 speed Punto, won't even find 5th anywhere......'sold all good' same run-around as above.