The auctioneer’s hammer on the automobile public sale promoting block may quickly be used to hammer nails within the coffin of conventional “tent” automobile auctions. Certain, Mecum Auctions posted over $275 million in gross sales at its 2024 Kissimmee, Fla., public sale from over 4,300 autos supplied on the market. Final 12 months, Barrett-Jackson’s first fall public sale in Scottsdale, Ariz., even posted over $200 million in gross sales. Regardless of these numbers, conventional automobile auctions below a tent may quickly be a relic.
Conventional Automotive Auctions
Public sale homes have been round for ages and often public sale extra than simply autos, although our focus right here is on their automotive auctions particularly. Most public sale firms host a couple of on-site, dwell auctions scattered throughout the nation yearly.
Barrett-Jackson held three auctions in 2024 and can quickly kick off its season in Arizona, with roughly 1,900 autos crossing the public sale block. Mecum will host 10 auctions within the U.S. this 12 months and kick off its 2025 gross sales in Kissimmee.
So, why precisely do I believe in-person automobile auctions are dinosaurs respiration their final breaths?
The Demise of Automotive Auctions: On-line Competitors
In 2020, COVID brought on many automobile auctions to postpone or cancel their dwell auctions. Some firms reverted to on-line gross sales with some success, and the crowds and patrons have began to flock again to the auctions.
Nonetheless, extra on-line automobile public sale websites have sprouted up previously few years and gained reputation. And a few websites have gotten more and more selective with their listings — these usually are not each day drivers that you just may discover on Craigslist. Some websites deal with particular manufacturers and marques, whereas others are broader in scope.
Automotive Public sale Traits
Carry a Trailer, for instance, was profitable in 2024, with over 30,000+ autos exchanging arms. On a typical day, practically 700 autos and automobilia are up for grabs.
The co-founder of Carry a Trailer, Randy Nonnenberg, attributes the positioning’s success to the number of vehicles supplied, typically at an inexpensive worth, with “one thing for everybody.” They’ve bought practically 120,000 autos and automobilia within the final 5 years.
Hagerty, a traditional automobile insurance coverage firm, notes that for 2024, “the numbers of vehicles supplied on-line greater than doubled that of dwell auctions.” Plus, in 2024, the precise on-line gross sales quantity surpassed the worth bought by the dwell auctions.
Paradoxically, Hagerty owns Broad Arrow Auctions, which bought over 400 vehicles throughout three dwell auctions in 2024. The agency additionally bought 86 vehicles in “personal gross sales.” Hagerty additionally began its on-line web site Market in 2022, with practically 1,200 listings at present accessible.
In 2021, Barrett-Jackson purchased ClassicCars.com and developed a spin-off, AutoHunter.com. Craig Jackson, CEO of Barrett-Jackson, famous, “You’ve bought to be in the course of it.”
Arizona Public sale Week has been a giant deal for many years and is held in January annually. In 2018, seven public sale firms had been on web site for 20 days of gross sales. In 2025, solely 4 public sale firms could have 12 days of auctions. Gooding & Firm — now owned by Christie’s — and Worldwide Auctioneers, which held auctions in Arizona final 12 months, bowed out from this 12 months’s choices.
5 Causes Dwell Auctions Are Declining
1. Commissions
Conventional public sale homes cost the successful bidder a further price, generally known as a purchaser’s premium. That is usually about 10% of the successful bid.
Lately, many public sale homes have raised their purchaser’s premium to 12% on the primary $250,000 of a purchase order worth after which 10% on any further bid worth. Typically, the premium is even greater for abroad gross sales or automobilia. So, if a automobile bought for $100,000, the client must pay a price to the public sale home of a further $10,000+ earlier than taking possession of the automobile.
Most public sale homes additionally deduct a vendor’s price, sometimes 10%, from the sale worth. So, if the automobile bought for $100,000, the vendor would solely obtain $90,000.
Within the instance above, the public sale home would obtain about $20,000+ for its providers in promoting the automobile for $100,000.
By comparability, most on-line public sale websites cost a single flat price to the vendor, sometimes $0-250, with 100% of the automobile sale worth going to the vendor. On-line public sale websites sometimes cost 4.5-7.2% of the successful bid to the client and cap this purchaser price at round $4,500-7,500.
The net public sale price construction presents a way more monetarily pleasant program than conventional dwell auctions for each patrons and sellers, particularly on high-value autos.
2. Timing
Whereas auctions are held practically year-round, sellers who need to work with one public sale home are restricted to some weekends when dwell public sale gross sales are held.
If a purchaser desires to position a bid at a close-by public sale, they could solely have one yearly public sale to select from. Moreover, a purchaser must wait till that public sale home provides up a automobile they need. So, the chance to purchase from a conventional public sale home is usually restricted.
On-line automobile public sale gross sales, alternatively, supply vehicles repeatedly. On any day, 1000’s of vehicles are listed on on-line public sale websites. Sellers may want to attend just a few weeks earlier than their automobile is listed on the market, and most auctions final solely per week. In the meantime, patrons can specify what automobile(s) they search and register to get notified when a web-based itemizing matches their alternatives.
3. Transaction Prices
With a web-based public sale, after the positioning collects its charges, the client and vendor work out the ultimate buy course of. The customer should contact their state straight for any associated gross sales tax and registration charges.
Compared, some on-site auctions may take 30 days to pay out the vendor. Nonetheless, most conventional public sale homes will acquire a state gross sales tax except the client is a licensed automobile supplier or proves the automobile is leaving the state the place the sale was made. These out-of-state transports are nonetheless usually reported to the client’s dwelling state income division.
4. Transportation & Journey Prices
For in-person auctions, sellers should pay to move their autos to the positioning. These prices can simply exceed $2,500. If the vendor decides to attend the public sale to reply questions and promote their automobile, they may incur further journey prices.
With a web-based sale, a vendor has no trailering charges and may reply questions from dwelling. They’re additionally extra available if they should evaluate their recordsdata or upkeep information. Usually, the client is answerable for arranging pickup or transportation after a web-based public sale closes.
There isn’t a denying a conventional automobile public sale includes plenty of gamers and loads of drama. Attendees will remark in regards to the automobile on the public sale block and urge greater bids. Seeing two rivals elevating their bids for a automobile is thrilling — and costly.
Most on-line automobile public sale websites enable members to go browsing, make feedback, or ask questions in regards to the vehicles on sale. Carry a Trailer’s Randy Nonnenberg notes that his web site promotes “accessibility” to automobile auctions and attracts a youthful, prosperous viewers.
The net group could be very educated in regards to the vehicles and may level out discrepancies within the automobile’s description or ask particular questions. All of those feedback can be found for all to see and evaluate.
Most on-line websites mandate many footage displaying the automobile and any current defects. Some websites show over 200 detailed images for shut inspection. Movies of a chilly begin and a cruise within the neighborhood are the brand new expectations on these websites. At some conventional auctions, the vendor/proprietor isn’t even on-site, and potential patrons depend on some obscure description within the catalog and a quick visible inspection on-site.
Automotive Auctions: The On-line Future
To display the breadth of on-line auto auctions, listed here are some vehicles that had been efficiently bought lately:
Most conventional public sale homes are beginning on-line websites to complement their dwindling on-site auctions. Barrett-Jackson’s Craig Jackson acknowledged that “the web is bringing many individuals in” to the collector automobile area.
However, will a web-based presence assist enhance curiosity within the collector automobile marketplace for these conventional public sale homes? Which public sale homes can survive the shift and keep available in the market whereas growing a powerful on-line presence? Massive online-only automobile public sale websites like Carry a Trailer, Automobiles & Bids, and Amassing Automobiles have already got a giant head begin.