Bring a Trailer changes it's Sevens categories

[theDreamer]

I see that under the Lotus heading BaT has split the Seven category into two. Now there is “Lotus Seven & Super Seven” and “Lotus Other Seven Replicas”. However, nowhere under either of these two new categories, (or within the larger Lotus banner) can I find any of the dozens of Caterham Sevens that have been listed on BaT. However, if I type Caterham in the search window I find one lone category for them. Why remove Caterham from the Lotus heading when BaT's own description clearly shows Caterham's long established connection to Lotus? Things that make you scratch your head...

https://bringatrailer.com/lotus/?q=lotus

 

Edited January 14 by theDreamer

[Croc]

Its probably data driven.  They have enough auctions to separate into something more granular/detailed.  Also, the people looking for a Caterham is not the same market as those looking for a Lotus 7. 

 

Interestingly they have not gone back to separate the old data to restate it to new categories.  So some of the price history charts are messed up by old classifications. 

 

Anyway, the smart buyers are looking elsewhere to buy as BAT is a really expensive market place these days.   The bargains I have found over the years are no longer present. 

 

[IamScotticus]

I agree to not group Caterham in with "other 7 replicas".  I suspect users may have suggested (complained) that they don't want to see other replica brands if they are focused on a Caterham, or Lotus likewise.

 

There are alerts available for Westfield, but not Birkin, Rotus, Dax Rush, stalker, or Robin Hood.

Edited January 15 by IamScotticus

[theDreamer]

I contacted BaT with my concerns. I received a reply within a couple of hours, on a Sunday no less. It included a link that directed me to a page with all three “Seven” categories. How would people know about this link, I wondered? So I typed “Lotus Seven” in the search window on the Bring a Trailer website and voila! There it was the same page. Now what I noticed is that the two links for “Lotus Seven & Super Seven” plus “Lotus Other Seven Replicas” have the Lotus directory in their URL’s. (see below) Therefore they are shown as two of the 12 categories found on the Lotus page.

https://bringatrailer.com/lotus/other-seven-replicas/

https://bringatrailer.com/lotus/seven-super-seven/

 

However, the one for “Caterham Seven” is a standalone page not seen on or accessible from the Lotus page. Why? Because it’s not in the Lotus directory. (see below)

https://bringatrailer.com/caterham/seven/

 

I believe this creates a problem because not all people think like us. They type in Lotus and see two categories and think they’re seeing all the sevens. It may not dawn on them to specify Caterham in a separate search and therefore might miss any listed.

I sent this new info to BaT but haven’t heard back and see no changes to the Lotus page at this time.

Yes Croc I agree with your assessment. Bring a Trailer is now for those who just want to socialize and reminisce about their youth. Or, show how deep their pockets are.

[wdb]

I went to https://bringatrailer.com/models/ and typed "seven" into the search box. All three categories came up.

 

Thanks for letting us know about this! We can spread the word by posting on FB and in the discussion section of auctions on BaT.