Need Advice on Selling my Seven

[Randy Flowers]

Hey there...

 

Randy Flowers here, and it is unfortunately now best for me to sell the Seven I bought back in June this year.

It is a special one, built by Road and Track Magazine for a series of articles about the Caterham and then owned by Josh of Rocky Mountain Caterham before I owned it, with only 4K miles, a 2020 310R in excellent condition, with all the extras as well.  It is in beautiful Gulf Blue with an orange ring around the nose and stripe, a real head turner for sure.  It won a prize at both of the local car shows I took it to which was neat to experience.  I loved it and it was amazing to own and drive for awhile, but due to financial issues I need to sell now.  At least I can now say I owned a Seven in my lifetime now and know what it is like to own and drive one regularly.   

 

I need help figuring out how to best recoup most of my initial outlay last June.  I want to sell it in the best way to do that. 

 

I know about the 'Bring a Trailer' auction, the USA7s sell site and possibly Hemmings, but where else should I advertise for the sale?

 

Any other advice on how to best sell it?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Croc]

 

As a start, these are the obvious options available to buyers and sellers. 

 

 

 

 

[JohnCh]

Hi @Randy Flowers, I'm sorry to hear you need to sell your car.  This thread asking for advice on how to do so is fine; however, only paid club members may post an ad on the site.  A post like this that includes a number of photos of the car strays too close into ad territory, so I have deleted them.  As I've explained here many times in the past, allowing people to do end arounds -- even if that is not the intent -- isn't fair to the other individuals who join specifically so they can sell their car.

 

-John

[Randy Flowers]

That's fine, wasn't trying to do an end run, just curious how to best sell the car. 

Randy

[slowdude]

On 12/17/2024 at 2:26 PM, Randy Flowers said:

That's fine, wasn't trying to do an end run, just curious how to best sell the car. 

Randy

Buy membership here. Post for 3-6 months here on speciality site. If no luck here revisit your price or post on Bring a Trailer. BaT has a long line of cars in front of you to be listed, so I'd hedge bets and post here while you wait for the queue at BaT.

[IamScotticus]

Amazon Marketplace 

If they allow cars.

IDK

 

Find the Porsche guys with Gulf cars.  They may need another one.

Edited December 27, 2024 by IamScotticus

[Randy Flowers]

Hey yall...

 

Thanks for the suggestions.  Been super busy with Christmas, etc and just now thinking of this again.

 

I am working with a friend whose business happens to be buying and selling rare vintage cars and he is strongly suggesting that we wait to put it out for sale anywhere until March at least as this is the worst time of the year to sell a car like a Caterham.   My friend is also high on using Bring a Trailer as the primary place to sell.

When we do put it out there to sell, should I do a multi-pronged approach and put it out simultaneously on Bring a Trailer, here on this the USA7's sell page, Caterham Marketplace on Facebook and possibly Hemmings?  Or should I just post it initially on something like Bring a Trailer before putting it out everywhere at once? 

 

An option is to wait until March to attempt to sell it on Bring a Trailer, but in January go ahead and put ads on Caterham Marketplace, USA7s and Hemmings. 

 

Another possible option is to work with Josh at Rocky Mountain Caterham and also advertise it on their site.  Josh said if we do that, then I would pay them a $500 finder's fee if the buyer came from them.  What about using that option? 

 

The main question is whether or not to wait until the Spring to put out the advertisements

 

The other question is whether to put it onto the multiple different places mentioned above all simultaneously or just put it on one (or more) of them at a time?

 

Thanks!

Randy

[wdb]

Bring A Trailer frowns on cars being offered elsewhere simultaneously with their auction; at least they used to. Listing it with a dealer and on this site would seem to me to be a good way to start, because you would be putting the car in front of a focused audience.

[S1Steve]

Why wait, If you’re truly interested in selling. For 20 bucks you can posted it here with the serious 7 nuts.😂 Your sale post will stay on here until you state your Caterham is sold. If you don’t sell it here, wait a few months and go with BAT for a much larger audience. Good Luck in 25..

Edited December 28, 2024 by S1Steve

[IamScotticus]

I like letting letting Rocky Mountin help you move it.  They can host it on their site.  You can list it here for RM.

Didn't RM help you get the 7?

Dance with the one who brought you.  Let Josh or Bruce flip it.

 

Timing?  Forget all that.  $45k knows no seasons.  Someone who can drop that on a toy isn't a seasonal impulse buyer.  They're likely looking all year for the "one", or a seller looking to flip it.  

 

I suggest picking an agent and all advertising you do, Hemmings, etc, lead to that person.  Let a 7 expert handle your showing, negotiation, sale and delivery.  It is very possible the buyer will be exporting.  You don't want to handle all that yourself.

 

I'll keep talking.

I think there are too many of these later Cats up for sale. This is a one-percenter car, a niche fan base. Your target clientele has many options, like other 7 copies,  Slings and autocycles.  In a country that puts 5" tall speed bumps in the roads.  Tiny cars are a tough sell and the 7 being the most fragile of them all, you have to already be a fan to even consider a 7. Its not a rational choice.

 

I have heard that Cat is aiming at increasing north America sales.  Wait too long to sell this and you won't get your price.

BaT?  Our friend in Hawaii's BaT buyer backed out on him.  Apparently BaT selling has its own share of shenanigans to deal with.

Edited December 30, 2024 by IamScotticus

[slowdude]

10 hours ago, IamScotticus said:

Timing?  Forget all that.  $45k knows no seasons.  Someone who can drop that on a toy isn't a seasonal impulse buyer.  They're likely looking all year for the "one", or a seller looking to flip it.  

 

THANK YOU.

They're not normal vehicles, so anecdotal BS about selling seasons isn't appropriate.

Look at the 3x 7's on BaT right now with high bids. Thats not a seasonal selling vehicle.

[Croc]

1 hour ago, slowdude said:

They're not normal vehicles, so anecdotal BS about selling seasons isn't appropriate.

Look at the 3x 7's on BaT right now with high bids. Thats not a seasonal selling vehicle.

 

No its no anecdotal.  Tracking the ads for 10 years does demonstrate a slow down in numbers of sales over the winter period - there is a seasonal effect.  However as Scotticus notes, you still see the committed player ready to spend because they have a specific spec car they want and when it comes up on Bringatrailer or elsewhere they open the wallet for instant gratification. 

 

It all comes down to finding the right buyer for the car you want to sell. 

[slowdude]

11 minutes ago, Croc said:

 

No its no anecdotal.  Tracking the ads for 10 years does demonstrate a slow down in numbers of sales over the winter period - there is a seasonal effect.  However as Scotticus notes, you still see the committed player ready to spend because they have a specific spec car they want and when it comes up on Bringatrailer or elsewhere they open the wallet for instant gratification. 

 

It all comes down to finding the right buyer for the car you want to sell. 

Yeeeep. Could potentially described the slow down in ads of:

 

1. People not wanting to deal with selling a vehicle during the holiday period as buyers are more distracted with holidays?

2. Anecdotal thoughts of "market being slow bc it's cold"?

 

 

I just can't bite into the "market drops off, sell in spring mentality". It only works for budget conscious buyers on lower/mid value purchases.

 

These vehicles are super niche, they're not your average porker.

 

Edit: December is always a strong sales month, plus a lot of Harley's seasonality (I hate that word), is in Q4..

 

 

Edited December 28, 2024 by slowdude

[Vovchandr]

Nobody can predict the future. 

 

Time in the market is always better than timing the market. 

 

I'm sure some people wished they never waited to spring of 2020 to sell their car. 

 

List here, get eyes on it. 

 

Next year is likely going to be turbulent in many ways. 

 

If nothing else, might sell when people get their tax refunds. Works for Nissans 

 

 

Also just like with any purchases your asking price will dictate whether it sells quick or never on any platform. 

 

For the price that's buyer friendly it can sell tomorrow without any pictures. 

 

For a price that's seller friendly it might not meet reserve on BaT even with stars aligned and tax refunds in hand..

Edited December 28, 2024 by Vovchandr

[Kitcat]

Why not let Josh at Rocky Mountain Motorsports give it a shot now and if no results by Spring, put it on BAT? I suspect Josh will find a buyer. I would not be surprised if he bought it himself:).

 
FWIW: I think your Caterham is a very desirable Sigma engined Cat.

Edited December 29, 2024 by Kitcat

[Randy Flowers]

Hey yall

Thanks for all the feedback on whether to wait until Spring or not.  Josh at Rocky Mountain agrees with yall's assessement as he responded to the same question with:
 

"You can do multi-prong unless it is actively on Bring a Trailer. I believe BaT wants all concurrent avenues paused while an auction is live.

I don't think it is necessary to wait until spring to sell. There are active Caterham buyers year-round. The market is so tight in the US for new / young Sevens that the seasonal lull doesn't matter as much as it used to."

 

So, I am thinking to go ahead and pursue the non-BaT options for selling, including using Josh at RM to post it on his site, and if it hasn't yet sold in a few months, put it on BaT.

 

It is a pretty unique newer 7 in that it was built by Road and Track mag (with Josh at RM overseeing) for a series of articles and it is also a super rare Gulf Blue 7.   It is in perfect condition and I added some things to it after I bought it, including a tunnel bag from SBF7s, kill switch, etc.  One of those niche guys mentioned above will be interested

 

Randy

[slowdude]

3 minutes ago, Randy Flowers said:

Hey yall

Thanks for all the feedback on whether to wait until Spring or not.  Josh at Rocky Mountain agrees with yall's assessement as he responded to the same question with:
 

"You can do multi-prong unless it is actively on Bring a Trailer. I believe BaT wants all concurrent avenues paused while an auction is live.

I don't think it is necessary to wait until spring to sell. There are active Caterham buyers year-round. The market is so tight in the US for new / young Sevens that the seasonal lull doesn't matter as much as it used to."

 

So, I am thinking to go ahead and pursue the non-BaT options for selling, including using Josh at RM to post it on his site, and if it hasn't yet sold in a few months, put it on BaT.

 

It is a pretty unique newer 7 in that it was built by Road and Track mag (with Josh at RM overseeing) for a series of articles and it is also a super rare Gulf Blue 7.   It is in perfect condition and I added some things to it after I bought it, including a tunnel bag from SBF7s, kill switch, etc.  One of those niche guys mentioned above will be interested

 

Randy

Josh is a great dude.

 

If it's any consolation, the HPC listed in the forums has had 3x people reach out asking for it.

 

I know it is a completely different vehicle BUT the demand is optimistic!

 

Good luck my dude!