Online car market Bring a Trailer closes out year with $1.35B in sales

Online car marketplace Bring a Trailer said it expects to close out the year with record sales of $1.35 billion as a new generation of collectors log on to buy classic and used cars. rice field. Bring a Trailer president and co-founder Randy Nonnenberg told CNBC that revenue this year is up 63% from 2021, when it hit $829 million. The San Francisco company's website makes it easy for collectors to buy and sell cars online, attracting a flood of young car traders during the pandemic, with everything from seven-figure Ferraris to $60,000 Corvettes to $15,000 Saabs. was sold. The question now is whether the pandemic-fueled car collecting frenzy will hold up if a recession hits.Nonnenberg said there was no evidence the company's business was slowing. "Our big challenge is handling all the demand," he said. Acquired by Hearst Autos in 2020, Bring a Trailer disrupted the traditional business of buying and selling collector cars, while traditional classic car auction companies such as Mecum, RM Sotheby's and Gooding & Co. We have had a good year.. Classic car insurer Haggerty has also entered the auction business, acquiring Broad Arrow and launching the Haggerty Marketplace, an online sales platform.

Rising interest rates, recession fears and rising car inventories are starting to put pressure on used car prices and demand. Nonnenberg said average sales prices fell slightly in the second half of 2022, driving down the prices of some cars. Still, he said Bring a Trailer's business model, based on low-cost, easy-to-use and efficient buying and selling of cars, could be profitable in a downturn. The seller pays him a flat fee of $99, while the buyer's commission is his 5% of the final sale price, capped at his $5,000. This is much cheaper than traditional auctions and many dealers. "The horse trade will continue," Nonenberg said. "People have had cars for three or four years and they want something else or their financial situation suddenly changes and they have six cars and he has two. Even if we want to sell , it fits our business model.”

Bring-a-trailer growth this year is due to higher sales volumes and higher vehicle prices. With up to 700 cars sold each week, the average price of cars sold was $54,495 for him, up from $47,500 for 2021. As the company attracted wealthier buyers and sellers, 145 cars sold for over $500,000 this year, a 172% increase from 2021. In May his 2017 Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta, which sold for $5.36 million, was the most expensive car ever sold. As sales volumes increase, Bring a Trailer hopes to grow its community of collectors and car enthusiasts. There are over 900,000 registered users and approximately 413,000 registered bidders. It also plans to roll out more in-person events and is working with local market partners to expand its services to buyers and sellers, Nonnenberg said. Looking ahead to 2023, Nonnenberg said a big goal is to use enhanced technology to reduce the waiting time to list cars. Currently, it takes an average of 26 days for a car to appear on the site after listing it. I'm here.