Online auctions are nothing new. Nor are online classifieds for collector cars. Hemmings been doing the latter for quite a while now. That said, plenty have asked what will be different with Hemmings Auctions which has now arrived!
First of all this is Hemmings Auctions, so everything we know and love about Hemmings will be a part of it, including real, live human, Vermont-based Listing Specialists on hand to walk the sellers through the entire process. If there are ever any questions while you’ve got a car listed, you're promised a person to contact. Their combined decades of experience within the collector-car marketplace, backed by the rest of the Hemmings crew, is touted as unparalleled in the online auction space. Hemmings has a hardworking crew in Charlotte, North Carolina, devoted to making sure the whole operation runs smoothly. <p>
Hemmings has built a 65-year reputation. Loyal readers and advertisers, and a qualified customer service team that have had to go after and root out the occasional unscrupulous advertisers. They report that there is a list of banned advertisers whose money is no good with Hemmings and that won’t change when they start auctioning cars. <p>
Apparently patterned to compete with Bring-A-Trailer (BaT) and others, Hemmings offers a $99.95 no-risk submission fee reported to be unlike any other in the biz. They collect the fee only after having selected a car for auction—and they are selective—and need to be in agreement with sellers on a reserve prices and other conditions. After a successful auction, the seller pays no other fees or commissions to Hemmings. If the bidding fails to meet reserve, they can then automatically convert the listing into a Hemmings Marketplace ad for six months, free of additional charges. <p>
Hemmings charges a five percent buyer’s fee on all successful auctions, with a minimum fee of $500. With any sale that tops $200,000, the buyer’s fee is capped at $10,000, twice the price cap of Bring-A-Trailer. In the interest of transparency, before bidders hit the submit button on a bid, they will see their total cost, including the Hemmings fees. <p>
As with a live auction, internet auctions can be exciting and generate rigorous discussion. Like BaT, Hemmings will allow moderated commenting on their listings. But bidders with questions for the seller might not want to read all of the stories and opinions about a listed car, so they have a separate Q&A commenting section for questions for the owner. Bidders and watchers can enter right into the discussion or get just the facts. <p>
With decades of feature stories, buyer’s guides, comparison drives, and other pieces available, Hemmings editors will select the best related content relevant to the listed vehicle to help prospective buyers make a more informed bid, with the best information available just a click away. They have built a team of professional writers—experienced automotive journalists—who will create each listing, working with information directly from the sellers. <p>
Browsing the auction inventory easy, with eight different categories. (See image above.) Hemmings recognizes some people are only interested in a certain category, so they've built in some one-click filters on the main auction page to let them do that. A car can also be tagged in two categories if it fits.
Like BaT, Hemming had deployed the anti-sniping features that automatically trigger an additional two minutes of bidding time if a bid is placed in the last five minutes of the auction. This clock can be reset again and again to keep the auction competitive until the dust settles and all the bidding has ended.
When an auction ends successfully, Hemmings collects a fee, but they contend that they "don’t just introduce the buyer and seller and send them on their way." Though it’s ultimately up to the winning bidder and seller to work out the final transaction details, Hemmings claims to mediate and "help out" where they can. They also have connections with our partners in collector-car transport, specialty insurance, and even finance that can help as well. For a complete description of all services please got to https://www.hemmings.com/auctions
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