This week, LA-based company Bid Garage announced the launch of its new online auction platform for classic cars.
Taking auctions online has several advantages. Prospective owners can bid from all over the world and sellers get a more transparent process, Bid Garage’s chief marketing officer Peter Palarchio told Built In.
At traditional auction houses, bidders are relatively anonymous, he pointed out. “We create profiles where a bidder’s entire history of bids, comments and listings are visible for all to see.”
BidGarage also saves buyers and sellers stress and money. The company authenticates cars, takes professional photos for select listings and doesn’t charge any fees unless a car sells. If the car does sell, Bid Garage takes a 5 percent total commission, which is split between the buyer and seller. Typically, auction houses charge 12 percent to the buyer and 10 percent to the seller, according to Palarchio.
The company has also built its platform to discourage aggressive online bidding tactics like bidding at the last second, also known as snipe bidding. If a bid comes in during the last two minutes of an auction, the auction is extended another two minutes.
Founded in November of 2019, Bid Garage launched its blog in January of 2020. To date, the company has eight employees, and although it’s based in LA, the team is currently remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the company plans to grow its team and hire auction specialists and a community manager.
To celebrate the launch of its platform, Bid Garage has several classic cars that it will put up for auction in the coming days including a 1969 Jaguar E-Type Roadster, 1973 BMW 2002tii, 1964 Sunbeam Tiger Mark 1, 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe and several other rare cars with low mileage.
“Ultimately, Bid Garage is driven by our love for great cars,” Palarchio said in a statement. “We are creating a robust community built on passion, speed and trust, in order to change the entire online auction experience for the better.”
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