BCA Auctionview

[Michael Rodgers]

I'm looking at buying my next car from the BCA Auction at Bridgewater. From
what I can see, although there is no shortage of the particular model I want
(Mondeo 2.0 Ghia X Manual), they don't appear every week. I've got no
problem waiting until one appears before I make the 2 hour drive to take a
look.

However, the only way to see if there are any there is to use the
Auctionview service. This costs £5 for 10 searches (I only want one a week!)
but only lasts a week, so I'd have to be paying £5 a week until I find one,
which would have been a complete waste of money if I then bought from one of
the more local auctions who list their stock for all to see.

Does anyone know quite why BCA feel it neccesary to charge customers to see
what they've got? I don't ring up my local Citroen dealer only to be told
it'll cost a fiver if I want to know what parts they have in stock.

Ta ;)

[AstraVanMan]

Post by Michael Rodgers
However, the only way to see if there are any there is to use the
Auctionview service. This costs £5 for 10 searches (I only want one a week!)
but only lasts a week, so I'd have to be paying £5 a week until I find one,
which would have been a complete waste of money if I then bought from one of
the more local auctions who list their stock for all to see.

Sounds like the "Earlybird" tokens you can buy on loot.com to view adverts
within the first 4 days of them being on the system, and the more you buy
the cheaper per token it gets, but they only last about seven days as well.
Bloody rip-off.

Peter

[Steve Knight]

... the only way to see if there are any there is to use the
Auctionview service. This costs £5 for 10 searches (I only want one a week!)
but only lasts a week, so I'd have to be paying £5 a week until I find one,
which would have been a complete waste of money if I then bought from one of
the more local auctions who list their stock for all to see.
Does anyone know quite why BCA feel it necessary to charge customers to

see

what they've got?

Because they can...

It is a bit stupid though, they like to encourage private buyers to auctions
because it pushes prices up then they make it as unfriendly to private
buyers as possible; at least they now accept payment by debit card at all
stages which does help private buyers a lot.

However, you can buy 50 Auctionview searches lasting 2 months for £10 or 200
searches lasting 3 months for £30; which are better value.

The best auctions in that area are Manheim's at Bristol and Dursley but
you'll never get access to their online catalogues - it took me ages and I'm
in the trade!

[Michael Rodgers]

Post by Steve Knight

Does anyone know quite why BCA feel it necessary to charge customers to
see
what they've got?

Because they can...

Excellent. I'm sure they miss out on punters becuase people don't want to
comit themselves to making the trip if they dont know for sure what they
want is going to be there.

Post by Steve Knight
However, you can buy 50 Auctionview searches lasting 2 months for £10 or 200
searches lasting 3 months for £30; which are better value.

That's slightly better value.

Post by Steve Knight
The best auctions in that area are Manheim's at Bristol and Dursley but
you'll never get access to their online catalogues - it took me ages and I'm
in the trade!

Sounds great although again I'd be a bit dubious about travelling up only to
find they dont have the specific trim level I am after. If I called them
before a sale would they be able to tell me if they had any do you think?

[Steve Knight]

Post by Michael Rodgers
Sounds great although again I'd be a bit dubious about travelling up only to
find they dont have the specific trim level I am after. If I called them
before a sale would they be able to tell me if they had any do you think?

It depends a lot on the person you talk to but I have always found them
pretty good.

Funnily enough I did have to phone Dursley a few months ago to double check
the status of a specific (rare) car I had seen in their online catalogue.
The lady I spoke to could not have been more helpful. And in the end I went
down and managed to buy the car.

And here's your starter for 10:

X585ABF FORD MONDEO 2.0 GHIA X 5DR H/B 2000 96275 miles BLUE Petrol MANUAL
Gloucester 15/10/03
VX02EXG FORD MONDEO 2.0 GHIA X 5DR H/B 2002 27502 miles GREEN Petrol MANUAL
Gloucester 15/10/03
X588ABF FORD MONDEO 2.0 GHIA X 5DR EST 2000 130311 miles SILVER Petrol
MANUAL Gloucester 15/10/03
W772FET FORD MONDEO 2.0 GHIA X 5DR H/B 2000 60714 miles BLUE Petrol MANUAL
Bristol 14/10/03

[Craig Cockburn]

Post by Michael Rodgers

... the only way to see if there are any there is to use the
Auctionview service. This costs £5 for 10 searches (I only want one a

week!)

but only lasts a week, so I'd have to be paying £5 a week until I find

one,

which would have been a complete waste of money if I then bought from one

of

the more local auctions who list their stock for all to see.
Does anyone know quite why BCA feel it necessary to charge customers to

see

what they've got?

Because they can...

So can ebay, however ebay don't. I think the attitude of "allow people
to view listings for free" is a better one. If the car auction people
got their collective acts together and made the catalogues free online,
they would presumably get more bidders and make more money. Looks like a
no brainer to me.

Maybe Stelios should set up "EasyAuctions" ? That would be a welcome
boot up the bottom to the BCA.

[Dave Plowman]

Post by Craig Cockburn
Maybe Stelios should set up "EasyAuctions" ? That would be a welcome
boot up the bottom to the BCA.

Heh heh. But precisely the way he makes his money is through 'extras'.

[Craig Cockburn]

Post by Dave Plowman

Post by Craig Cockburn
Maybe Stelios should set up "EasyAuctions" ? That would be a welcome
boot up the bottom to the BCA.

Heh heh. But precisely the way he makes his money is through 'extras'.

Which are largely optional.

[Doki]

Post by Craig Cockburn

Post by Michael Rodgers

... the only way to see if there are any there is to use the
Auctionview service. This costs £5 for 10 searches (I only want one a

week!)

but only lasts a week, so I'd have to be paying £5 a week until I find

one,

which would have been a complete waste of money if I then bought from one

of

the more local auctions who list their stock for all to see.
Does anyone know quite why BCA feel it necessary to charge customers to

see

what they've got?

Because they can...

So can ebay, however ebay don't. I think the attitude of "allow people
to view listings for free" is a better one. If the car auction people
got their collective acts together and made the catalogues free online,
they would presumably get more bidders and make more money. Looks like a
no brainer to me.
Maybe Stelios should set up "EasyAuctions" ? That would be a welcome
boot up the bottom to the BCA.

IMO the Auctions depend on there being trade as well as public there
bidding. If you got too many members of the public there the traders would
just go looking somewhere else for the cars, and the auction wouldn't be
able to sell nearly as many cars.

[Steve Knight]

Post by Doki
IMO the Auctions depend on there being trade as well as public there
bidding. If you got too many members of the public there the traders would
just go looking somewhere else for the cars, and the auction wouldn't be
able to sell nearly as many cars.

That's an interesting point but I don't think it's right. It's true that
the guys in the trade don't like private buyers because they push prices up,
but even if more private buyers went to auction the trade would still have
to go - there's simply nowhere else where you can access the sheer volume of
stock.

[Doki]

Post by Steve Knight

Post by Doki
IMO the Auctions depend on there being trade as well as public there
bidding. If you got too many members of the public there the traders would
just go looking somewhere else for the cars, and the auction wouldn't be
able to sell nearly as many cars.

That's an interesting point but I don't think it's right. It's true that
the guys in the trade don't like private buyers because they push prices up,
but even if more private buyers went to auction the trade would still have
to go - there's simply nowhere else where you can access the sheer volume of
stock.

I agree with that. I can't see anywhere where you can find as many cars as
at auction. Perhaps someone will end up setting up a trade only day or
auction house? The current volume of cars couldn't be sold to private buyers
alone IMO.

[Steve Knight]

Post by Doki
I agree with that. I can't see anywhere where you can find as many cars as
at auction. Perhaps someone will end up setting up a trade only day or
auction house? The current volume of cars couldn't be sold to private buyers
alone IMO.

Funnily enough, someone has. Last year what appears to be some former
Manheim people set up a company called Vehicle Remarketing Solutions, it may
have been a joint venture with Manheim.

Suffice to say, it was not a big success and seems now to have been absorbed
into Manheim as a trade only direct sales system, where registered dealers
can buy used cars direct over the phone. These types of things are really
just a ploy to make 'busy' (lazy) sales managers pay more money for cars -
I'll stick with the auctions.