Hagerty Livestream: Auctions Go Online

[Anthony]

This livestream originally aired on Thursday 25 June.

Can the collector car market survive the pandemic? Many traditional auction houses are pivoting to online sales in an effort to do just that and with mixed results. Hagerty Insider’s Manager Editor, David Zenlea, sat down with RM Sotheby’s experts to discuss their move to digital, the lessons learned, and what to expect next.

[Ashman_e]

This brings to mind the question as to why the Hagerty valuation tools don't take into consideration online auction and sales sources like "Bring a trailer", "P-Car Market", etc.  From what I can tell, the only sources considered are old-school "ancient white men with too much money waking up to throw their paddles in the air" auctions.  This means that any sales using online tools are ignored.  From this, I have to say that the valuations given here are suspect since they're pretty much completely ignoring what has become an increasingly large swath of the car market.  I hope that Hagerty is looking at addressing this blind spot soon.

[Andrew]

Hi there,
Just wanted to clear up how we go about our pricing at Hagerty. The values that go into the Hagerty Price Guide, which we update three times per year, are actually quite comprehensive. We look at results not just from the live auctions but also all online auction venues including Bring a Trailer, Hemmings, PCARMARKET, etc. We also analyze insurance data and classified listings, and have close relationships with dealers and industry experts to gauge the market.

[Ashman_e]

Thanks, Andrew.  That's good to know.  From the way the system works, it seemed to me that you can only turn on/off the traditional auction results, so I assumed that those were the only data points.

As long as you're taking into consideration the newer ways people are buying cars, then all good.  Thanks again for the explanation.