@Theron posted:Just because something was marked SOLD FOR on bring-a-trailer, does not mean that the car actually sold.
I was ghosted by a buyer. Bring-A-Trailer refunded my auction fee and suspended the buyers account, but they can't do anything else. There are no legal obligations.
It seems that many have listed a car, had the bidding go crazy, the buyer backs out but the car is now on record for an insane sales price. Of course that opens the way for an owner to list the car later with a very high previous sale price or others with similar cars to list and hope for the same price.
Since this all pushes the cost cars ever upward, there is little reason for the auction companies to intervene.
-=theron
Not sure what BAT requires for Bidder verification but a CC on file might be a deterrent, this might allow for a monetary recovery % fora Bidder that doesn't complete the buying process.
Side note: When I had applied to BAT to list my restored Meyers Manx One, BAT wanted to set a reserve that was a whopping 25% lower than what I wanted. When I sent a reply email justifying my reserve amount with BAT past closed auctions, I never heard back from BAT but I did get my full asking price on eBay.