Following the unprecedented and easily calculable success of Bring a Trailer, more new car auction sites debut seemingly every month. The strong shift to online sales that began over the past few years more recently coincided with a massive collector car craze during shutdowns and lockdowns, as well, eventually growing so noticeable that Hagerty even released a Hottest Cars of the Pandemic list.
Not every would-be startup site manages to get in and stay in on the action, however, though it helps to achieve some name recognition by attaching celebrities and automotive personalities. Established auction houses like Barrett-Jackson and Mecum also increasingly turned to online formats during the pandemic, as did high-end classic car dealers who needed to augment sales without opening their doors to the public.
But the likes of Barrett-Jackson, Mecum, RM Sotheby's, and more never totally committed to a dedicated auction website, which afforded Bonhams the chance to become the first legacy auction house with 24-7 sales here in the US when the London-based firm launches a new site this coming January. Following the purchase of the UK-based site The Market in April, Bonhams expanded to Europe and now looks set to hit American soil with a few key differences that could help the platform stand apart from this country's current industry leaders. Ahead of the launch, I spoke with The Market By Bonhams General Manager Caroline Cassini about how an established brand can hope to make waves in a heavily saturated industry like online car auctions.
The Market By Bonhams General Manager Caroline Cassini
Like so many enthusiasts, Cassini grew up with a father who instilled her with a love of cars early on. After graduating from college with a degree in marketing and communication, she attended the Academy of Art University's automotive restoration program in San Francisco, California.
"I just always knew I wanted to get into the car world," Cassini told me, "And I didn’t really know how to go about it. I had a few mentors who told me that going into the restoration program really would get you ahead of the pack."
As the first woman to graduate from the program, Cassini learned from experts who both worked on and judged some of the world's greatest cars every summer (until 2020) at the nearby Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Those connections would eventually lead to a post-graduation job at the East Bay's premier classics dealer, Fantasy Junction of Emeryville, where she focused on listing incredible cars—on none other than Bring a Trailer.
"We started to ramp up in 2019 on Bring a Trailer," she said, "And then once Covid hit in 2020, it was basically all that we were doing—a couple private sales here and there, but mostly all Bring a Trailer. So I got very familiar with all the ins and outs of the online auction platform."
The remote nature of working with BaT meant that Cassini could move from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, which put her in another perfect position after Bonhams purchased The Market in April of this year.
"They bought it knowing that they were expanding globally," she revealed. "I had some connections within Bonhams and people knew that I had experience at Fantasy Junction with Bring a Trailer. And then I kind of approached them and said, 'This is a really interesting project, do you need someone in the US?' And they said, 'Yes we do.'"
Building A Site Better Than Bring A Trailer
Founded in 2017, The Market emerged as a major player in the UK throughout 2020, logging total sales of £13 million (around $17.8 million) and increasing turnover by almost 300%. But the American market could radically outpace even those impressive figures, so Bonhams made Cassini the first hire to helm the expansion precisely because of her experience working with BaT.
"I kind of saw the things that I would have preferred or that I think would work better," she told me. "With Fantasy Junction, you saw how much inventory we were putting up on a weekly basis so we had a bit of priority. But I’ve heard that for the average customer, it takes almost six months to get your car listed. I heard they only accept one out of twenty cars now that are submitted."
Unlike the leaders of many startups who might hesitate to discuss their direct competitors, Cassini willingly and openly discusses how she and Bonhams will learn from BaT to improve the experience for buyers, sellers, and internal operations by focusing on customer service and transparency. After all, just because one site achieved the most renown doesn't mean it's necessarily perfect—stories of less-than-stellar experiences have certainly begun proliferating among the car crowds that I frequent. And Bonhams doesn't plan to give up on live auction experience, which has its own list of pros and cons, as well.
Live Auctions Aren't Going Anywhere
"Live auctions won’t ever go away," Cassini confirmed. "Bonhams is still going to have their Quail every year and their Scottsdale every year and their Amelia Island. That’s not going to go anywhere."
Instead, The Market will largely feature cars valued below $100,000 while anything more expensive gets nudged towards live events—unless a seller specifically prefers to put their car online.
"If there is a customer that comes to us and wants to sell their $500,000 or $600,000 car, then we won’t say no, of course. But we will encourage them because there are definitely benefits to a live auction."
The First Legacy Auction House With Full-Time Online Action
"This is the first time that a major auction platform is taking on an online auction," Cassini explained. "I think the fact that we’ve been operating for four or five years in the UK, we have the platform, we have the website, we have the infrastructure, we have the numbers and what needs to happen, that’s definitely going to set us apart."
More specifically, the number-one difference between The Market by Bonhams and Bring a Trailer comes down to who pays the fees. On BaT, sellers pay $99 to list (dealers and premium listings receive different rates) and buyers pay a 5% fee up to $5,000 based on the final gavel. By contrast, The Market will charge sellers no fee to list. Instead, sellers will be charged the same 5% up to $5,000 at the end of the sale, while buyers pay only their final bid, no more no less.
Cassini told me that structure has proven very popular in the UK, but it could prove iffy for Bonhams on cars that don't meet reserve. She confirmed The Market will feature no reserve listings, which guarantee the house some income, and also a two-minute clock reset to disallow last-second sniping, unlike Ebay (and just like Bring a Trailer).
"We think it actually makes a lot more sense," she said, "Because we are, technically, a seller’s service. So, that’s one nice thing when someone buys a car, you’re paying the exact hammer price."
Other than the different fee structure, Cassini emphasized how transparent she wants The Market to be, with a live (and lightly moderated) comments section similar to BaT and final bids still visible even if auctions don't meet reserve (unlike, for example, Collecting Cars, which takes down listings that don't sell).
Committing To Extensive Photography And Documentation
In the modern age, comments sections full of knowledgeable viewers can help inspire confidence for bidders—they can also lead to hesitations or, on occasion, completely derail an auction with nonsensical sidebars and overwhelmingly negative feedback. But without a doubt, the best thing for remote car sales about today's smartphones and high-speed internet is the by-now-standard inclusion of extensive photographic documentation detailing a car's exterior, interior, and mechanical condition, plus maintenance records.
And Cassini told me Bonhams will set a new standard with a minimum of 200 photos per listing, plus cold start, running, and driving videos where applicable. In fact, Bonhams plans to pay for each listing's professional photography—which also allows an expert to check out the car first-hand and verify any claims made by the seller.
"Having someone go out and photograph it that’s knowledgeable about cars," Cassini explained, "We can get an idea and make sure it's numbers matching and see the different stampings and all of that. So that’s what we’re going to do initially. We’ll see as time goes on, we might be interested in opening up, somewhere in the States or a couple different ones, where we do concierge service."
In the UK, The Market currently houses almost all the cars up for auction at their centrally located Oxfordshire headquarters. But the sheer size of the United States makes such a plan a bit less feasible.
Lining Up A Strong Slate Of Initial Offerings
Every new auction site hopes to launch with a solid lineup of eye-catching vehicles that will attract attention and bids. Cassini couldn't reveal the exact cars The Market will list first when the site goes live in January, but she did reveal that she's been getting in on the excitement herself. She even recently purchased an MG TC from the Audrain Concours Auction that Bonhams put on earlier in October.
"That’s currently on the east coast but hopefully coming west soon," she laughed. "My passion right now is getting this thing launched. It’s exciting!"
With backing from Bonhams, The Market seems likely to find success here in the US—and the timing sure seems perfect, too, given the absolutely booming collectible car industry. And despite the direct comparisons to Bring a Trailer, among others, Cassini believes that The Market by Bonhams can fit into the arena quite nicely.
"I think there is definitely a space for another great online auction platform. I mean, if you look at the live auctions, if there’s a space for Bonhams as well as Gooding and RM, there’s no reason why there shouldn’t be another great competitor to Bring a Trailer."
Sources: bringatrailer.com, themarket.co.uk, bonhams.com, academyart.edu, and fantasyjunction.com.