Selling · 5 minute read
Reserve, or no reserve
A reserve protects you from a bad room. It also tells the room you expect one.
Almost everything else about consigning a vehicle is process. The reserve is the one number that is genuinely yours, and it changes how the lot behaves before the first bid.
What a reserve costs you
Bidders can see that a lot has one. Some read it as a signal that the consignor has a number in mind and will not be talked past it, and bid accordingly — which is sometimes exactly what you want.
Others simply skip reserved lots, because a no-sale wastes their afternoon too.
What no reserve buys you
Attention. A no-reserve lot will always draw more bidders than the same car with a floor under it, because everyone knows it is going to sell.
What it costs is the floor. If four people who wanted your car are all stuck in traffic, it still sells.
The middle path that is not one
A reserve set at the top of the estimate is a way of not selling a car while paying the entry fee. If the number you have in mind is above the range, the useful conversation is about the range.
Fees and figures quoted across this site are illustrative sample data.