The WSJ published the story 2 ways, a slideshow https://www.wsj.com/story/he-started-his-car-blog-as-a-hobby-now-its-a-1-billion-marketplace-bd2f5b27
and an indepth article https://www.wsj.com/articles/bring-a-trailer-car-auctions-randy-nonnenberg-fa23e131
Hearst bought BaT in 2020, and doubled it's sales in the next year, probably due to people stuck at home shopping online
I think BAT has increased the number of listings by including a lot of cars that might not have been there in the earlier days. There are a lot of cars on there now that are basically nice used cars, and not really that outstanding or collectible. I like to scan through the listings and read about the cars that I think are interesting, but now it seems like a lot of Porsche 911s, BMWs, early Broncos and Toyota FJ Cruisers.
ReplyDeleteThey just sold a Datsun 240Z that was owned by BAT as their 100,000th listing. All of the proceeds and seller's fee went to the Piston Fund, a charity that supports the skilled trades, specifically for Automotive technicians. The car sold for $124,240.
yes, as soon as Hearst bought BaT, the focus shifted from more quality for collectors, to a tool for the corporate owners return on investment, diluting the original purpose and intent.
DeleteBut, that's what happens when the original owners sell out. They wanted to make something good, that would result in getting rich at the same time, but sell to investment focused asshats that are not interested in reputation, quality, etc.
It's why the USA made an amazing variety of great stuff in the 50s and 60s, but now it's all gone, and replaced with junk made in China. And the future generations won't have a trade, or a pension, just inflation, cheap disposable tech stuff, and fast food jobs. You saw the post last night that Craftsman is done?
Yes, I saw your post about Craftsman. I've got a pretty decent selection of tools for what I do around the house and on my vehicles, so it doesn't affect me too much. It would be nice to have an option to buy something that was made in the US, for when I do need to buy new tools.
ReplyDeletethere are a lot of tool companies, I just haven't bothered to learn about them, and how quality their tools are, when I see them all at SEMA. There's SK, Snap On, Proto, etc for good quality, and dozens of companies I have never heard of. I think Herbrand is still around, but I haven't looked at tools in a long time. I'm pretty well set with my collection of Craftsman, Crescent, Plumb, Snap On, etc
DeleteYep
ReplyDeleteBaT now has Honda Accords and chrysler minivans. yawn.
not sure why the founder sold it, they had to be making a ton of money with it, and they had to know that it was gonna go down hill fast when a huge company bought it.
every website that gets bought buy a big company implodes quickly.
Pirate4x4 used to be the best fabrication website on the world.
it got sold by the founder to a big company and now its uses have dropped to almost nothihg.
all the users, started another website,and just dropped the first letter, naming the new site irate4x4 since all the longtime users were irate at the new owners for ruining the website.
probably sold it to cash out while it was a winner, and there was the rare offer from someone rich enough to make that size offer. It's not often anyone with the money, wants to pay what you're asking, and if you turn that down, you may be stuck with it, instead of retiring early enough to enjoy some life before your hips, knees, and back hurt too much to get some vacationing done where you'd like to walk around.
DeleteYou can't hike around Ireland, Italy, Greece, etc etc if you're legs are too damn old.
I don't blame them for selling out, it's the only way to retire bucks up and not have to worry about your business manager, accountants, etc etc screwing you over while you're away (like Sears did to Roebuck)
I haven't heard of Pirate 4x4, but Irate 4x4 sounds like proper justice!
Also, it's a way to get someone to take over the running of your creation, and I can tell you, NO ONE wants to take over running JACG. I've asked, and put the word out on the blog... no one responded.