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by Andrew Rohrlich
Hemmings is the go-to marketplace for classic car enthusiasts looking to sell or buy antique, vintage, exotic, high-end, and collectible vehicles. With the Hemmings Motor News magazine, you can learn more about all your favorite classic cars and interact with over 200,000 collector-car aficionados.
If you’re wondering how to sell your classic car on Hemmings, you’re in good company because this piece will teach you the ins and outs of doing so.
An Overview of Hemmings
Hemmings is a specialist platform for researching, buying, and selling vintage cars. It's one of the most sought-after and trusted online auction houses for classic cars.
With many selective buyers flocking to Hemmings in search of their dream cars, you stand a better chance of quickly selling your classic car on the platform.
Hemmings Pros
Here’s what makes Hemmings tick:
Hemmings Classic Cars Classified Offer a Rich Selection of Cars
On Hemmings marketplace, you’ll buy and sell a whole range of collectible vehicles, from high-end exotic cars like the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette to vintage cars like the 1941 Willys Custom.
Buyers are confident they’ll find their dream classic cars on Hemmings more promptly because of the vast and specialized inventory on the platform. This means more qualified prospects will view your car ad, enhancing your chances of closing the sale at the reserve price or higher.
Hemmings Is User-friendly and Interactive
Buyers can effortlessly browse Hemmings auction inventory without subscribing to the publication. Hemmings classic cars for sale are grouped under these eight categories:
- Exotics
- Classics
- Rod and customs
- Trucks and SUVs
- Muscle cars
- Performance cars
- Motorcycles
- Engines and Parts
Hemmings has made searching specific auction lots easier by in-building one-click filters into the main auction page. Additionally, Hemmings allows you to tag your car in two categories where applicable. For instance, you may tag a Mercedes-Benz SL-500 as a performance or exotic car. This ensures your car ad reaches all buyers who search in any of the two categories.
Great Customer Support From Real Live Human Car Specialists
When you settle on Hemmings to sell a car, you’ll enjoy customer support from submitting your vehicle for consideration up to the final step when the auction closes. Hemmings offers sellers these vital privileges:
- A dedicated listing specialist available by phone and email to handle all your queries
- An experienced automotive journalist to craft your car listing write up
- Your car ad is promoted on other social media platforms, online marketplace, and other partner channels to boost visibility
Hemmings Facilitates Offshore Transactions
While Hemmings is based out of Vermont, it’s not limited to Americans. If you don’t live in the U.S., you’ll be assigned a listing specialist to help you satisfy all requirements governing offshore transactions. This way, you can sell your car on Hemmings from anywhere without hassle.
Hemmings Cons
Beware of the following handicaps:
You Pay a Listing Fee
Hemmings will charge you a listing fee, which is a common practice, of $99.95 per auction, $99.95 for a Make Offer listing, and $129.95 for a Traditional Classified Ad.
Auctions Are Approved In-house
Once you submit your classic car to be considered for auction, it’s up to Hemmings to assess and select your vehicle. It's super-selective, so there’s no guarantee your car will make the cut. However, Hemmings has a no-risk listing fee policy, meaning you pay the listing fee only after your vehicle is selected for auction.
The Three Methods of Car Selling on Hemmings
You sell classic cars on Hemmings using any of these three methods:
Auction
Hemmings auctions are fast-paced and close after two weeks. Here’s the step-by-step process of participating in a Hemmings auction:
- Step 1: Register to create a free Hemmings account.
- Step 2: Submit your collectible vehicle for consideration (use high-quality photos and videos for submission).
- Step 3: Hemmings crew approve or deny your submission.
- Step 4: You pay a listing fee of $99.95 if your submission is approved.
- Step 5: Hemmings listing specialists write a listing copy for your car with the details you supply them, collaborate with you to set a reserve price, and schedule the auction.
- Step 6: Buyers bid on your car over two weeks.
- Step 7: Hemmings sells to the buyer who makes the highest bid over the reserve. If no bids meet the reserve target after two weeks, your car is automatically transitioned to a Make Offer or Classified listing, running for six months at no extra cost to you.
- Step 8: Hemmings connects you to the buyer, so you can make payment and delivery arrangements.
Hemmings goes the extra mile to uphold decorum during the entire auction process by regulating comments and discussions on the platform to keep them on topic. Further, Hemmings has invested in anti-sniping software that regulates last-second bidding.
Make Offer
With a Make-Offer listing, you pay $99.95 to list your vehicle on Hemmings Marketplace instantly and for six months. This option gives you greater control over your listing, including the freedom to:
- Set the asking price and negotiate with buyers within the platform
- Modify the asking price via the seller dashboard after your Make Offer listing goes live
- Cancel your Make Offer listing anytime
Here’s how a Make Offer listing works:
- Step 1: Submit your collectible vehicle to Hemmings and pay $99.95.
- Step 2: Hemmings team reviews your car details and lists the car online within 24 hours.
- Step 3: Receive and review buyers’ offers.
- Step 4: Accept an offer and connect with the buyer to organize payment and delivery.
The Hemmings team doesn’t collect money from the buyer on your behalf. Once the buyer pays the buyer’s fee, Hemmings will connect you to them so you can finalize the transaction. To ensure buyers’ credibility and check dummy bids, Hemmings places a hold on the buyer’s credit card once they bid.
Traditional Classified Ad
Classified ads are the oldest method of selling Hemmings classic cars. Your car ad is displayed on Hemmings’s website for six months and appears in print in the next issue of Hemmings Motor News magazine. With classified ads, you can opt for a Silver Listing or a Gold Listing.
A Silver Listing costs $129.95 and offers:
- A 35-word limit
- One photo in the Hemmings print magazine
- 35 online photos
A Gold Listing costs $189.95 and offers:
- A 75-word limit
- More ad space on the print magazine with one extra-large photo or three standard photos
- 50 photos on Hemmings online marketplace
Here’s how to place a Classified ad:
- Step 1: Visit Hemmings classic car classified page, select the option Vehicle on the drop-down menu and click the Get Started Now button.
- Step 2: Select Traditional Classified Ad and click Start Your Listing.
- Step 3: Choose whether to upgrade to a Gold Listing or continue with a standard ad (Silver Listing).
- Step 4: Sign in or register to create a free Hemmings account.
- Step 4: Fill out the form with all car details such as make, model, year, mileage, price, fuel consumption, etc.
Get your print ad to the magazine team before the 9th of each month to beat the deadline.
Tips for Selling a Classic Vehicle on Hemmings
These handy tips will help you sell successfully:
Research Your Car’s Market Value To Set a Reasonable Price
Regardless of the listing you opt for, you must get the price right. Don’t sell your classic car short or put off buyers with a steep price. Remember, classic car enthusiasts know their cars to the last detail, so they’ll quickly tell if you’ve overpriced or underpriced your vehicle.
Decide Which Listing Type Works Best for You
Each of the three listings has unique terms and conditions that may work to your benefit or disadvantage. For instance, if you want to sell your classic car fast and retain control of the entire process, you would want to select a Make Offer listing. But if you want your car to fetch the best price possible and you’re not in a hurry to sell, the Hemmings auction is more convenient for you.
Understand and Be Honest About Your Car’s Condition Rating
When selling your classic vehicle to buyers on Hemmings, ensure you include all the car details — the good and the undesirable — in the description. If your car’s body could use a cosmetic touch-up or an engine overhaul, be sure to mention it upfront.
Also, if your car has an outstanding loan, work out the financial details with your lender and buyer before closing the sale. In such a case, knowing how to sell your car with a loan will save you and the buyer a lot of red tape and financial issues.
Complete Your Private Party Auto Sale With Caramel
Marketing and selling your car on Hemmings and other online car marketplaces is easy. However, it’s up to you to verify, negotiate, transact, transfer title, and organize delivery with private party buyers. This is where Caramel saves the day.
Caramel provides a one-stop shop platform for initiating and completing private-party auto sales with buyers worldwide. Selling with Caramel takes the stress out of private car sales by providing a link you include in your car listing. Buyers can finish the checkout process faster and more securely using this link. This smoothens the buying and selling process substantially, making for a great selling and buying experience.
This article was written by Andrew Rohrlich. As a brand and product marketing expert, Andrew Rohrlich has crafted products, experiences and communications for household names like Gap and for multiple automotive technology businesses. For nearly a decade Andrew has studied automotive retail in depth from a customer point of view and aggregated the industry’s best research, thought leadership and know how to provide credible and important information to auto shoppers and sellers.
Start your transaction with Caramel, learn more about how the process works, or reach out to our Support team with any questions.
