Like many of you, we like to look at race cars that we might buy. Our thinking is often either “that looks like fun,” or “if I had that, we could run with SVRA or in SCCA GT1, etc.” This thinking has led us to purchase and sell more than a few cars.
The Problem
We’ve never been satisfied with the sales channels for race cars, though. Race car sales is a niche business, and you have to look a lot of places to find what you want. Not that we’re lazy, but you really can’t be sure you’ve remembered all the places you might find something (Craigslist in 30 cities, eBay, Autotrader, race-cars.com, RM Auctions, Bring A Trailer, hundreds of specialty dealer sites world wide, etc.).
Then there is the cost of a transaction. Some sites charge a $50 insertion fee or a $125 to $250 fee for a successful listing. Others charge 5% or 10% for a sale. Depending on how much work they do to market your car, this might be worth it. It can also add up to a lot of cash.
The Difference
So, we thought it would be beneficial to set up a showroom online that was different. We call it Winding Road Showroom. Here’s what is different:
- The most cars. Our goal is to collect a majority of the race cars for sale in the U.S. at any given time. If you want a good idea of what is out there, start at WR Showroom.
- The lowest costs. We want to make it painless to list your car or to buy one. So it only costs $5 to list your car. There are some upgrades possible to extend your marketing impact, but if you just want people to know you have a car for sale, $5 is all you need to pay.
- We need you to help us. Finding all the cars for sale takes a lot of work. We look through many major websites and select the more interesting and exotic cars for sale. But we need assistance to find that Spec 944 on Craigslist in Seattle or a Chump-ready E30 in St. Louis or a Spec Miata being re-sold by a builder in Atlanta. So, we’d love to get your tips on those special race cars you find. Contact us with an idea or tip.
- National reach. Winding Road: For Racers weekly magazine goes to hundreds of thousands of readers. Our social media platforms extend to 100,000 users. And our YouTube channels reach several million viewers.
The Purpose
Winding Road Showroom is intended to complement, not replace, existing dealers and online sales systems. WR Showroom expands your audience and helps you get a higher price for your car. When you think about it, $5 is a pretty modest price to pay for the possibility of finding another buyer or two who effectively bids up the price of your $15,000 or $50,000 car by a few hundred or even thousands of dollars. And sometimes, that “extra” buyer is the difference between having a buyer and not having a buyer at all.
The Listings
You’ll see that we have listings for the major types of cars:
As we proceed, we’ll enhance the listings with more photos and more structured data. But right now, the idea is to offer a simple, easy to post summary listing that points to your main listing or to contact information.
We’re excited about this new offering and we hope you’ll find it useful. To list your car, start here:
http://showroom.windingroad.com/orders/products/