Hearst Autos confirmed the purchase of Bring a Trailer
BaT will continue to operate out of its San Francisco headquarters with the same team
Bring a Trailer launched in 2007 and started auctions in 2014
One of the largest online marketplaces anywhere has a new home as Hearst Autos confirmed the acquisition of car auction site Bring a Trailer yesterday.
BaT joins some of the world’s largest and most influential automotive media including Car&Driver, Road&Track, and Autoweek.
Bring a Trailer was founded in 2007 by Randy Nonnenberg and Gentry Underwood as a website that blogged about interesting cars for sale on eBay. The site grew and began selling vehicles directly through auctions in 2014 with three cars.
According to the New York Times who profiled BaT, the site had its best year ever in sales in 2019 with $230 million in total sales. The site now has over 300 listings per week, a very engaged community of over 415,000 users, and two-dozen employees working out of its San Francisco headquarters.
In a statement published Thursday, BaT said users can expect the same experience as before, with improved service and features.
“By tapping in to their engineering and operational capabilities, we will add new features and deliver our services faster. In short, we will maintain all the best parts of BaT while fortifying our product and gaining access to vast new audiences”.
BaT will remain in the Bay area under the direction of current management.
