Selling a classic car is a different transaction from selling a used car. The buyer may be hundreds or thousands of miles away, the price is set by auction results rather than a book value, the paperwork carries decades of history, and the fees at the point of sale run from nothing to more than ten percent of the hammer price depending on where you sell. This guide covers how to sell a classic car in 2026 from the first decision, which channel, to the last one, how the car gets to its new owner. It uses the current published fees for Bring a Trailer, Cars & Bids, Hemmings, Mecum and Barrett-Jackson, Hagerty’s definitions of what counts as a classic, and one number from our own dispatch desk: in SAKAEM Logistics’ 2026 data, 82 percent of classic-car orders ship enclosed. SAKAEM is an auto transport broker registered with the FMCSA under MC 16237, and the delivery section comes from moving these cars, not from reading about them.
Key Takeaways
- The best place to sell a classic car depends on the car. Bring a Trailer and Cars & Bids suit driver-quality and modern classics, Mecum and Barrett-Jackson suit high-value cars that benefit from a live crowd, and consignment dealers suit sellers who want no work and accept a lower net.
- Seller fees range from $0 on Cars & Bids to 8 percent plus a $600 to $1,500 entry at Barrett-Jackson. Buyer premiums of 5 to 10 percent shape what bidders will pay you.
- Documentation and photographs give buyers what they need to bid with confidence. A restoration done specifically for resale does not necessarily return its full cost, especially on common models.
- Plan the delivery before you list. Enclosed transport runs 50 to 60 percent above open on the same lane, and four in five classic buyers ask for it.
What Is Considered a Classic Car?
A classic car is generally a vehicle between 20 and 40 years old, kept largely original, with enough historical, design or collector interest that people want it for more than transportation. That is Hagerty’s working definition, and it is the one most buyers use. The complication is that insurers, car clubs and state motor vehicle departments each draw their own lines, so the same car can be a classic to one and merely old to another.
| Term | Common definition | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Classic | Roughly 20 to 40 years old, largely unmodified, with collector interest | Hagerty, most marketplaces |
| Classic, for insurance | Hagerty’s classic policies cover 1979 and older; 1980 and newer cars go through its collector program | Hagerty |
| Antique | Built before 1919, the Brass Era; in broad usage, any car 25 years or older | Hagerty; the Antique Automobile Club of America admits 25-plus-year cars to touring events |
| Vintage | Built 1919 to 1930, mostly unmodified | Hagerty; Progressive extends it to 1939 |
| Full Classic | Fine or distinctive cars built 1915 to 1948 | Classic Car Club of America |
| Historic or antique plates | Set by each state. Michigan requires 26 years, Colorado 32, most states 20 to 25 | State DMVs |
Sources: Hagerty, “What Makes a Vehicle a Classic Car?”, updated August 2026; Progressive, October 2025. The practical point for a seller is that the age label matters less than the market. A 1996 Impala SS is a classic to the people bidding on it and a used Chevrolet to everyone else, and the right sales channel is the one where the first group shops.
Where to Sell a Classic Car
The best places to sell a classic car in 2026 are the two online auction platforms, Bring a Trailer and Cars & Bids, the Hemmings marketplace, the live auction houses Mecum and Barrett-Jackson, consignment dealers, and a private sale you run yourself. They differ in fees, in how long the sale takes, and in who pays. The fee column below is the one most sellers underestimate.
| Where to sell | Seller pays | Buyer pays | Time to sale | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bring a Trailer | $99 listing, higher tiers with pro photos | 5% of hammer, $250 minimum, $7,500 cap | About 2 to 4 weeks from submission to close, 7-day auction | Classics and collector cars of all eras, the largest bidder pool |
| Cars & Bids | $0 | 5% of hammer, $250 minimum, $7,500 cap | About 1 to 3 weeks, 7-day auction | 1980s and newer enthusiast cars |
| Hemmings | Auction or Make Offer listing $99.95 plus 5% success fee; classified with print about $150 to $180, no success fee | Varies by format | Auction 1 to 2 weeks; classifieds run until sold | Traditional classics, sellers who want a print audience |
| Mecum | Entry fee from $350 plus commission, typically about 10% | Buyer premium, typically about 10% | Tied to the auction calendar, weeks to months | High-value and rare cars, muscle cars, large collections |
| Barrett-Jackson, no reserve | Entry $600 to $1,500 by lot, plus 8% seller commission | 10% buyer premium | Tied to the auction calendar | Cars that benefit from a televised live crowd |
| Consignment dealer | $0 out of pocket; the dealer keeps the spread between your agreed net and the sale price | Dealer fees | Weeks to a few months | Hands-off sellers, estates, cars that need work before sale |
| Private sale | $0 to a few dollars per listing | Nothing | Longest and least predictable | Sellers with time, documentation and a fair asking price |
Sources: Cars & Bids fee terms, Bring a Trailer terms as summarized by Car and Driver, Hemmings listing options as summarized by 2026 fee guides, Mecum consignment page, Barrett-Jackson consignment guidance, Streetside Classics consignment terms. Fees change; confirm the current schedule on the platform before listing.
In-Person Auctions
Mecum and Barrett-Jackson are the venues for cars that gain from a crowd: muscle cars with documentation, restomods, rare trims, cars with a story. The seller pays an entry fee to secure a lot number and a commission on the hammer, and the buyer pays a premium on top, which bidders factor into what they bid. Barrett-Jackson runs its main dockets at no reserve, so the car sells to the high bidder whatever the number. Mecum offers both reserve and no-reserve lots. Both handle title transfer and paperwork, and both take the car weeks in advance, which means transport to the venue is a cost you carry before the sale.
Classic Car Dealerships and Consignment
A consignment dealer such as Streetside Classics photographs the car, writes the listing, fields the calls, handles buyer financing and cuts you a check when it sells. You agree a net figure, the dealer prices the car above it, and the difference is the dealer’s fee. Streetside sold about 2,600 cars in 2024 per its own figures. The cost is invisible on paper and real in practice: the spread is usually larger than an auction commission, the car sits in the dealer’s building for weeks or months, and some dealers charge for storage or detailing if it does not move.
Online Auctions
Bring a Trailer and Cars & Bids are the two major online auction options for driver-quality classics, and since February 2025 they charge buyers the same 5 percent with the same $7,500 cap. The difference is on the seller side and in the audience. Bring a Trailer charges $99 to list and reaches a large collector-focused audience across every era. Cars & Bids lists for free and concentrates on 1980s and newer cars; our Cars & Bids review covers its rules and what happens after the auction closes. Hemmings sits between the two, with a $99.95 auction or make-offer listing plus a 5 percent success fee and a classified option that includes the print magazine. On all three, a no-reserve listing draws more bids and a reserve listing protects you from a bad week; the platforms will push you toward no reserve because it sells.
Private Sale
Selling directly, through Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, a club forum or word of mouth, keeps the entire price and costs almost nothing to list. It also puts every task on you: photography, the write-up, the questions, the test drives, the scam attempts, the payment, the title. It suits a seller with a well-documented car, patience, and an asking price anchored to recent auction results.
How to Sell a Classic Car, Step by Step
A well-prepared classic-car sale takes anywhere from a few weeks to several months depending on the channel. Whatever the channel, most of the seller’s time goes into preparation, and the preparation is where the price gets made.
1. Choose a sale channel
Match the car to the audience above: a documented muscle car to a live auction or Bring a Trailer, a clean 1990s Japanese sports car to Cars & Bids, an inherited car of unknown condition to a consignment dealer. Decide this first, because the channel dictates the photos, the documentation and the timeline.
2. Prepare the car
Detail it properly, inside, outside, engine bay and underside, because classic-car buyers look under the car in photographs. Fix the things that make a car look neglected: a dead battery, a cracked lens, a torn seat seam. Think twice before repainting, reupholstering or restoring anything for the sale. Work done specifically for resale does not necessarily return its cost, and originality, even with patina, carries real value in many collector segments.
3. Make necessary repairs
Necessary means anything that stops the car from starting, driving, stopping or being inspected. Disclose everything else. On Bring a Trailer and Cars & Bids, the comment section will find what you did not mention, and an undisclosed flaw costs more in bids than a disclosed one.
4. Gather documents
Documentation materially affects buyer confidence and, through it, the price, especially when it verifies originality, ownership history, maintenance or restoration work. Assemble:
- The title, in your name, with any lien released in writing
- Build sheet, window sticker, Protect-O-Plate, Marti Report or factory documentation for the make
- Service records and receipts, ideally in date order
- Ownership history and any correspondence with previous owners
- Restoration photographs, if the car was restored
- Registration and, for older cars, any state historic-vehicle paperwork
- Judging sheets, show awards or club certifications
A car with a binder gives bidders fewer reasons to hold back. If the paperwork is thin, say so.
5. Take high-quality photos and video
Shoot outdoors in early morning or late afternoon light, on a clean surface with an empty background. Cover every angle, every wheel, the interior from each door, the engine bay, the trunk, the underside, the VIN plate and every flaw. Strong auction listings on Bring a Trailer and Cars & Bids run from dozens of photographs to well over a hundred, plus a cold-start video and a short driving clip. A professional shoot costs a few hundred dollars against a price gap that can run to thousands.
6. Determine the value
Classic cars are not priced from a book. Start with Hagerty Valuation Tools, which publish condition-graded values for more than 40,000 collector vehicles, then check what comparable cars actually sold for on Bring a Trailer, Cars & Bids, Mecum and Barrett-Jackson in the last twelve months. Recent sold prices deserve far more weight than asking prices, which mostly tell you what sellers hope for. Our guide to how to find the value of a car covers the general method; for a classic, the added step is condition grading, which is where an appraisal earns its fee.
7. Create the advertisement
Write the listing the way an auction house would: year, make, model, trim and drivetrain first, then history, condition by area, known flaws, and what is included. State the mileage, whether it is documented, and whether the car has been repainted. Avoid the word “rare” unless you can say how many were built. On a private sale, name a price anchored to the comparables and say whether it is firm.
Things to Know When Selling a Classic Car
Four decisions come up on every classic sale: when to sell, whether to pay for an appraisal, whether to restore first, and how to take payment safely. The answers are less obvious than they look.
Research the current market
The collector market moves in cycles, and segments move independently: air-cooled Porsches, 1990s Japanese performance cars and pre-1973 American muscle each follow their own curve. The specific model matters more than the market. Watch three months of sold results for your exact car, on Hagerty’s valuation tools and the auction results pages, before setting a reserve or a price.
Consider a professional appraisal
An independent appraisal costs a few hundred dollars and does three things: it grades condition on the scale the market uses, it documents the car’s state on a date, and it gives a buyer, an insurer or an estate a number that is not yours. It earns its fee when comparable sales are scarce, when condition is hard to grade, when the car is inherited or its originality is disputed, and when the transaction involves an estate, an insurer or a remote buyer. A common model with plenty of recent auction comparables usually does not need one.
Should you restore before selling?
Usually not. A restoration completed specifically for resale does not necessarily return its full cost, particularly on more common models, and originality carries significant value in many segments. Compare the expected post-restoration value against the actual cost before starting major work, and restore only when the car cannot be sold as it sits, when the work is already mostly done, or when an appraiser confirms the model justifies it.
Payment and title safety
Take payment by wire transfer, cashier’s check verified with the issuing bank, or an escrow service. Cars & Bids and Bring a Trailer both offer transaction services that hold funds and move the title. Never release the car or sign the title until funds have cleared. Overpayment scams, where a buyer sends more than the price and asks for the difference back, remain common on private classic-car sales, and the seller who refunds first loses.
Shipping a Classic Car to the Buyer
A classic car often sells to a buyer far from where it sits, so delivery is part of the sale. Who arranges it is negotiable, the buyer usually pays, and the seller controls the release. Below are median customer prices on six lanes from SAKAEM’s delivered orders between September 2025 and September 2026 on open transport, with the enclosed figure estimated at our standard 50 to 60 percent premium over open on the same lane.
| Lane | Open transport, median | Enclosed, estimated |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona to California | $800 | $1,200 to $1,280 |
| Texas to California | $1,100 | $1,650 to $1,760 |
| New York to Florida | $1,100 | $1,650 to $1,760 |
| Florida to New York | $1,375 | $2,060 to $2,200 |
| California to Texas | $1,400 | $2,100 to $2,240 |
| California to Florida | $1,550 | $2,325 to $2,480 |
Source: SAKAEM Logistics dispatch data, delivered orders September 2025 to September 2026, open transport medians including our fee; enclosed figures are estimates at SAKAEM’s published 50 to 60 percent enclosed premium. Cross-country enclosed moves for high-value cars run $2,200 to $3,100. Run your own lane through the car shipping cost calculator before you negotiate who pays.
From the dispatch side, classic cars are an enclosed business. In SAKAEM’s 2026 data, 82 percent of classic-car orders shipped enclosed, and that share includes inoperable vehicles as well as running cars. The reason our dispatchers hear most often is that the owner will not risk the paint on an open deck for the sake of the difference. A non-running classic on an open carrier needs a truck with a winch, which narrows the carrier pool and adds to the price. On a two-car enclosed trailer the same car can often be pushed in, which is why our dispatchers steer inoperable classics toward enclosed, though dispatch still confirms that the car rolls, steers and brakes and that the assigned trailer can load it safely before the truck is booked. Our classic car shipping page covers how those moves are set up, and the enclosed car shipping page covers what the trailer types mean in practice.
Two rules on the seller’s side. First, the car leaves only after payment has cleared, and the carrier’s bill of lading, with the condition noted and photographed at pickup, is your record of what left your driveway. Second, give the transport company a contact who can be present at loading, since the driver needs someone to hand over keys, sign the inspection and answer questions about how the car starts or steers. Buyers who found the car by searching for where to buy classic cars have usually already priced the transport; a seller who has too can settle the delivery in one conversation.
The Bottom Line
Selling a classic car comes down to four decisions: which channel, what documentation, what price and how it gets there. The channel sets the fees, from Cars & Bids’ free listing to Barrett-Jackson’s entry fee plus 8 percent. Documentation and photographs help buyers understand what they are bidding on, and recent comparable sales anchor the price. And the delivery, on a lane that costs $800 to $1,550 open and half again as much enclosed, is the last item on the buyer’s mind and the first on ours. The wider process for any vehicle is in our guide to how to sell a car. Since 2017 SAKAEM Logistics has brokered enclosed and open transport for classic-car sales nationwide, vetting every carrier’s FMCSA authority and insurance before dispatch, and our customers have left 580+ Google reviews averaging 4.6 stars. When the car is sold and the buyer is three states away, get a car shipping quote and put the delivery on the same page as the price.
How to Sell a Classic Car FAQ
What is considered a classic car?
Most sources call a car a classic at 20 to 25 years old, kept largely original and with collector interest, up to about 40 years. Hagerty’s insurance definition is 1979 and older, antique means pre-1919, vintage means 1919 to 1930, and each state sets its own age for historic plates, from 20 to more than 30 years.
Where is the best place to sell a classic car?
For most driver-quality classics, Bring a Trailer or Cars & Bids, since they reach large collector audiences online and charge the seller little or nothing. High-value and rare cars often do better at Mecum or Barrett-Jackson. Consignment dealers suit sellers who want no involvement and accept a lower net.
How much does it cost to sell a classic car at auction?
Online, $0 on Cars & Bids or $99 on Bring a Trailer, with the buyer paying a 5 percent premium capped at $7,500. At live auctions, expect an entry fee from about $350 at Mecum or $600 to $1,500 at Barrett-Jackson plus a seller commission of roughly 8 to 10 percent, with the buyer paying a 10 percent premium on top.
How long does it take to sell a classic car?
Online auctions run seven days, plus one to three weeks of preparation and listing review, so two to four weeks overall. Live auctions depend on the calendar and can take months. Consignment typically runs weeks to a few months, and private sales are the least predictable.
Should I restore my classic car before selling it?
Usually no. A restoration done for resale does not necessarily return its full cost, particularly on common models, and originality carries value in many segments. Restore only if the car cannot be sold as it sits, the work is nearly finished, or an appraiser confirms the model justifies it.
Does originality affect the value of a classic car?
Yes, in many collector segments. Numbers-matching drivetrains, original paint and factory-correct details often command premiums, and documentation proving them adds to that. Modifications can reduce or increase value depending on the model, the quality of the work and the audience: a period-correct survivor and a well-built restomod each have buyers, and the same change that hurts one hurts the other’s price.
Should I disclose flaws when selling a classic car?
Always. Auction platforms require it, their comment sections will find what you omit, and an undisclosed flaw costs more in lost bids and post-sale disputes than a disclosed one ever does. Photograph every flaw and describe it plainly.
How do I sell a classic car quickly?
List it no-reserve on Bring a Trailer or Cars & Bids with complete documentation and 100-plus photographs, or consign it to a dealer with high sales volume. Both can close a sale in two to four weeks. Pricing at recent sold comparables, not asking prices, is what actually makes a classic sell fast.
How do I safely handle payment when selling a classic car?
Use a wire transfer, a cashier’s check verified with the issuing bank, or the escrow and title services offered by Cars & Bids and Bring a Trailer. Release the car and the signed title only after funds have cleared, and treat any overpayment request as a scam.
How do I ship a classic car after selling it?
Book a licensed auto transport broker or carrier once payment clears, choose enclosed for anything valuable or low-clearance, and have someone present at pickup to sign the bill of lading. On SAKAEM’s lanes, open transport runs about $800 to $1,550 and enclosed 50 to 60 percent more; 82 percent of our classic-car customers choose enclosed.
