Auction pricing · Side by side
How we price against Bring a Trailer and Hemmings.
An auction-only pricing comparison. Restoration Essentials, Bring a Trailer, and Hemmings Auctions sit side by side on seller fees, buyer fees, and the listing / review process. Restoration guides and subscriptions are out of scope; Hemmings print/digital subscriptions and Hemmings general classifieds are also out of scope — only the auction business is compared here.
The numbers come from Restoration Essentials’ published 2026 auction schedule, from Bring a Trailer’s published seller and buyer fee schedule, and from Hemmings’ published auction seller and buyer fee schedule. Fees and approval policies change — confirm on each marketplace before listing or bidding.
Comparison summary
Seller fees, buyer fees, listing process.
A flat view across the three marketplaces. Each card names the seller pricing, the buyer fee, and how a listing moves from submission to publication.
Restoration Essentials
Seller fees
2% seller commission + tiered listing fee
Buyer fees
5% buyer fee, capped at $5000.00
Listing / review process
Standard self-serve in ~1 week · Regular/Premium up to 90 days till sold
Bring a Trailer
Seller fees
Seller fees $99–$2,500+ (Classic, Plus, and variable White Glove tiers)
Buyer fees
5% buyer fee, $250 min / $7,500 max (standard vehicle listings)
Listing / review process
Review/approval commonly 1–3 business days
Hemmings Auctions
Seller fees
$99.95 seller listing fee
Buyer fees
5% buyer fee, $500 min / $10,000 max
Listing / review process
Approval/publication can take 2+ weeks
Detail cards
Per-marketplace fee schedule.
RestorationEssentials numbers render through dollars(FEE_CONSTANTS.LISTING_FEE_*)so this page can never drift from the pricing page schedule. Bring a Trailer and Hemmings numbers come from each platform’s published fee schedule.
Restoration Essentials
Three listing tiers, a 5% buyer fee capped at $5,000, a 2% shop commission (1.5% on the Premium tier).
Buyer fee
5% of hammer
Capped at $5000.00. Paid by the winning bidder at close.
Seller / shop commission
2% of hammer
Deducted from the seller payout at close.
Listing — Standard
1 week. Self-serve listing. 2% seller commission.
$79.95 is our entry tier — Regular and Premium both ladder up from here. Recommended for sellers running a 1-week self-serve auction.
Listing — Regular
Up to 90 days, until it sells or closes. 2% seller commission.
Listing — Premium
Up to 90 days. Includes social + newsletter exposure and a 0.5% seller discount — seller commission drops from 2% to 1.5%.
Bring a Trailer
Classic, Plus, and variable White Glove seller tiers; a 5% buyer fee with a $250 floor and a $7,500 ceiling.
Seller fees
$99–$2,500+
Range covers the published Classic and Plus tiers. White Glove pricing is variable — confirm directly with Bring a Trailer.
Buyer fee
5%
$250 minimum and $7,500 maximum for standard vehicle listings.
Category-specific buyer fees
Bring a Trailer publishes category-specific buyer-fee exceptions — consult their published schedule before listing or bidding a non-standard category. No numbered exceptions are stated here.
Hemmings Auctions
Flat $99.95 seller listing fee; 5% buyer fee with a $500 floor and a $10,000 ceiling.
Seller listing fee
$99.95
Flat fee, Hemmings Auctions only.
Buyer fee
5%
$500 minimum and $10,000 maximum.
Scope
Hemmings print/digital subscriptions and Hemmings general classifieds are outside this comparison — only Hemmings Auctions is compared.
Trade-offs
Advantages & disadvantages, sourced where possible.
Each marketplace gets a two-column block: Sourced facts (per the brief) on the left and Reasonable trade-offs (not a sourced claim) on the right. Items in the left column are traceable to the published brief; items in the right column are framed as trade-offs, not as sourced claims.
Restoration Essentials
Sourced facts (per the brief)
- 5% buyer fee capped at $5,000 — paid by the winning bidder at close.
- 2% seller commission (1.5% on the Premium tier) — deducted from seller payout at close.
- Standard $79.95 listing — 1 week, self-serve.
- Regular $149.95 listing — up to 90 days, till sold or close.
- Premium $299.95 listing — up to 90 days, social + newsletter exposure, 0.5% seller discount (1.5% commission vs 2%).
Reasonable trade-offs (not a sourced claim)
- The 1-week Standard listing is shorter than the 90-day ceiling available on Regular and Premium tiers — sellers who need more runway pick a higher tier.
- Three listing tiers add a choice the seller makes up front — a flatter marketplace has fewer decisions but also fewer pricing levers.
Bring a Trailer
Sourced facts (per the brief)
- Published seller pricing summarised as $99–$2,500+ across Classic and Plus tiers.
- White Glove seller pricing is variable — confirm directly with Bring a Trailer.
- 5% buyer fee with $250 minimum and $7,500 maximum on standard vehicle listings.
- Category-specific buyer-fee exceptions — see Bring a Trailer's published schedule.
Reasonable trade-offs (not a sourced claim)
- A seller schedule that ladders from Classic to Plus to a variable White Glove is well-suited to high-value listings where the lot price justifies the higher fee.
- A 5% Restoration Essentials buyer fee is aligned with the published BaT and Hemmings Auctions percentage; the Restoration Essentials $5,000 cap still limits the fee on a big-hammer lot.
- Listing review commonly 1–3 business days is faster than Hemmings' 2+ week approval time — sellers who need speed may prefer BaT.
Hemmings Auctions
Sourced facts (per the brief)
- $99.95 flat seller listing fee — Hemmings Auctions only.
- 5% buyer fee with $500 minimum and $10,000 maximum.
- Approval / publication can take 2+ weeks.
Reasonable trade-offs (not a sourced claim)
- A flat $99.95 seller listing fee is simple to budget against — there is no tier ladder for the seller.
- Approval / publication that can take 2+ weeks is slow relative to Bring a Trailer's 1–3 business day review — sellers in a hurry may not pick Hemmings.
- A 5% buyer fee with a $500 minimum is a higher entry floor than Bring a Trailer's $250 minimum — small-hammer lots carry a proportionally larger buyer-side cost.
Listing process
How a listing moves from submission to a live auction.
Three marketplaces, three different review paths. The numbers below come from each platform’s published process — confirm directly before listing.
Restoration Essentials
- Standard ($79.95) — self-serve. 1 week to run, then close.
- Regular ($149.95) — up to 90 days, until sold or close.
- Premium ($299.95) — up to 90 days, plus social + newsletter exposure.
Bring a Trailer
- Seller submits the lot for review and approval.
- Review/approval commonly takes 1–3 business days.
- Once approved, the listing goes live on a defined auction window.
Hemmings Auctions
- Seller submits the lot to Hemmings Auctions for approval / publication.
- Approval / publication can take 2+ weeks.
- Once published, the listing runs on a Hemmings-controlled auction window.
Sources
Where these numbers come from.
- Restoration Essentials — the 2026 auction schedule, including the 5% buyer fee capped at $5,000, the 2% seller commission (1.5% on Premium), and the three listing tiers (Standard / Regular / Premium).
- Bring a Trailer — published seller fee schedule (Classic, Plus, and variable White Glove) and published buyer fee schedule (5% with $250 minimum and $7,500 maximum on standard vehicle listings, plus category-specific exceptions).
- Hemmings Auctions — published auction seller fee ($99.95) and buyer fee (5% with $500 minimum and $10,000 maximum) schedule. Hemmings print/digital subscriptions and Hemmings general classifieds are out of scope for this comparison.
Last verified: 2026-08-23
Fees and approval policies can change. Confirm on each marketplace before listing or bidding.
Back to the marketplace
Open the live auction deck — or list a car.
The full fee schedule and the standard 5% buyer fee / 2% seller commission are spelled out on the pricing page. Open a listing in three seller tiers from the listing entry point.