I was doom-scrooling through BAT and saw a Land Rover D3/LR3 that went for 50k a few months ago. Wasn’t even a hard to find configuration, by any means, and it had high five digit miles. This doesn’t seem to be an anomaly either. There was an STi that went for well into six figures as well, although that was much rarer and much cleaner.
Who the duck is paying those kind of prices???
BaT targets the upper middle class white collar professional, these people have the money, but short on time and don’t have the chance to go around and tire kick. They will pay above market prices if the buying process is transparent and quick, it gives them peace of mind.
For regular people looking for a better deal, your best bet is local classifieds like facebook marketplace or autotrader classics and whatnot. The local private sale is for people with less money, but more time to inspect a car in person. 2 different target demographics.