You know what these icons next to a listing on bidorbuy mean: and :

Hot items are the ones that have at least two bids on auctions, two purchases on buy now or two responses on classifieds.

For an item to be rated red hot, the magic number is four: four bids, four purchases or four responses.

Economists say that the vehicle sales in South Africa are on an upward trend, which is one of the first signs that economy is recovering. Judging by the interest of buyers for cars on bidorbuy, the economists are right. There are few other items as hot as the cars are on the site nowadays. For example:

This Audi A6 started its journey with the opening bid of R55,000. Two bidders later, the current bid stands at R56,500.00, but the car is still waiting for its reserve price to be met before it changes owners. In this round, the bidders have got until tomorrow to act, for the auction closes on 10 March. (A hint: on bidorbuy, reserve price can be no more than 20 percent higher than the publicly stated price; now it is up to you to do your maths).

The three hot BMWs pictured below are as different as they get. The 2001 BMW moved to R36,000 from the starting R30,000 with the help of four bidders. Greater things may lie in store for it, for the auction closes on 24 March. Its cousin, the 1996 BMW takes the final bow on the bidorbuy stage on 25 March and so far managed to accumulate seven bidders and the current highest bid of R21,550. Another BMW, a Z4 Roadster, climbed from the opening R145,000 to R147,000 with offers placed by two bidders. It has still got a couple of days to tantalise the visitors with its beauty.

Judging from the single photo provided , the 1973 Buick is much loved and cuddled by its present owners. It appeared on bidorbuy on 20 February and will go to its new owner after the close of the auction on 11 March. So far, nine bidders have pushed its price to R28,500.00. The seller says that “she” needs TLC and a good home. This spec may make you sit up and pay attention: “the boot is big enough for double bed ( 4 persons )”.

The Triumph GT 6 is receiving a lot of attention: 21 bidders are fighting for it. Consequently, the current highest bid of R35,500.00 might be a bit of a disappointment, especially since the indicative market price is stated at R80,000. And the auction closes tomorrow… The seller says that the car is in Gr8 Condition, which in normal speak translates as “great condition”.

The only thing that the six cars pictured to the left have in common is that they all started from R1. The 1995 Mercedes has still got a long way to go before the auction closes on 25 March, but the listing already attracted 12 bidders. The highest bid now stands at R23,000.The 1999 Volvo has had ten bidders, with the top bid of R16,950 at the time of writing this blog.  Also from 1999 is the Ford Fiesta, with current bid of R13,750 and five bidders. The 2002 Picasso 1600 is currently at R32,051, after three bidders placed their bids.

The Tata Indica auction attracted ten bidders and managed to climb to R22,650, which is just under half of its indicative market price. (Do note this interchange in the Q&A Section: Q: Hi, why is the owner selling? A: Needs Money! Perhaps we are still not our of the woods economic situation wise, at least, not all of us!) The venerable 1985 Opel GL reached R3,020 after six bidders upped it opening R1 bid. The seller says the car is in running condition, so there could be more bids before the auction ends on 17 March.

Well, it takes a brave seller to list a car on a R1 auction!