6 Different Types of Car Auctions

6 Different Kinds of Car Auctions or Where to find Repossessed Cars for Sale

Car auctions are the best place to get high quality used cars at a fraction of the price you would pay at a dealership or from a private owner. There is a wide selection of all types of vehicles available and the inventory changes frequently. While you may have to go to a few auctions, with so many choices you will be able to find the car you want at a great price.

There are six different kinds of car auctions where you can find the deal on repo cars you are looking for.

1. Private. These auctions are not open to everyone, but only to those specifically invited. Typically these are for dealers only. If you are just looking for a car for yourself, you will need to try elsewhere or hire a dealer to bid for the car for you. Some will do this for a set fee or commission. Most states require you to have a dealer’s license if you sell a particular number of vehicles in a year, so if you are attending car auctions to buy and sell them for a second income or a new career opportunity, get your dealer’s license as soon as you can to take advantage of the additional inventory at these places.

2. Public. A public auction is open to everyone. Typically you will need to be 18 or older and provide a valid photo ID (driver’s license, passport, etc.) to register to bid.

3. Online. Online car auctions are increasing in popularity. They are very convenient, especially with features like automatic bid, where you can set the computer to keep bidding for you until the price goes higher than your set maximum. Ebay Motors is a great place to start looking. You want to stick to reputable sites with a history of weeding out scammers and protecting buyers. If you don’t keep to only locally located cars, consider how you will handle transporting the car to where you are and the fact that you won’t be able to inspect it beforehand.

4. Live. Most car auctions are done live where you are with the other bidders, taking turns bidding until no one else wants to outbid the highest bidder. The auctioneer usually sets how much the bids go up each time by asking if anyone is willing to bid that higher price. When no one responds, he’ll call for a final bid, giving everyone a last chance to bid, and then award it to the highest bidder if no one responds.

5. Silent. Silent car auctions usually require all bids to be placed in a sealed envelope and dropped in a box or somewhere else by a set time. Then all the bids are opened and the highest one wins the car. It can be a bit challenging to figure out how much to bid so that you are the highest owner but not so far above all the other bids that you paid too much.

6. Government-run. Various government agencies periodically run auctions to get rid of surplus and seized goods. These are typically open to the public and are conducted as live auctions, but sometimes are run online or by envelope bidding. The biggest difference in these auctions from others is the range of condition of the vehicles available. Some will be well-maintained cars from the agency’s fleet while others are police-seized vehicles in poor condition. Be sure to carefully inspect those cars before bidding.