FAQ

How much are the registration costs?

The registration is for free.

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How much does it cost to sell a car?

The uploading of a car is for free. It costs a flat fee of 99 EUR (or for free if no reserve is set) to post a car into the Auction, if the terms are agreed. The price includes the Aftersale and all marketing activities on our and partner websites (listing appears also at Classic Driver and Classic Trader) and social media. There are no additional costs or fees.

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How much does it cost to buy a car?

If you are the highest bidder over the Reserve or you accepted the Buy Now, you have to pay the Buyer’s premium of 5 % of the selling price, minimum of 500 EUR, maximum of 5.000 EUR (excl. VAT). There are no additional costs or fees.

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Is there any bidding fee?

The bidding is for free, you have only to set your payment details, approve your card for a 1 EUR fee and pre-authorize the card for every Auction you want to bid.

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Why do I need to register and pre-authorize my card?

We need to be sure you are a serious bidder and potential buyer of the car. The pre-authorization is a standard process at every auction and the amount of 500 EUR is the lowest pre-authorization in the market. And it is not a fee, only a blocked amount on your credit card, that will be unblocked if you do not win the Auction. We highly recommend to pre-authorize for the bidding at least 30 minutes before the end of the Auction, because it can take up to a few minutes to prove by Mangopay that the pre-authorization succeeded. You may also need some time to pass the 3D Secure payment procedure (SMS code and/or Password).

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How much is the pre-authorization of the car in order to bid?

The pre-authorization is an amount of 500 EUR blocked on your credit card for every Auction you want to place a bid or accept a Buy Now. If you do not buy the car, the blocking will be set free automatically on your card and you can use your 500 EUR for another Auction or for anything else you want :) And in case you are the lucky winner of the auction, the 500 EUR is used as an advance payment of the buyer's premium.

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Is it safe to register the card and pre-authorize the card?

Yes, you are not registering the card with us, but at a specialized licensed payment provider Mangopay, who saves your credit card details and pre-authorizes the card (=blocking of 500 EUR) when you want to bid on a car. (User Protection by Mangopay, Fraud Prevention by Mangopay)

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Can I release the pre-authorization, If you do not want to bid anymore?

Yes, but only if you are not the highest bidder in the auction. Then you can Request release of my preauthorization in the Place a Bid section. Your bank will release the blocked 500 EUR in about a minute.

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What types of cars are accepted?

Every classic, collectible or special car with a realistic price expectation. You can upload information and photos of your car for free, submit it for a review and we will let you know if the car can be accepted.

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Can you help me with the description of the listing?

Of course, we will prepare for you the description, parameters, technical notes and help with the gallery.

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How do I know the cars really exist and are for sale?

We approve every seller by checking the documents of the ownership or a contract that confirms the seller is authorized by the owner to sell the car. We also ask for a picture of the car with an A4 sign with Auctomobile and Date on it to prove he is in actual possession of the car. Most of the cars are also photographed by our professional photographers.

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Can I set a reserve (a minimum selling price requirement)?

Yes, the reserve can be set for every car. The amount has to be agreed with Auctomobile before the auction is approved. If you choose not to set a reserve, then your car is free of a listing fee and you also get a payback of 1 % of the final selling price.

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How do I know If there is a Reserve on the car?

The Auction without a Reserve is always marked with No Reserve. There is also an indicator in the bids section if a Reserve is met or Reserve not met.

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What does it mean a no reserve auction?

This means that the highest bidder sets the final price of the car, that the seller has to accept and the car will always be sold for the highest bid. The advantage for the seller is that it attracts more bidders, because they know the highest bidder gets the car. The seller also gets a free auction listing and a revenue share.

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What does it mean a no PREMIUM auction?

We can sometimes offer a car also without the buyer`s premium. This will mostly happen for charity purposes or when we really want to help the owner to sell his car. The buyer pays no commissions at all in such case, the car sells for the final hammer price.

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Do I have to transport the car to an auction venue?

No, you are free of any transportation costs. Many sales will be without any personal visits of the car, but it is recommend to be prepared to show the car to potencial buyers if they require a viewing of the car.

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Can I bid on my own car?

No, the seller is not allwed to bid on the car he is selling.

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Can anyone outbid my bid in the last seconds?

To make the Auction as fair as possible, anyone can bid in the last seconds of an Auction, but the time to end the Auction will always be set again to 1 minute until the end so anyone can bid again and outbid the previous bidder.

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What happens when the Auction ends?

If the car sells in an Auction, the 5 % buyer’s premium will be charged to the buyer. After the buyer pays the premium he will be get the direct contact to the seller to complete the transaction

If the car does not sale, there will be an Aftersale at Buy Now for the set Reserve.

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Can the sale be negotiated with the highest bidder if the car does not sell?

Yes, if the car is not sold in an Auction or Aftersale, we will contact the Seller, if he would accept also a lower selling price and offer this possibility to the highest bidders.

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Can I contact the Seller or view the car?

You can use the comment section to discuss anything with the seller. The seller can reply you in the comments section We help you also arrange a view of the car with the seller.

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What is the Aftersale?

If the car does not sell, there will be a Buy Now possibility to buy the car for the set Reserve.

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What is the Absentee Bid?

If the bidder can not or does not want to follow the Auction until the end, he can set his maximum bid anytime after the Auction is live until 15 minutes before it ends. The system will automaticaly outbid for him any other bidder until his maximum is reached. The other advantage is that a winning Abstentee Bid has a lowered buyer's premium to 4 % compared to a normally placed Bid with a premium of 5 %. And the last advantage is in a case you are in a place with unstable internet connection or other circumstances that could cause you can't place your bid at the end, you can use the Absentee bid as a safe bid to keep you out of any stress situation in the end.

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What is a PRESALE OFFER?

You can place only one private PRESALE OFFER that will be accepted or declined by the seller. When accepted, the offer will not be published in the archive (only PRESALE OFFER ACCEPTED will be shown). This option ends 12 hours before the start of the auction (=7 days before the end of the auction). The buyer’s premium on the PRESALE OFFER is also reduced to 4 % (min. 500 EUR, max. 5.000 EUR)

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Can I outbid my own bid?

Yes, you can outbid your own bid in order to try to meet the Reserve price or to try to "knock-out" other bidders.

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What is the minimum bid?

The first bid has to be at least 100 EUR. The minimum step is of 100 EUR above the current high bid up to 10.000 EUR, 250 EUR up to 50.000 EUR, 500 EUR up to 100.000 EUR and 1.000 EUR over the 100.000 EUR.

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Who pays for the transport of the car?

If not agreed differently between the seller and the buyer, the buyer pays for the transport costs. The same applies for any other costs, for example the storage costs, VAT and duties. Please check the VAT and duties, which depends on which country are the buyer and seller and what type and age the car or the registration of the car is.

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How can be paid for the car?

If not agreed directly between the seller and the buyer, the Trusted Checkout payment can be used.

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What is the Trusted Checkout?

Auctomobile’s partner Mangopay provides a posibility to pay to an Escrow account (buyer’s wallet) at a french bank Credit Mutuel. The seller receives a notice that the payment has been done. After the buyer receives the car, he confirms this and the payment is sent to the seller.

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What does it mean KYC?

KYC = Know Your Customer. A bank process to identify you for the porpose of opening for you the Escrow account. This is done by the German payment provider Mangopay, who online opens the Esrow account for you at the French bank Credit Mutuel. It is not necessary for bidding or paying a listing fee, only after you win or sell a car and want to use the Escrow account, you need to go through this process.

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What happens if the car has some defects not mentioned in the auction listing?

Auctomobile is the host of the Auction, the cars are sold as they are, but the seller is responsible for accuracy of the information. The buyer is responsible to satisfy himself with the information, details and condition before placing the bid. We also recommend to use the Trusted Checkout in order to be sure the buyer gets the car he paid for before the money is received by the seller. That also prevents any misbehavings.

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Auction phases

  1. Presale

    Only one private PRESALE OFFER from the registered user/buyer that will be accepted 
or declined by the seller. When the seller accepted this offer, will be published like 
a PRESALE OFFER ACCEPTED . This option ends 12 hours before the start of the live auction (= 7 days before the end of the auction).

    The buyer’s premium on the PRESALE OFFER is also reduced to 4 % (min. 500 EUR, max. 5.000 EUR).

  2. Live auction

    Several days of LIVE AUCTION, where a registered user / buyer can give their offers to buy the advertised car using the PLACE A BID button. If he does not have time to actively participate in the auction, he can use the ABSENTEE BID function (this is to set his maximum bid at any time after the start of the auction within 15 minutes before the end of the auction.

    The winning bid made with an absentee bid has a reduced buyer's bonus of 4% compared to a normally placed bid with a 5% bonus).

  3. Aftersale

    If the car is not sold in the live auction, you have two further options.

    Option BUY NOW: In agreement with the car owner the registered user / buyer can buy the car for the set Reserve = which is the minimum price at which the owner is willing to sell the car. The buyer’s premium is 5 % (min. 500 EUR, max. 5.000 EUR).

    Option MAKE AN OFFER:Last chance to buy a car not sold in LIVE AUCTIONS or in the BUY NOW phase. The registered user / buyer can offer the car owner the amount for which he is willing to buy the car and we will help negotiate with the car owner. The buyer’s premium is 5 % (min. 500 EUR, max. 5.000 EUR).

For any other specific questions please contant us at info@auctomobile.com