So, you’ve discovered some great cars at OPENLANE and you’re ready to
start buying vehicles. But what type of auctions are you looking at? And how do the different types of auctions affect your chances of winning?
We offer
four different types of auctions. Once you understand how they work, you’ll know which bidding strategy is most likely to be effective and increase your chance of winning.
Explore a wide range of auction experiences, from thrilling live auctions to convenient online bidding.
1. Dynamic auctions
Most auctions on our website are Dynamic auctions. They are simple, straightforward and run like regular auctions: you bid against other bidders until the auction finishes, you can always see what the current highest bid is, and bidding stops when the auction ends.
You can enter a maximum bid manually or
let the bid agent do the work for you. You decide which approach works best for you.
After the auction finishes,
continental European customers will be informed if their bid was accepted within two business days.
For
UK customers, if you are the highest bidder, your top bid will automatically be sent to the seller. They will accept or decline your bid or send you a counteroffer within 24 hours. The counteroffer gives you the opportunity to negotiate. You can accept or reject their offer or make your own counteroffer. OPENLANE will email you as soon as the seller reacts, however, you can also follow up on the status of your offer at any time by going to ‘My account’ and then ‘My Bids’. Make sure you react promptly—the time to negotiate runs out 24 hours after the seller sends their initial response.
2. Blind auctions (continental European customers only)
A
blind auction offers you a very specific advantage: no one other than you can see the bid you’ve placed. And you can’t see other customers' bids either. However, you will know whether or not you're the highest bidder, using the usual colours (except for certain auction types, such as x-Time auctions). As always, it will be up to two business days after the end of the auction before you’ll know whether the seller has accepted your offer or not.
3. Buy now auctions
In a ‘Buy Now’ auction, you can immediately
reserve a car by bidding the ‘Buy Now’ price. In other words, when you bid the ‘Buy Now’ price, the vehicle is guaranteed to be assigned to you at the end of the auction.
You can also try your luck at tempting the seller by bidding less than the Buy Now price. In that case, the same process applies as in our dynamic auctions.
Continental European customers will find out if the car has been assigned to them within two business days of the auction ending.
UK customers may be given the chance to negotiate. The seller will accept or decline your offer or send you a counteroffer within 24 hours. You can accept or reject their offer or make your own counteroffer. OPENLANE will email you as soon as the seller reacts, however, you can also follow up on the status of your offer at any time by going to ‘My account’ and then ‘My bids’. Make sure you react promptly—the time to negotiate runs out 24 hours after the seller sends their initial response.
4. Target auctions (continental European customers only)
In a
target auction, you are guaranteed to get the vehicle you bid on. But only if you’re the highest bidder and your bid is equal to—or higher than—the
target price. You can find the target price near the ‘Bid’ button.
For continental European customers, as well as different auction types, there are two additional options for how the auction ends: the Ultimo phase and the x-Time phase:
- Ultimo
If you are the winner of an auction, Ultimo gives you five extra minutes after the auction ends to make your best and final offer. This can dramatically increase your chance of being assigned the vehicle.
More information about Ultimo.
- x-Time
Worried about auction snipers? They’re the people who wait until the last moment to suddenly outbid you. x-Time gives you a chance to put your best bid in. It’s special phase that starts after the auction has ended. During x-Time, you get crucial seconds in which to update your bid, after which the timer resets. Once the timer runs out for the last time, it’s almost certain that the highest bidder will be assigned the vehicle.
More information about x-Time.
TIP: Use “My Bids” to follow up and improve your offer during x-Time and win the auction!
