You are about to go to your first car auction. You can feel the excitement in the air. There are so many cars to choose from. But do you really know what to expect at a car auction? Do you know the legalities that occur at a car auction? Most people get in way over there heads at a car auction. If this is your first car auction, you better come prepared.
There are a lot of things you need to do and a lot of things you need to pay attention to at a car auction. First off, before you go to a car auction make sure you have enough money in your bank account. All cars purchased at a car auction must be paid in full. You also need to bring your drivers license and any other form of ID to the car auction. This is needed to buy the vehicle and to do the title work and registration.
When you first get to the car auction you should make notes of the cars you are interested in. Then, if you can, go to kellybluebook.com and check the retail value of the vehicles you would like to purchase. This way you know what to go with when you make your bid. At a car auction, many vehicles have a reserve price. This means that the vehicle has a minimum price t be sold at. If it is too high, do not bid on it. Be sure when you do bid that you do not get into a bidding war. Never bid more than you can afford. If the bidding war begins, just walk away. At a car auction, it is every man for himself.
Before you begin to bid on cars, you need to see if the vehicle is a good buy or not. Many vehicles at a car auction could have been previously damaged. An example of this is in Texas and Louisiana many cars were severely damaged by flooding during a hurricane. These vehicles were sent to a car auction and the buyers more than likely had no idea the vehicles had flood damage. You may also wish to take a mechanic to the car auction. A mechanic is a good idea at a car auction because they can see where someone may have tried to hide repairs and damage that the vehicle might have incurred. Lastly, you can get a free Carfax vehicle history report on the vehicle if you get the vehicles identification number (VIN).
Remember, at a car auction vehicles are sold "as is" and they do not come with a warranty. Keep all of these tips in mind to protect yourself from a bad purchase. You are supposed to go to a car auction to get a great deal on a car and to save money. With the proper frame of mind, this is easily accomplished.
Buying A Car From An Online Car Auction Site
Normal car auctions usually go through a bidding process and the items goes to the highest bidder. The bidding process can often be heart wrenching and because you get emotional you tend to go over your maximum bid price.
One of the major benefits of buying at an actual car auction is that you get to inspect the car physically before you place you bids and you get to test drive it once you've bought it to ensure that the car is not a dud. Some people require a more interactive form of auction so an online auction might not be well suited.
The main difference with a traditionally auction and an online car auctions the fact that you don't have to actually be at the auction site. You only have to be in your home on your comfortable chair. The next major difference is that you inspect the car when it arrives at your destination. So you don't have the benefit of checking the car before you buy it however if you do buy a car online you have the benefit of inspecting the car when it arrives and you'll be guaranteed from the online auction site that if the car has been misrepresented in any way or differ from the description from their website you can exercise your rights and get your money back. So you don't really risk much at all. Purchasing cars only has been made safer through the years.
So here are the benefits of online car auction sites.
? Shop when its convenient to you
? Search, find and compare prices on all cars and on all websites
? Manage your bids at your own time
? No traveling to auction sites that might be hundreds of miles away from you
? Get a great deal on shipping fees
? All information on the car and images are ready for you to inspect
? Guarantee from online auction site that if the car is misrepresented you can send it back
? Buy a car that's cheaper than dealer rates
If you buy a repossessed car or an ex government car you can get an even better deal. Look around and you'll find these deals on the web. Just be patient and do your research carefully.
What You Need To Know About Car Auction Sites
When you are choosing a car auction it is often best to try and find one that will suit your needs. There are many different types of car auction some specialize in particular types of cars. There are car auctions that will sell nothing but used car some will sell nothing but second hand cars but most will sell a combination of both. If you are in the market for a second hand car then you are best to find and auction that will have more of that type of car. Some car auctions get very detailed in what types of cars they sell some will sell ex-government car and repossessed cars. The best thing you can do is finding out exactly what you want and then find a car auction that does nothing but that.
When you have decided on what it is your looking for all you need know is to find it. There are allot of lace you can look for a car auction some car auction will advertise in the mainstream media but most will only advertise in thing like car sale magazines and things of that type. In some areas car auctions are held on a very regular bases and are held at the same place a the same time. But some will move around from town to town and others will only hold them when there is enough stock to sell. Before you attend your first car auction you should first try any old place just to get a feel of how it all works and you will learn what to expect.
You will not be to surprise because most of them are pretty straightforward but there are some that get very intense and are often used by professional car buyers. That is when you will need to know you stuff to compete with the pros.
How To Find The Right Online Car Auction
The first question on your mind is may be how to find a good online vehicle auction website. Well, just go to your favorite search engine and type online car auction. That should get you thousands of results. Be careful though which online vehicle auction you will be browsing or buying/selling your car at. Try to narrow your selection to a few sites that look professional, respectable and have a good testimonials record.
The next step will depend on your idea do you want to sell your vehicle or to look for a car.
If you are looking to sell you vehicle than check what the site has to offer how many photos of the car you can submit, what information is allowed to be submitted, what are the fees involved. There are sites that will offer you free advertising but will ask for a percentage of the selling price. Other online car auction sites will have certain advertising fees that might depend on the cars value or on the advertising period.
Another thing to consider is if you would like an online car auction company that will actually buy your vehicle and will market it later. This might bring you less profit than selling your car on your own but it will save you a lot of hassle. In fact once you sell them the car it is no longer your worry who or when will buy it.
If you are a vehicle buyer the rules are pretty much the same. Try to pick up a site that looks respectable enough. Than set a budget and find, the best car within your money frame. Once you have found a few cars, negotiate with the buyer. The fact that this is an online car auction venue does not mean that you have to agree on the first price asked.
With money matters handled it is best to see and testdrive the car before signing up the papers. If this is not possible, than ask for all information that you need to make sure you are really buying a good quality car. It is a good idea to perform a vehicle check as well. Just for additional piece of mind to make sure that there are no unpaid bills, insurance problems or the car being reported as stolen. The good news is that all these checks can be done online as well.
If you are looking in the right places you should be able to find a lot of cheap car auction websites around. Some are cheap while others are more expensive. There are some down sides to the cheap car auctions. Some do not have the best varieties nor the quality may not be as high as some but they are still worth a very close look if you are in the market for a good car auction.
Pros
The best thing about cheap car auctions are that because the outlay is so low to begin with if they don't have what you are looking for you can move on with out losing too much money. Another factor is the the start up costs; there are also great options with cheap car auctions that you might not find with some of the other more expensive car auction sites. Such as the selection will be higher because people will always go to the auctions that has the highest customer base and because of the low sign up fees you will find that they have a lot more members then some of the more expensive car auctions out there. One of my favorite cheap car sites is Cheat Car Hunter.
Cons
Because of the large customer base you will also find that you will have a lot more competition for most of he vehicles that are available and that may also push the prices a lot higher then if there was not as much competition. If you are looking for a particular type of car then you may find that they are a bit harder to come by in some of the cheaper auctions and if you really need that type of car you might be better off going to a car auction that specialize in the particular type of car you're interested in.
There are not too many reasons to pick one or the other it really just depends on what you are looking for in a car auction. If you don't need all the fancy options and are not looking for anything that is out of the ordinary you will find that a cheap car auction will suit you best. If you need all the help you can get to find a particular car ten you might want to look at the more expensive options that are available which will make things a lot easier in the long run. When it's all said and done you really need to decide what it is that you want and need and make your decision on that. I wish you good luck with all you car buying adventures and hope you find the bargain you are looking for.
Sometimes when people want to buy a good pre-owned car for a low price they go to government-sponsored automobile auctions. Because the government is not allowed to make a profit on the cars it auctions off, there are plenty of opportunities for people to find incredible deals at government car auctions.
Most of the cars sold at government auctions have been seized from people who for one reason or another were unable to make payments on their cars. These cars are then repossessed by the lending institutions or banks that provided the automobile loans that were used to buy the cars in the first place. Other automobiles that are sold at government auctions come from people who failed to pay their income tax or other taxes and do not have the cash to pay the government what is owed. The government then liquidates part of the tax cheat's estate and takes possession of items such as cars. A third way cars come to government auctions is if they belong to a criminal and are taken by the government as a result of a criminal procedure. Sometimes the automobiles sold at government-sponsored car auctions are old fleet cars that were used by the various branches of government.
With the exception of the government fleet cars, it is often difficult to ascertain information regarding the history or a car being sold at a government auction. Often, there is no way a person can find out who owned the car before it was seized, why the car was seized and is now in the hands of the government, and what the maintenance record on the car is. While it may be possible to do a background check based on a car's vehicle identification number (VIN), it is often difficult to get a really good picture of the condition of a car that is sold at government automobile auction.
In the days and weeks leading up to some government-sponsored car auctions, customers are allowed to examine the cars, trucks, SUVs and automobiles that will be sold at the auction. However, other government-sponsored automobile auctions where seized and repossessed vehicles are sold do not let people examine the cars closely before they are sold.
Car dealerships often send representatives to government auctions in order to buy pre-owned cars at low prices. These auto dealerships will then usually sell the cars they buy at car auctions for prices much higher than those they paid for the vehicles.
Like all auctions, customers at government-sponsored automobile auctions must place bids on how much they are willing to pay for the car on the auction block. Whoever makes the highest bid for a car sold at a car auction gets the car. While it is next to impossible to get an automobile loan for the exact amount one pays for a car at a government-sponsored vehicle auction, it is possible to get a loan for a specified amount before one heads off to the auction.
It is not unusual for high-end and luxury cars to be sold at government-sponsored car auctions, although most of the cars sold are the normal trucks, cars and SUVs one sees everyday on the road. Also, you can find a variety of cars, motorcycles, boats and other items at a sheriff auction site. They provide great resources as well as non-government online auction sites.
Auction Strategies That Win!!!
Auction players, who want to get the most out of online auctions, use strategies that will allow them to win. Entrepreneurs manage to buy items that they can then resell later for a profit. Auction buyers, who found those rare items that they've been searching for, need to win first before the item is theirs. For the online entrepreneur and serious auction player mastering effective bidding strategies are crucial for online auction success.
You need to know as much as possible about the item you're bidding on, like know what price it should fetch, for its condition and age. The better prepared and the more information you have, will be very valuable when you need to make those last minute calls allowing you to or pick-up a good deal or drop a bad one. You can source out information on the web, search blogs, references sites, and the company's product information online and find everything you need to make an informed decision. Remember to review past item sales for some price references.Keep cool and you won't bid more than the item is worth to you.
Your patience is golden here. Wait to the very end to make your interest known to other bidders so don't bid early or you may influence the outcome early on. Remember that others who are determined to acquire the item they will likely play the same game as you here, you will only be forcing the price up and up and cause an early bidding war that would affect the closing price.
You should always bid in non-rounded numbers. A few cents can make the difference between a won and lost bids. Don't bid in nice, round numbers like $15.30, as many who study the auctions learned, a few cents can make a difference in the end. So near the very end instead of bidding $13.70 (say it's the next required bid increment to win), bid $15.79 this way some sniper trying to out bid you with a few cents would lose.
Use snipping to your advantage. Waiting until the last possible second to defeat the current high bidder without leaving him time to counter bid is called snipping. Many believe it's unfair but it is perfectly within the rules of the auction, in fact it is what makes auctions so much exciting. Next time try this tactic, since a bid may take 10- 20 seconds to show up place your bid 10 seconds before the end of the auction, this bid should usually win. Your chances to win, without getting sniped back are better the closer to the close you are.
Use the two browser strategy in preparation of a snipping war if you want to seriously put all the chances on your side. Start by synchronizing your clock with the auction site, this is very important, because you wouldn't want to loose your items because of a timing issue. Then press the (Ctrl + N) (Command and N for Mac users), you will open a second browser on your screen. While you use one screen to place your bid and the other to watch the last minute bids go by in real time. You'll need to keep hitting the reload or refresh button on your computer when you're looking at the bid information screen. In this way, you know what all your opponents are bidding and can respond quickly with a counter bid.
Whether you're a seller or a buyer understanding these strategies and the auction process, will make you a winner because the more you know about the auction process, the more effectively you will be. These strategies will allow you to get the most fun out of online auctions. Remember that chances are your opponents are using them so be cool, be patient and you will do fine.
Enjoy,
Your Resource Guy
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