From Peddle to CarVIO to Carvana to CarBrain, there sure are a lot of places to buy and sell used cars nowadays. A relatively new one to the market is Cars & Bids.
It’s an online marketplace where you can buy or sell used vehicles at an auction.
Although it’s a relative newcomer, it’s become increasingly popular with people looking to sell a car and those in the market for a new vehicle.
But is Cars & Bids a legit place to sell or buy? Or are there better options out there?
In today’s post, I’ll answer those questions and more. I’ll cover everything you need to know about the platform from how it works to whether or not it’s worth your time.
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Table of Contents
What is Cars & Bids?
Cars & Bids is an online auction website where you can bid on used cars and sell used cars. The site focuses on modern cars, so those from the 1980s to the 2020s.
Cars & Bids was launched in 2020 by Doug DeMuro, an American author, columnist, writer, businessman, and YouTuber. DeMuro has more than 4 million subscribers on his YouTube channel where he makes car-review videos.
How Cars & Bids Works for Buying
If you’re looking to buy a used car on the website, here’s how it works:
Step One: Find a vehicle and register on the site
Visit the Cars & Bids website and search through the vehicles. You’ll find auctions on the home page, and you can filter them by things like “Ending Soon,” “Newly Listed,” and “No Reserve.”
To place a bid, you’ll need to register with the website and to do that you will need your phone number and a valid credit card.
Step Two: Prepare to bid
Before placing a bid, Cars & Bids recommends you perform your own due diligence, so make sure that you review the listing thoroughly. Make sure you check out the vehicle history report and feel free to ask the seller any questions you may have about the vehicle.
You may also want to arrange financing and the logistics of actually getting the vehicle.
Step Three: Bid
Contact the seller directly and place your bid. Once you have bid on a vehicle, Cars & Bids places a hold on your credit card for the buyer’s fee. Buyers pay a 4.5% buyer’s fee on top of the winning bid amount (there’s a minimum of $225 and a maximum of $4,500).
If you win the bid, your card will be charged, and you’ll pay the seller directly for the car. If you don’t win the auction, the hold will be released at the auction’s end.
It’s important to note that bids are binding, so only bid if you fully intend to buy the car. If you end up as the highest bidder, there are no refunds.
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After the auction has closed, you’re provided with the seller’s contact information, and vice-versa. So, you’ll be able to finalize the details and logistics of the transaction. You’re expected to pay for the vehicle in full, within a week of the auction closing.
How Cars & Bids Works for Selling
Here’s how the website works if you’re selling your car:
Step One: Submit information about your car
The first step is to enter some details about your car, including the VIN, photos, and a brief description of the car. At this point, you can choose whether you want to set a reserve price or if you want your car to be sold with no reserve.
The site’s auction team will then review your submission and they may ask you some follow-up questions. The site aims to give you an answer within a business day as to whether it will accept your vehicle.
Step Two: Create your listing
If your car is accepted by the site, then you’ll need to prepare your listing. It’s free to list your car for sale on Cars & Bids.
You’ll need to provide some additional information, such as detailed photos and service and ownership history. Your car cannot be listed for sale elsewhere. The website says you need to take excellent photos of your car to get top dollar.
Once you’ve provided the website with photos and information, it will create a draft of your listing for you to approve.
After you have reviewed and approved it, the website will work with you to schedule your auction, and it will go live shortly after.
Step Three: Sell your car
Auctions last 7 days. So, your listing will be featured on the site for a week.
When your car sells, the website will connect you with the highest bidder, so you can complete the transaction. You keep 100% of the sale price.
What cars can you sell on Cars & Bids?
According to Cars & Bids, the site is focused on “cool cars, trucks, and SUVs from the modern era.”
The site defines this as the 1980s through the present day. This can include cars from the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, or 2020s.
Is Cars & Bids Legit?
Cars & Bids is a legit platform. It doesn’t yet have a Trustpilot page, perhaps because it’s a relatively new website. There is a profile for the site on the Better Business Bureau, but it’s not an accredited company, and it currently has an “F” rating. Despite that, Cars & Bids has quite the following on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
The company’s Facebook page has more than 18,200 likes, and more than 19,500 people follow it. The company also has more than 72,000 followers on Instagram and 69,000 followers on YouTube. It seems to be well-liked across social media.
Is Cars & Bids Worth It?
Cars & Bids is a legit place to sell a used vehicle and it has some great auctions where you can find secondhand cards as well.
Is the website worth your time though?
Let’s take a look at some pros and cons:
Pros
Let’s start out with the pros:
You can list your car for free
You don’t have to pay to list your car on there. This is always a plus!
There’s no commission charged for sellers
Sellers get to keep 100% of the profits. This is definitely one of the biggest benefits of Cars & Bids.
Get a free vehicle history report
The website provides a vehicle history report for free, rather than asking sellers to pay for their own.
Cons
Let’s take a look at some downsides:
You’ll need to interact with potential buyers
You can’t just post your listing and forget about it. You’ll have to participate in the auction, arrange test drives, and answer questions.
Buyers have to pay a fee
If you are looking to buy a car on the platform, you will need to pay a 4.5% fee on top of the selling price.
Not many reviews out there yet
Having a look through reviews on sites like Trustpilot can be really useful for determining a site’s legitimacy. Sadly, Cars & Bids doesn’t have a profile on there. That “F” rating on BBB isn’t great either. That said, the company seems to be positively viewed on social media sites.
Closing Thoughts
Cars & Bids may be a relative newcomer, but it’s definitely a contender. It has a large social media following, and it seems to make selling and buying used cars pretty easy. It’s definitely one to try!
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