Bidding at Car Auctions: How a smart bidding stratgey will save you at live car auctions

A large number of people are taking to car auctions as a way of buying used cars for good prices. If you are also interested in buying a used car then you should definitely check out a car auction before approaching a used car dealership. However, bidding at car auctions is not as easy as it sounds since careful bidding involves a lot of research. If you are planning to buy a car at an auction, then given here are a few tips on bidding at car auctions that should help you get a good deal.

Get Some Practice: The majority of people buying at car auctions are car dealers who are veterans at the bidding game. In order to compete with them, you should first try to see them at auctions where you are not bidding. Observing the bidding process at a car auction will help you understand how the whole process moves and how it is often manipulated to inconvenience certain buyers.

Do Your Homework Well: The most crucial part of a bidding process is of course, the bid amount and this is where a lot of your labor is required. Before you bid on a car at an auction, it is extremely important that you get all the information possible about the cars you are interested in before the actual auction. Get the cars checked by a mechanic or professional at the preview and run a vehicle history check on it before you decide to bid on any vehicle. You can but books like the Kelley’s blue book, Edmund’s guide or the NADA’s guide which are a great help in determining the prices of used cars to get a fair idea of the actual market value of cars being sold at an auction.

Set Yourself A Maximum Bidding Amount: It is extremely important to have a pre-determined maximum bidding amount in mind for each car that you are bidding for before the actual bidding starts. You should base your maximum amount on the information that you have already acquired about the car, its actual market value and your own budget. Keep in mind that your highest bid should be at least thirty to forty per cent less than the actual market value since you will also have to pay a buyer’s premium of five to ten per cent of your bid value if you manage to win the bid. On the other hand, most people stop maintaining cars ages before they put them up for sale, so remember to save money for servicing and spares after you have bought the car.

Never Be The First To Bid: You should never be the first one to bid on a car in an auction. The main reason for this is that the bid price at an auction is at times higher than the real value of the car and serious bidders will start much lower than the initial bid price. By bidding first, you might end up raising the price of the vehicle that you plan to buy. Many auctioneers also plant their people in the audience whose sole purpose is to raise the bid amount. Showing your interest in a car at the beginning might lead to one of these plants raising the bid even further without your knowing it.