How It Works
We’ll start you with a video, then there are more details lower down the page in a text narrative.
Our auctions run for one week. There is always a clock counting down time remaining on the top of each live auction item page.
Bids are in whole dollars only.. hey, we Canucks dropped the penny years ago! There are dynamic minimum increase increments for bids: minimum $100 increase until bidding reaches $5,000; then a $250 minimum increase when bidding is higher than $5,000 up to $30,000; then a $500 minimum increase when bidding is higher than $30,000. Our auctions use a “soft close” process: when there is a bid in the last minute-and-a-half of an auction, the auction countdown clock resets to 1:30. This precludes snipers from waiting until the last second to place a bid.
Sellers may or may not attach a reserve to their auctions. This is the minimum price at which they are willing to sell. We approve any reserves before an auction goes live. In our seller packages, we advise sellers of our rule to not disclose reserve price. For “No Reserve” auctions “No Reserve” is indicated in the title of the auction page.
When a “No Reserve” auction clock runs to 0:00, the vehicle (or other item) has sold to the highest bidder, buyer and seller are introduced and they complete their deal privately and independent of Collector Car Canada. (CCC holds neither funds nor the auction items.)
When a Reserve auction clock runs out and the closing price meets or exceeds the seller-assigned reserve price, the vehicle (or other item) has sold to the highest bidder, buyer and seller are introduced and they complete their deal.
When a Reserve auction clock runs out and the closing price has not met the seller-assigned reserve price, we use a Second Chance System to keep the sales effort alive. After all, no one wants to see a reserve not met – be it sellers, bidders, or participants merely following along. The reserve is privately disclosed to the top bidder with a “take-it-or-leave-it” offer which is valid for two minutes – I.E. the top bidder can buy the car at the seller’s reserve price. We do this because often when a reserve is not met, the top bidder is willing to go higher; but if no other bidder is willing to go higher, the top bidder at auction close can not bid against himself. The top bidder must be watching the auction when the auction time elapses, of course. If the top bidder agrees to the reserve price, the vehicle is sold to this top bidder, buyer and seller are introduced and they complete their deal.
If the Second Chance System does not produce a sale, we move to the Last Chance System whereby the auction is re-opened for three minutes with a starting bid of the reserve price. Then, with the first bid, everyone knows we will have a sale – this is because the reserve has been met – and normal auction rules apply, including the auction clock reset to 1:30 in the case of a bid in the last minute-and-a-half.
If the Last Chance System does not produce a sale – sometimes the seller opts for the Collector Car Canada Buy-It-Now Lot; otherwise, that’s all, folks.
Buyer premiums are 4.99% up to an auction closing price of $100,000 and 3.99% beyond that* – minimum Buyer premium is $499. Plus GST/HST – we are Canadian, after all, for better or for worse! (GST/HST is not charged to bidders not resident in Canada.) Buyer premiums are automatically collected via buyer credit card when an auction concludes in a sale.
Questions? Please see our FAQ page. Doesn’t answer your question? Please contact us.
* At auction end, 4.99% of the sales price will be automatically charged by our system. When seller confirms delivery, 1% will be refunded.