About Us
Why does the world need another collector car auction site, you ask? Because Canadian collectors deserve and merit a site dedicated to their home market, where they can buy and sell in their own currency. Below is how the idea came about.
In 2020, our Founder, a car nut like you’d expect, used the same U.S. auction site mentioned in dannyjf1’s Testimonial to sell one of his cars, a Porsche 911, before CollectorCarCanada.CA existed and before the current tariff environment. He figured that he should approach the big U.S. market and its U.S. dollars, paying little attention to the home market. After his car waited pre-auction in the site’s queue for about five weeks – as the auction week progressed, he realized that most of the action on his car up for bids was from near his hometown. This is the same market on which he had turned his back – online, there is always someone who will find you, of course, so there were some in this market who saw his listing – he thus unintentionally and unwisely limited his reach in the market where there was the most interest in his car, then paid for this mistake with a low selling price. The buyer could not believe his luck and said as much when he happily paid for his new-to-him premium sports car in wonderful condition.
That same summer as he updated his collection to satisfy some new tastes, he bought a couple of gems – one was in Atlanta, Georgia (purchased through that same well-established U.S. auction site, we might add) and another in Small Town, Saskatchewan. Both were “fly-and-drives” – I.E. our Founder bought intending to fly to the car and drive it home, and “straight deals” – private sales where the sellers produced exactly what they represented. Although Georgia was a lot closer and the American interstate highway system offered superior roads for the drive back, the Canadian deal was oh, so much easier.
For the Georgia deal, our buyer had to pay his buyer premium in U.S. dollars using his Canadian-dollar credit card (the banks get rich again!), had to arrange for US currency payment by wire before he laid eyes on his car and, excited about his new ride, though he wanted to depart as soon as the auction was over, he had to give the normal 72-hour notice to the US border where he planned to export the car. (Do your homework if in Canada and buying in the USA.) Then, being that he bought a car built in Europe, he faced dealing with paying duties and taxes when importing the vehicle to comply with the Registrar of Imported Vehicles rules when he got home in order to get licence plates.
Although he had prepared ahead and both processes went smoothly, flying to Saskatchewan and ordering a bank draft from the local branch of the Big-5 Canadian bank holding his everyday account after his flight landed was a lot easier. And, after the long drive (he still insists that his new-to-him 34-year-old car wanted to keep rolling after the 36-hour drive), there was no registering the car with the Registrar of Imported Vehicles, as required for U.S. market vehicles coming into Canada – just the normal provincial safety inspection and registering at his local licence bureau, the same as if he had bought the car across town. (Of course, then he would have missed out on the adventure and experience in Canadiana of the return journey on the Trans-Canada Highway. As coincidence would have it, he stood in the Saskatchewan seller’s garage as the 911 auction closed, giving him time for reflection on the way home – thus the origins of CollectorCarCanada.CA took root.)
All food for thought for we Canadian enthusiasts.
We naturally welcome buyers and sellers from around the world – the car culture knows no boundaries. Neither does the internet, of course.
See current auction offerings here as well as our Buy-It-Now items here.
We have a Canadian-only option in the collector vehicle auction world, Collector Car Canada. Our bidding system is proven – we offer a few fun, not-before-seen and disruptive-to-the-industry features designed to help listings sell, because no one likes a “Reserve Not Met” outcome. Take a look at our innovative bidding process on our How it Works page and let us know what you think!
We offer collectibles, classics, customs, special interest, tuner, niche and vintage – to name a few. If you are thinking of selling an interesting vehicle, we are now accepting submissions for our carefully curated collection of auction offerings. Go to our SUBMIT ITEM page, where you will find a ni¢e di$count on the listing fee for sellers. Our “What We’ve Seen” listings are also running – keep tabs on what we are up to here, beyond auctions – we LIVE on the show circuit. Updates go out daily in-season, to keep everyone in the loop with auction item developments, also shows where you’ll find us. We have (i) Non-bidding Users, our Non-bidding Users can comment and like others’ comments with their usernames; (ii) Bidding Users, who have submitted credit card information to enable bidding; and zero membership fees.
Sellers
Submit your listing details now to get your spot locked in – and your discount, of course. We’ll do the writing, design the listing page and be in touch about details to get you your best listing. To get a sense of the look of our listings, please see our 2024 – A Look Back page. By using paragraph form and lots of photos, we make the listings more engaging than a typical online ad hinting at a few features and inviting the keyboard warriors – all bidders and users of private messaging on our site are pre-authenticated. Submit lots of photos – we aim to feature in the neighbourhood of between 100 and 400 for each of our auction listings.
Buyers/Window Shoppers
Register now for updates. Do it now to ensure your preferred user name. (Think of the disappointment in finding your great idea for a personalized licence plate has already been scooped up by someone quicker on the draw.) Thinking of bidding? Get on board as a Bidding User and check out the Bidder Benefits and FAQ pages.