Autobid.de

Autobid.de is the online auction arm of Auktion & Markt AG, a German remarketing group with its registered office in Wiesbaden and 17 sites nationwide, nine of them auction centres (Berlin, Braunschweig, Frankfurt, Halle-Leipzig, Hamburg, Munich, Oelde, Rhine-Ruhr, Stuttgart). Stock is consigned by manufacturers, brand dealerships, car rental companies, leasing firms, banks, municipal enterprises and fleet operators, so it leans hard on trade-ins, lease returns and ex-fleet vehicles. Up to 4,500 used vehicles go under the hammer every week and more than 150,000 a year; the sales reach up to 30,000 buyers in 22 languages, and cars are sold into 40 European countries. The public cannot bid here.

What you can buy

• Passenger cars: saloons, estates and SUVs, with VW, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ford and Opel heading the manufacturer list among the 4,000-plus lots online at any one time.
• Vans and light commercials: vans and minibuses off rental and company fleets, a few hundred at a time.
• Trucks and special-purpose vehicles: light and heavy commercial units plus municipal and special-purpose vehicles from municipal enterprises.
• Damaged and accident vehicles: a standing category of repairable and salvage cars, usually a couple of hundred at a time.
• Electric and hybrid cars: BEV and HEV lots running into the several hundreds, with a dedicated Greencars portal alongside the brand platforms.
• Motorcycles, motorhomes, caravans and e-bikes: smaller recurring categories running alongside the car sales.

How the bidding works

Accounts go to certified motor traders only, with the vehicle trade registered as your main occupation; you register with proof of business registration, a commercial register extract where applicable and an identity document, and vetting takes two to four days. Dealers in Germany and in non-EU third countries register free, while an EU dealer based outside Germany pays a one-off 199 euros net and must prove at least two years of trading. Sales run daily in three formats — live in the auction centre, online on the platform, and Netlive combining both — and are split between open auctions any registered bidder can enter and exclusive ones (BMW Group, BMW Bank, Alphabet, MINI, VW Commercial Vehicles) reserved for named buyer groups. A winning bid is not automatically a done deal: every lot carries a minimum or fixed price, and a top bid below it leaves the car "subject to a reservation" for up to 72 hours while the supplier decides, though your bid stays binding throughout. Payment falls due on receipt of the invoice, arrears start seven days later, and you collect at your own cost from the centre holding the car; leaving it there costs 6 euros a day plus VAT in demurrage.

What to check before you bid

Contract processing costs are charged on top of the purchase price and follow the current price list in the Downloads area, so pull that before you model a margin. Used lots are sold with claims for material defects and defective title ruled out, so the condition report, photos and an inspection on site — cars can be viewed from two hours before a live sale — are your entire due diligence. German buyers are invoiced with VAT, EU buyers get a net invoice only against a valid VAT ID and a written undertaking to take the car straight out of Germany, and non-EU buyers must lodge a security deposit at the German VAT rate, refunded against a stamped export declaration. Buyers elsewhere in the EU cannot drive a car out themselves either: collection has to go through a freight forwarder submitting the expanded freight forwarding certification. Transport is bookable through the CEVA Logistics tie-up and refinancing through Bank11. The site and the terms are published in English, but the contractual language is German. Private individuals cannot open an account: if that is you, try government auctions instead.