Search for an online car auction and many of the results are not auctions in the usual sense. In the Netherlands, for example, services such as OSW, Ikwilvanmijnautoaf.nl, AutoVendi, wijkopenautos.nl and the ANWB car-selling service get you a bid from car dealers, or buy the car themselves and sell it on to the trade. No private buyers bid there. Whoever buys in order to resell has to leave room for their own margin, and OSW says so itself: trade prices are lower than private prices. On an auction like Octane, enthusiasts bid against each other in public and you sell directly to the highest bidder. Which online auction is best therefore depends mostly on your car. An everyday car you want gone quickly is well served by a service that arranges a trade bid within a day or two, if you accept a trade price. A sports car, youngtimer, classic or other enthusiast car deserves bidders who come for exactly that car, and who want to drive it themselves. Below we set out the four kinds of online sale side by side: who bids, what it costs and how fast it goes.
| Aspect | Auction via Octane | Trade-bid service | Other enthusiast auctions | Auction house with viewing days | Advertising it yourself |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bidders who come for this car | |||||
| Speed | |||||
| Convenience | |||||
| No trade buyer in between | |||||
| Low cost to you | |||||
| Low cost to the buyer | n/a | ||||
| Price protection | |||||
| Public price discovery |
Enthusiasts in twelve Western European countries bid against each other in public for seven days, with a confidential reserve and a campaign for each car. You pay nothing. Enthusiast cars only.
More dots is better for you as the seller. Indicative, for an enthusiast car; for an everyday car, speed weighs more.
In the Netherlands for example OSW, wijkopenautos.nl or the ANWB: a bid within a day to a few days from a dealer or from the service itself. Fast and without a listing, but the buyer buys in order to resell and that margin is built into the bid; the bid can still change at handover.
Platforms such as Collecting Cars, Catawiki and Bring a Trailer. Also public bidding by enthusiasts, with differences in audience, buyer’s fees and presentation.
The car goes to the auction house and buyers inspect it on a viewing day. Reassuring for the buyer, but your car is away and the buyer pays a higher percentage on top of the bid.
AutoScout24 or mobile.de, without an auction: you set the price, arrange viewings and negotiate. No time pressure, but the most work.
Not sure? Submit your car to Octane. If it does not suit an auction, we will tell you honestly, and through direct sale you can still ask, free of charge, whether a dealer from our network wants to make an offer.
“Online car auction” covers four ways of selling that have little in common. Per kind: who bids, what it costs and which car it suits.
On services such as OSW, Ikwilvanmijnautoaf.nl and AutoVendi in the Netherlands, dealers from a closed network bid on your car. At wijkopenautos.nl the offer comes from AUTO1, and with the ANWB car-selling service the car is bought by BCA Inkoop. You enter the details and photos and get a bid within a day to a few days, which you accept or decline. On all five, the bid can still change if the car turns out to differ from what you entered when it is inspected or handed over.
More important: on all five the trade buys your car, and the trade buys in order to resell. The services say so themselves. OSW calls what you get “handelsprijzen”, trade prices, and writes that they are lower than private prices because dealers also want to earn on a vehicle. The ANWB writes that selling to a private buyer can bring in more money. At wijkopenautos.nl and the ANWB there is one more link in the chain: AUTO1 and BCA sell the car on to the trade, and that dealer has to earn on it too before the car reaches someone who will drive it.
What you pay in fees differs. OSW, AutoVendi and wijkopenautos.nl charge the seller nothing; Ikwilvanmijnautoaf.nl charges €29 or €49 including VAT when the car is sold, and the ANWB charges a service fee of €23 to €133.50 including VAT, depending on the sale value and on membership. If you are comparing selling to a dealer with an auction in general, see auction vs. selling to a dealer.
On Octane, Collecting Cars, The Collectables, Catawiki and Bring a Trailer, private buyers, collectors and dealers bid against each other in public, for a fixed period. The differences lie in the audience each platform reaches, the costs for buyer and seller and who takes care of the presentation. We set out the facts per platform, with sources, under alternatives to car auction platforms.
With Classic Car Auctions and Automotive Auctions the car goes to one of the auction house’s locations, where buyers can inspect it on a viewing day. That reassures buyers, but your car is away from home, and the buyer pays a higher percentage on top of the bid than at Octane. See Octane vs Classic Car Auctions and Octane vs Automotive Auctions.
Classified sites such as AutoScout24 and mobile.de are not auctions. You set the asking price, arrange viewings and negotiate with every interested party. That can work well with patience, but most of the work is yours. See auction vs. classifieds.
On Octane you sell directly to the highest bidder. There is no trade buyer between you and the buyer, and enthusiasts who want to drive the car themselves bid too: they do not need to earn on it. As the seller you pay nothing, the buyer pays 3%, and the winning bid goes to you in full.
Octane is an online auction for enthusiast cars. You submit your car, we assess whether it fits and agree a confidential reserve with you. We write the listing; you take the photos yourself following our photo guide or use a photographer from our network, whom you pay directly. Around every accepted car we build a campaign to bring enthusiasts in twelve Western European countries to the auction, at our expense on regular auctions. The car stays with you, you answer bidders’ questions yourself, and as the seller you pay nothing.
Not an enthusiast car, or mainly in a hurry? Through direct sale you can ask, free and without obligation, whether a dealer from our network wants to make an offer. That is a trade bid, and we make no promises about timing. Would you rather hand over everything, from collection and photography to completion? Then there is managed selling through a service partner from our network.
Bidders can see that there is a reserve, but not how high. They bid on what the car is worth to them, not on your floor.
You set the reserve with our team before the auction, based on comparable auction results. A dealer’s offer or a trade-in value can be a good starting point.
If the highest bid stays below the reserve, the car is not sold and you are not bound to anything. We then look with you and the highest bidder at whether a deal is still possible.
Prefer to auction without a reserve? That is possible too; discuss it with our team.
Who bids. On OSW, Ikwilvanmijnautoaf.nl and AutoVendi, dealers from a closed network bid; at wijkopenautos.nl and the ANWB car-selling service a company buys the car itself. You get a trade bid quickly, without a public listing, from a buyer who buys in order to resell. On Octane, enthusiasts and collectors bid against each other in public for seven days, with a confidential reserve as the floor, and you sell directly to the highest bidder. Octane only accepts enthusiast cars.
On Octane the seller pays nothing and the winning bid goes to you in full; the buyer pays 3% including VAT, minimum €350 and maximum €3,600. At OSW, AutoVendi and wijkopenautos.nl you pay no fee. Ikwilvanmijnautoaf.nl charges €29 or €49 including VAT when the car is sold, the ANWB car-selling service €23 to €133.50 including VAT, depending on sale value and membership. That is what their own sites said on 30 October 2026. At all of these services the dealer’s margin is also built into the bid: according to OSW, dealers never pay private prices.
At the trade-bid services, yes: their terms allow a lower bid or a counter-offer if the car turns out to differ from what you entered when it is inspected or handed over, and you can then decline. On Octane, buyers bid on the listing with its photos, history and the answers you give in the comments. Viewings before the auction ends are not possible; after the auction, buyer and seller complete payment and handover between themselves.
No. Octane auctions enthusiast cars: sports cars and supercars, youngtimers and classics, JDM and modern performance cars, special editions and low-mileage cars. If your car does not fit, we will tell you honestly. Through direct sale you can then ask, free of charge, whether a dealer from our network wants to make an offer.
With a trade-bid service you usually get a bid within a day to a few days; the sale itself is completed at handover. On Octane the car is usually live within a few days, bidding then runs for seven days, and buyer and seller complete the handover afterwards.
Not with Octane: the car stays with you until buyer and seller arrange the handover. With the trade-bid services you usually take the car to the dealer, a branch or a drop-off point yourself; collection is sometimes possible, at the ANWB for a fee.
An auction where enthusiasts bid against each other in public, not a trade-bid service where every bidder has to earn on your car. If the natural buyers are in Western Europe, we think Octane is the logical choice: you pay nothing, the buyer pays 3% including VAT with a cap, and we build a campaign around your car. If your car demonstrably has a buyer market outside Europe, or you want buyers to inspect it on a viewing day, compare the other platforms in our comparisons as well.
Submit your car and our team will review it within 48 hours