At its core Route 66 Auctions works like Octane. Bidding happens online, the car stays with the seller during the auction, wherever in Europe it is, and there is no showroom or viewing day. The difference is in how the auction ends: at Route 66 the lots close during a weekly Thursday-evening public auction in Waalwijk, led by an auctioneer, where bidders can also bid in the room. So the question is not whether the model works. What matters more is who is bidding, what the sale costs on both sides, and what happens to the money after the auction.
Route 66 is a Dutch auction platform from Waalwijk for classics, youngtimers, sports cars and motorcycles, with sellers across Europe. Bids are placed online until the lot closes, which happens on a Thursday evening: one lot per minute, with an auctioneer and bidders in the room. After the auction the buyer pays the purchase price into an escrow account with Route 66, which is only released after the handover. Octane is a specialist in enthusiast cars and works fully online: the car stays with you, we write the listing and take care of the presentation together with you, and around every accepted car we build a campaign to bring enthusiasts from across Western Europe to the auction, at our cost on regular auctions. After seven days the auction is done and buyer and seller complete the transaction directly with each other. Then the costs. At Route 66 you pay a 3% success fee including VAT, minimum €300, and the buyer pays 9% with a €20,000 maximum, both excluding VAT. At Octane you pay nothing and the buyer pays 3% including VAT, with a €3,600 maximum.
You submit your car, we assess whether it fits and agree a realistic reserve together. We then write the listing copy and structure the specifications and history. For the photos we match you with a photographer from our network, whom you pay directly, or you take them yourself following our photo guide. The car stays with you all that time. The car is usually live within days. Then the real work starts: we build a campaign around the car to bring new buyers to the auction, usually at our cost. The auction takes seven days; you answer bidder questions yourself in the comments.
You submit the car through the form on their site, with the details, an estimated selling price and at least 30 photos that you take yourself. An expert reviews the submission, confirms or adjusts your price estimate and agrees the hidden reserve with you. According to the help centre their team writes the listing; you see the changes in your seller centre before the start. Once approved, Route 66 schedules the car for the most suitable auction; they do not name a timeframe for that. The car stays with you and has to remain available for the whole auction period. Bidders’ questions go to Route 66, not publicly under the lot. Your lot closes on a Thursday evening; if the reserve is not met, Route 66 reviews the reserve with you for a next round.
Up to and including the reserve the two platforms are very similar. After that it differs: at Route 66 questions run through the platform, the auction closes on a fixed Thursday evening and you pay a success fee; at Octane you answer questions yourself, the auction runs for seven days with a campaign around your car, and you pay nothing.
| Sale price | Octane | Route 66 Auctions | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| €15,000 | €0 | €450 | +€450 |
| €25,000 | €0 | €750 | +€750 |
| €75,000 | €0 | €2,250 | +€2,250 |
| €150,000 | €0 | €4,500 | +€4,500 |
| Sale price | Octane | Route 66 Auctions | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| €15,000 |
At Route 66 you pay a success fee of 3% of the winning bid as the seller, with a €300 minimum, including VAT and only if the car sells; submitting and auctioning are free. If you opt for BOOST-Marketing, half of whatever is bid above your reserve also goes to Route 66. At Octane you pay nothing as the seller: you receive the full winning bid. The biggest difference lands with the buyer, and that is exactly why it matters to you as the seller. At Route 66 they pay a Buyer Protection Fee of 9% excluding VAT, 10.89% including VAT, with a €950 minimum and a €20,000 maximum, both excluding VAT. At Octane they pay 3% including VAT, minimum €350 and maximum €3,600. A buyer looks at their total purchase price, not just their bid. What they spend on auction fees they cannot spend on the car itself, and that can affect how high they bid. On the other hand, at Route 66 the purchase price runs through escrow, while at Octane buyer and seller settle it directly.
Route 66 describes itself as an international public auction platform, cites more than 150,000 users and speaks of buyers worldwide. The cars are with sellers across Europe, the site comes in eleven languages, and alongside classics, youngtimers and sports cars Route 66 auctions motorcycles and has its own category for American cars. For a car that suits that broad, international classics audience, or for a seller who wants the auction evening in Waalwijk, it is a strong channel. Octane chooses a specialist audience of car enthusiasts in Western Europe, and a campaign per car to reach buyers beyond our own user base as well. Every car gets its own seven-day auction, with questions and answers every bidder can read. A large user base says how many people know a platform. What counts for the seller of a special car is how many serious enthusiasts for this particular car are bidding.
Octane is built to be more than just the place where the highest bid lands. Around the platform we are building a Western European network of specialised partners for transport, inspections, detailing and other services around buying and selling special cars. If your car is in the Netherlands and the strongest bidder is in Belgium, that buyer does not have to find an inspector or transporter from scratch. On request, we connect buyer and seller with a suitable specialist. That way we can help not only to bring buyer and car together, but also to complete the transaction as smoothly as possible afterwards.
The overlap is large: a classic Porsche 911, Jaguar E-type or Mercedes SL fits both. For that type of car, the question is mainly whether you want escrow and a live auction evening, with a success fee for you and higher costs for the buyer, or an auction of its own with a campaign among enthusiasts, at no cost to you.
For a sports car, youngtimer, classic or modern performance car whose buyers are enthusiasts in Western Europe, we usually consider Octane the more logical choice. First, the audience. Octane focuses exclusively on enthusiasts of special cars and builds a campaign around every accepted car to reach buyers beyond its own user base too. Your car gets its own auction for seven days. Second, the costs. At Octane you pay nothing; Route 66 charges a success fee of 3% of the winning bid, minimum €300. The buyer pays 3% including VAT with a €3,600 maximum, versus 9% excluding VAT with a €20,000 maximum. Whatever they save on auction fees stays available for their bid. Third, you keep the contact: you answer bidders’ questions yourself, visible to everyone, and after the auction you arrange the handover directly with the buyer. On request we connect you with specialists for inspection or transport.
Route 66 can make more sense if you want the money to run through an escrow account. The buyer pays the purchase price to Route 66, and it is only released once buyer and seller have signed a pick-up confirmation at the handover. At Octane buyer and seller settle the purchase price directly with each other; if you would rather not handle that yourself, Route 66 offers more certainty. It also suits you if you like a live finale: the lots close on a Thursday evening led by an auctioneer, and bidders can bid in the room in Waalwijk. Route 66 also auctions motorcycles and scooters. And the buyer can have transport arranged through Route 66, for a fee. The trade-off is whether that certainty and that event outweigh a success fee for you and a 9% buyer fee with a €20,000 maximum, both excluding VAT.
Route 66 and Octane are both online auctions where the car stays at home; the difference is in what happens around it, and who pays for it. Do you want the purchase price to run through escrow, do you like a live auction evening with an auctioneer, or are you selling a motorcycle? Then Route 66 is a logical option, with the success fee for you and the higher fee for the buyer that come with it. Is it a special car whose buyers are enthusiasts in Western Europe? Then we consider Octane the stronger choice. You pay nothing, the buyer pays 3% including VAT with a €3,600 maximum, and around every car we build a campaign that reaches exactly those enthusiasts. The same model, with as little cost as possible between you and the buyer.
Submit your car and our team will review it within 48 hours
Octane next to the other auction platforms:
Looking for an alternative to Route 66 Auctions? See all options side by side →
| Item | Octane | Route 66 Auctions |
|---|---|---|
| Platform type | Online auction for enthusiast cars | Online auction for classics, youngtimers, sports cars and motorcycles; lots close during a weekly Thursday-evening public auction in Waalwijk, led by an auctioneer, where bids can also be placed in the room |
| Types of car | Sports cars and supercars, Youngtimers and classics, JDM and modern performance, Rare specifications and low mileage | Classics and barn finds over 30 years old, youngtimers over 15 years old and sports cars of any age with a market value from €50,000; the other cars need at least €7,500. Plus motorcycles, classic scooters and mopeds from €1,500 |
| Seller cost | None. You receive the full winning bid | 3% of the winning bid, minimum €300, including VAT and only on a sale; submitting and auctioning are free. If you opt for BOOST-Marketing, you also split whatever is bid above your reserve 50/50 with Route 66 |
| Buyer fee | 3% of the winning bid, including VAT, minimum €350 | 9% of the winning bid, minimum €950, excluding VAT (10.89% including 21% VAT) |
| Maximum buyer fee | €3,600 | €20,000, excluding VAT |
| Auction length | 7 days | No bidding period published. Lots close on Thursday evenings from 19:30, one per minute; a bid in the final 3 minutes resets the remaining time to 3 minutes |
| Reserve price (minimum) available | Yes, confidential and agreed with the team | Yes, set together with Route 66’s experts and hidden; bidders only see whether the bid is approaching or has reached the reserve. During the auction you can only lower or remove it. If it is not met there is no sale and you pay nothing, and Route 66 reviews the reserve with you for a next round* |
| Geographic focus | Western Europe: the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden and Finland | International: the cars are with sellers across Europe, on 2 October 2026 in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium and Austria among others. Route 66 cites more than 150,000 users and speaks of buyers worldwide. Bidding and payment in euros. The site comes in eleven languages; English is the original, the other versions are machine-translated |
| Car stays with the seller | Yes | Yes, until the sale, wherever in Europe the car is. Route 66 has no showroom |
| Presentation and photography | Editorial listing copy and structured specifications written by the platform. Photography through a photographer from our network, paid directly by you, or you supply your own images that meet the photo guide | You supply the details, your own rating of the condition and at least 30 photos, which you take yourself following their photo guide. Their experts usually assess the car remotely, and according to the help centre their team writes the listing; you see the changes in your seller centre before the start |
| Promotion of the car | An active campaign per car, aimed at both the existing Octane audience and new potential buyers in Western Europe. Campaign costs are covered by Octane on regular auctions | A newsletter and e-mail alerts when new lots of a brand go live. According to Route 66 also targeted international marketing and a network of enthusiasts and auction buyers, and the weekly auction evening in Waalwijk. Optional BOOST-Marketing: staff personally approach people who follow your car or showed interest in a comparable model, for half of whatever is bid above your reserve |
| Contact with bidders | Bidders ask questions in the comments under the auction and the seller answers them | No public questions or comments under the lot: questions go to Route 66 through a contact form, e-mail or phone. Viewings only by appointment through Route 66 and if the seller offers one; the buyer pays half of the buyer fee upfront for it, which is deducted on purchase. Buyer and seller only get each other’s details after the sale and the buyer’s payment |
| After the auction ends | Buyer and seller get a private chat environment with each other’s details, where they complete the transaction between themselves | The buyer pays the purchase price into an escrow account in the name of Route 66 Auctions B.V. Buyer and seller then get each other’s details and arrange collection together; for private parties Route 66 prepares a sales agreement. At the handover buyer and seller sign a pick-up confirmation, after which Route 66 pays you the purchase price minus the success fee. Their pages give different deadlines for payment and payout* |
| Support around the transaction | On request, Octane connects buyer and seller with specialists for inspection and transport among others | Escrow: the purchase price stays in the escrow account until the handover is confirmed. Also transport through partners for a fee (price on request), a sales agreement for private buyers and sellers, mediation in disputes, and an After Market Sales department that negotiates with the seller on a buyer’s behalf after an unsold auction. Buyers have no 14-day right of withdrawal; Route 66 bases that on bids also being possible in the room |
* On a few points Route 66’s own pages contradict each other, and we do not pick a version. One page says every car has a reserve, another that most lots have one. For the number of auction rounds you offer the car in, their pages say ‘a minimum of three’, ‘up to three’ and ‘three in total’. The buyer pays the purchase price within 5 working days according to the help centre, within 7 days according to the terms. And the moment the seller is paid ranges from when the buyer collects the car to at least 7 days after they have received it. Check what applies to your car beforehand.
| €450 |
| €1,634 |
| +€1,184 |
| €25,000 | €750 | €2,723 | +€1,973 |
|---|
| €75,000 | €2,250 | €8,168 | +€5,918 |
|---|
| €150,000 | €3,600maximum fee | €16,335 | +€12,735 |
|---|
At Route 66 Auctions the minimum fee applies below a sale price of roughly €10,600.
At Octane the €3,600 cap applies above a sale price of roughly €120,000.
Octane's amounts include VAT.
Route 66 Auctions publishes its buyer fee excluding VAT; it is shown here grossed up to include 21% VAT.
Route 66 also publishes the €950 minimum and the €20,000 maximum excluding VAT; on the motorcycle lots we read, the minimum was €495. The tables leave BOOST-Marketing out: if you opt for it, half of whatever is bid above your reserve also goes to Route 66.
Information checked on 2 October 2026. Fees and terms of external platforms can change. Always check the current terms with the platform itself.