Why is market research important when bidding on used cars at auctions?

Market research helps determine past selling prices for similar cars, giving buyers insight into expected prices and enabling them to set realistic budgets. This research guides buyers on mileage, model, and grade to get the best value.

What are bid groups, and how do they benefit buyers?

Bid groups allow buyers to place bids on multiple cars and limit the number they want to win, such as bidding on several Honda Fits but only purchasing two. This helps secure the best deals without repeatedly bidding each day.

What does “room for bumps” mean in auction bidding?

A “bump” is an allowance to bid slightly above the set bid price. This flexibility can be helpful if the bid is close to winning, but it's essential to specify whether you’re comfortable with bidding over or sticking strictly to the set price. Simply put, tell us if you want us to go over. Tell us if you DON'T want us to go over.

Why should round numbers be avoided in auction bids?

Many bidders use round numbers like 500,000 or 1,000,000 yen, making them predictable. Setting bids slightly above these amounts, like 515,000 or 1,020,000, can increase the chance of winning by avoiding bidding like the competition.

What advantage does a tender auction offer in terms of bid amounts?

In a tender auction, bids don’t increase in large increments, allowing finer control, such as 1,000-yen steps. This flexibility means that even a small difference, like 1,000 yen, can secure the winning bid.

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Bidding Tips

FrenchJessica

Introduction

When buying used Japanese cars at auctions, you need to have as many tools and edges as possible to give yourself an advantage over the competition. Go through the tips below to refine your bidding style. These tips were learned over 27 years of bidding experience in the auctions.

Market Research.
Bid Groups
Room for “bumps”
Round Numbers is No No!

Market Research

We can not over-emphasize how important previous market prices are in the sale price of cars in the auctions. Both sellers and buyers view these prices. The seller uses them to decide where to place his reserve price. The buyers use them to decide their bidding price.

Market Research helps you find prices of cars that were sold in past auctions that are similar to the car you are looking for. For example, the kms, model type, colours, and other factors.

The best practice when using price research is to remove the top and bottom results, especially the bottom results. Why? Our system gives you the price results, not the reason why it may have sold cheaply (transmission warning light on? Crash repair history?).

Choose a vehicle with similar kms and a similar grade, especially the model. Now you have a likely selling price of the car. Does this price fit your budget? If not, you might need to compromise on the kms or model to lower the price.

Bid Groups

Throw your net wide: Use bid groups to catch the best deals

Say you only want 2 Honda Fits. You could bid on two daily until you get the cars you want. But what a drag! Waiting to find out the result, and then having to go back again the next day to have another go.
Well, not if you use the bidding groups. This is a cool feature that allows you to bid on as many of those Honda Fits as meet your requirements without having to worry about ending up with 10 instead of 2 by mistake.
In the "add a message" drop down box,

Very simply, you put all your bids in a group and tell us how many you want from that group. We bid until we get that number, and all other bids are cancelled.

How can this help you get the best deals?

Simple! Bid on as many cars as you can at the lower end of the market price spectrum. You can then skim off the ones that are the best deals without spending the rest of the year doing it.

Room for “bumps”

Sometimes, bidding for customers is a dangerous job. Some customers want to murder us if we go over their bid price. Other customers want to murder us because we didn’t go “far enough” OVER their bid price. We haven’t heard any reports of men being able to read other’s minds … so PLEASE! Tell us if you DO want to go over your bid price, or tell us if you do NOT want us to go over your bid price.
A bump is how much over your bid price you are happy for us to go. We notice when the bidding is coming to an end (maybe one click away). " Bumps” let us secure the bid if we know it is close to your bid price (but slightly over).

Round number is a No no!

In conversation we always round numbers to 000s or 5s. Expect that of your competition as well. Big round numbers like 500 and 1,000 are common places for other people to set their prices. If you can get into the habit of NOT using these numbers your success rate will go up.
Instead of 500,000 use 515,000? Instead of 1,000,000 use 1,020,000

Tender auction numbers

In a tender auction, there is no live bidding, rather a tendered bid price. If you are 1000 yen higher than anyone else then you win. Whereas in the live bidding auctions the price goes up 5000 yen at a time, in a tender auction you can put in a 1000 yen bid. For example, a live auction will be 250,000 or 255,000 while a tender can be 250, 251, 252… etc.

Take advantage of this!

Q＆A

Why is market research important when bidding on used cars at auctions?: Market research helps determine past selling prices for similar cars, giving buyers insight into expected prices and enabling them to set realistic budgets. This research guides buyers on mileage, model, and grade to get the best value.

What are bid groups, and how do they benefit buyers?: Bid groups allow buyers to place bids on multiple cars and limit the number they want to win, such as bidding on several Honda Fits but only purchasing two. This helps secure the best deals without repeatedly bidding each day.

What does “room for bumps” mean in auction bidding?: A “bump” is an allowance to bid slightly above the set bid price. This flexibility can be helpful if the bid is close to winning, but it's essential to specify whether you’re comfortable with bidding over or sticking strictly to the set price. Simply put, tell us if you want us to go over. Tell us if you DON'T want us to go over.

Why should round numbers be avoided in auction bids?: Many bidders use round numbers like 500,000 or 1,000,000 yen, making them predictable. Setting bids slightly above these amounts, like 515,000 or 1,020,000, can increase the chance of winning by avoiding bidding like the competition.

What advantage does a tender auction offer in terms of bid amounts?: In a tender auction, bids don’t increase in large increments, allowing finer control, such as 1,000-yen steps. This flexibility means that even a small difference, like 1,000 yen, can secure the winning bid.

Beginner