Car Auction: A New Way to Sell Your Car

Want to sell your car fast at a great price? For many car owners, selling their cars may not be as simple as they want it to be. Granted, if you want to sell your car, you can post an advertisement for it on a used car website— just upload your car’s pictures and the ad for your car will immediately be live. 

However, in the sea of cars by the same brand and model, there is no guarantee that it will stand out and manage to attract potential buyers. Even if a potential buyer found your car, you would have to make time to meet them so the individual can see the car in person and you both can move on to the negotiation step. 

Also, there is no guarantee that your car will be sold after they come over. If you have more than one potential buyer, this process will repeat over and over again. As you can imagine, it will require too much of your time and attention just to get your car sold.

Looking for an easier way? You can consign your car for auction at IBID (Balai Lelang Serasi).This mechanism to sell your car is called Consignment Auction. So far, IBID has auctioned items from large corporations, financing companies, private companies, and even government agencies, but recently IBID has also started to offer a consignment auction service for individuals who want to auction their cars. 

Consignment auction offers you a hassle-free way to sell your car since you do not have to repeatedly waste your time just to meet your potential buyers. On top of that, you will get the best estimate for your car’s value according to its condition. Consigning your car with IBID is also fast and easy, too. Here is how.

1. Visit IBID’s website or download the app 

First, visit IBID’s official website at ibid.astra.co.id or download the app, available on Google Play, Apple App Store, and Huawei AppGallery. Select the TITIP LELANG (CONSIGNMENT AUCTION) tab, then select DAFTAR SEBAGAI INDIVIDU (REGISTER AS AN INDIVIDUAL) if the car to be auctioned is your own car or DAFTAR SEBAGAI PERUSAHAAN (REGISTER AS A COMPANY) if it is owned by a company.

2. Fill out the Consignment Auction Form

Enter your personal details—phone number, name, and bank account number—and upload a photo of your ID if you have not done so. If you have, proceed to fill out the consignment auction form, providing details about your car.

3. Take your car to IBID’s nearest branch for inspection 

Visit the nearest branch at the inspection time you have scheduled. The Astra Car Valuation (ACV) team will inspect your car, from the exterior to the interior and from the frame down to the engine. The inspection will grade your car based on its condition: excellent, good, fair, poor, or very poor.

4. Get an appraisal for your car 

After the inspection, the ACV team will provide you with details of your car’s health and recommended reserve prices you can choose. The price recommendations are based on the Market Auction Price (MAP) database, which stores data of thousands of cars auctioned at IBID.

You can also check out by yourself the average market price for your car by signing up as a MAP member via its website. To find out information about other vehicles in the database, you can specify the search parameters. To register as a MAP member, signing up is all you need to do. After that, you are free to browse this used car database. The service is available free of charge.

5.  Auction your car on the next auction schedule

If an agreement is reached, your car will be immediately auctioned on the nearest available schedule, either at a Live Auction or a Timed Auction. You can also enjoy cashback of 1.4% of the final price and lower auction administration fee: only 2.5% down from 5%. 

Why should I auction my car at IBID? From its beginning in 2007 to the end of 2016, IBID sold 27,000 four-wheeled vehicles at auction and held more than 500 auctions annually. IBID hosts auctions on a weekly basis in its 10 branch offices across Indonesia. So far, the company has held auctions in more than 30 cities in Indonesia.

There are three kinds of auctions it organizes: Live Auction, Timed Auction, and Flash Auction. 

A Live Auction is a real-time auction where each lot is presented in turn on a given auction schedule. When the lot is being presented, participants can put in their highest bid. The auction of an item ends when there is no higher bid placed for it. When that happens, IBID will announce the highest bidder, and the auction continues to the remaining items. It is different from a Timed Auction and Flash Auction.

At Timed and Flash Auctions, all lots are presented simultaneously on their schedule. However, a Flash Auction takes place for only an hour, while a Timed Auction can last for hours, even days. 

For example, at this week’s Timed Auction, 10 used cars are auctioned from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB). All the cars will be shown all together during the auction, and only after the auction concludes, the participants with the highest bids are announced. Meanwhile at a Flash Auction, 5 cars, for instance, are auctioned only from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. 

IBID provides two kinds of auction participant number called NPL (short for Nomor Peserta Lelang): NPL Live (for a Live Auction) and NPL Timed (for Timed and Flash Auctions).

Flash Auction has an edge over other kinds of auctions—it auctions a collection of “fresh from the oven” used cars since cars inspected by Astra Car Valuation (ACV) experts will be typically auctioned here. For consignors, this auction helps to ensure their cars are sold quicker, while for bidders, it helps them find a fresh collection of used cars to bid on. As for Timed Auction, it is scheduled like a Live Auction.

Where Flash Auction wins is Live Streaming and Live Chat features provided for its participants. Each bidder with NPL can ask up to 10 questions about the condition of a car to the inspector via the Live Chat. The inspector can show the used car in question in detail via the Live Streaming by aiming the camera exactly on the part asked about by the bidder. 

Flash Auction offers the convenience of an online auction. Right from the comfort of their home, participants can see in detail the cars auctioned with the help of the Live Streaming, so getting an unreliable car is in the rearview mirror since participants have the opportunity the car’s condition is presented inside out.