Tow of War

We don't charge our sellers any sales commissions or listing fees. 

We don't want any barriers to getting good quality cars from genuine sellers and the 6% + VAT we earn in buyer's commission for Curated Auctions is how we make our money.

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You really have nothing to lose as we manage everything for you including:
- All professional photography of your vehicle with over 200+ images and ~45mins of video*
- The car stays with you so there's no transportation to organise, or risk of your car getting damaged.
- We produce the most detailed & transparent listings in the industry.
- We market to buyers in the UK & mainland EU to get the very best price.
- We even speak to buyers on your behalf so you don’t have to.

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* we charge this at cost price and will work it out based on your location - we have 15 trained automotive photographers around the country.  Professional photography is very important to showcase your car to the best of its potential resulting in higher returns to you.

The car always stays with you - we come out and take all the professional photos of your vehicle with over 200+ images and 1hr of video.

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We produce the most detailed & transparent listings in the industry - no one goes to the lengths we do.  This gives buyers confidence in the sale meaning 80% of cars we sell don’t have viewings.  So the cars don't need to be in one central location.

Yes that's right - our service is all about trust and transparency backed up with the most thorough listings in the industry. This means buyer's trust our service and value the accurate / transparent way we photograph and describe the vehicles we sell. Ultimately, confident buyers bid higher.

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Also, remember we just charge a 6% + VAT buyer's premium on Curated Auctions which is the lowest in the industry too.  So we take just 6% + VAT total share of the cost of the vehicle to the buyer. Other auctions services take up to 30% of the value of the vehicle - ultimately this means a lot less money back to you.

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We've reviewed the top 10 classic car auctions in the UK and our service will return you up to 22% more money when compared to using those traditional auction houses. And it's a good deal for the buyer too as they don't pay any more money than they would by using a traditional auction - isn't that amazing.

Not necessarily - the first step is for you to submit your car for valuation via the form on this page. 

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We will then review the car and provide you with an accurate market valuation - we may need to speak to you to discuss the condition and history of the vehicle. 

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During the valuation process we may then offer to handle the sale of the vehicle on your behalf - we will talk you though this process to make sure it's the right decision for both of us.

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Ultimately we are interested in consigning good quality and fresh-to-market vehicles from genuine sellers, that will appeal to our buyers and bidders at auction.

A reserve is the minimum price that you will let the car sell for.  This is a secret price agreed between us: we never disclose it and we ask you not to either.  Disclosing the reserve price undermines the auction process.

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We'll work with you to set a realistic reserve in line with market pricing.  This is important because a key benefit of our auction service is that if the high bid is above the reserve price, the buyer is legally contracted to complete the sale of the car. 

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We also take a non-refundable deposit from their stored credit card, so the buyer is financially tied to the sale. 

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However, if the the highest bid received is below your reserve price, the car is not sold. 

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Therefore, a reserve that’s too high means you will miss out on a sale. 

We take this process very seriously, to start off with we begin by understanding your vehicle, for example factory options, condition and mileage. Once we have this information we analyse the market to gauge your vehicle against recent sales and talk to our team of professionals to estimate any remedial work required.

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We will put together a valuation and may personally talk you through it. At this point we will mutually agree a reserve price for your vehicle.

Absolutely, we are an established service since 2011 within the classic vehicle industry with 10,000's of visitors a month looking to buy their next classic.

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Our service is all about trust and transparency backed up with the most thorough listings in the industry. This means buyer's trust our service and value the accurate / transparent way we photograph and describe the vehicles we sell. Ultimately, confident buyers bid higher.

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However, the genius comes with how we market your car for sale.  We list details of your vehicle on all the top classified sites in the UK and mainland EU, linking back to the auction listing.  Serious buyers / collectors have alerts on these sites, so they will visit the auction listing and view your vehicle.

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Importantly, we've developed auto-extending bidding that mimics traditional auction house bidding; it’s a key feature to make sure vehicles achieve their true worth.  Bids placed in the last one minute automatically extend the auction by a one further minute.

It's traditional for auction houses to charge seller and buyer fees.  Our overheads are much lower and this means we can offer our premium Curated Auctions service with just the 6%+ VAT Trade Classics Fee (Buyer Premium).

Yes - but only if you notify us the day before the scheduled visit.

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Before the day of the visit: yes, we will refund the photography fee in full, as no costs have been incurred to us yet.  

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On the day of the visit: no, the fee is not refundable -  this is because our photographers are freelancers and they would have planned their working week and would lose out on earnings.  We still pay them for the service and as such this means the fee is non-refundable to you.

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After the visit: no; if you decide to not go ahead with the process at any point after our photographer has visited then the fee is also non-refundable - this is because we had to pay the photographer for their services and the price you pay us is the actual charge for photography, i.e. we make no money from this service.

Probably not - we only consign fresh to market cars that have not been widely advertised anywhere else.  This is because the price has already been set and makes achieving a higher price more difficult.

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Also buyers may be put off seeing the car not sell by one process and then appear for sale within another.

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It's likely we'll say no if you've advertised the car on eBay or a top classified site, however, if you've just listed locally or on a site like Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace then we may accept the car.

The security and safety of our community is our top priority.

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Before a person is allowed to bid they must submit a credit or debit card for us to validate.

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During the bidding process the buyer's stored credit or debit card is used to authorise the Trade Classics Fee (Buyer Commission).  If this authorisation fails then the bid will not be made.  At the end of the auction this fee is charged to the stored card automatically.

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We use a trusted payment provider called Stripe (to read more on their security click here) to manage the authorisations and charges we request on our bidder's stored cards.

Our terms and conditions are very straightforward and what you'd expect for a typical auction company.

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For example, the sale is between the buyer (winner at auction) and you (the seller).  It's on a 'Sold as Seen' basis with no warranties.  Essentially like a private sale - we are in the middle making sure it all goes through smoothly and take a 6% + VAT fee from the buyer on Curated Auctions.

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Honesty and transparency are important to us so we don't have anything unusual in our terms and conditions - we do ask you to give us exclusivity during the sale period, i.e. you don't advertise it anywhere else.  This is to protect us as it takes a lot of time and money in advertising to complete a sale.  It also makes sure we get the most money back for you - duplicate sales can confuse buyers.

Absolutely not - we have invested a lot of time and resources into the sale to bring the car to market and consider this a serious breach of our Terms and Conditions in Section 8.0.

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During Auction Period (by this we refer to the time from when a listing becomes live until the auction subsequently closes - generally a 7 day period) - under no circumstances should private sales be requested or offered by any party during the auction period.  We take reasonable steps to monitor this process including but not limited to the communications sent between buyers and sellers via our auction service.

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Post Auction Close (by this we refer to the period after the item sale is finalised) - under no circumstances should private sales be requested by registered Users of our service (Accounts active at anytime during the auction period) or their immediate families, networks and affiliates to any Seller against a vehicle that was not sold due to not making the reserve price set.   This clause is effective for 8 weeks after the auction end date.  We take reasonable steps to monitor this process including but not limited to the communications sent between Buyers and Sellers via our service.

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Breach of Agreement; if we ascertain reasonable evidence that a breach to these terms above then the SELLER  will be charged 7.2% of the agreed reserve price or of the final bid, whichever is the greater sum. This is to cover our costs of consigning the vehicle during the auction preparation process, which includes but is not limited to our time invested to appraise the vehicle, consider its market position, cover any travel and subsistence costs to view the vehicle and incurred marketing costs.  If we believe there has been a breach of this agreement, and liability from the Seller has not been disclosed, then we will investigate and produce evidence for legal proceedings, for example to supply directly to the small claims court; more details on this process can be found on the UK Government website.

No - we do ask you to refrain from doing so.

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We have chosen your car as we believe an online auction route is the best process to achieve the highest possible price.

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If in the unlikely event you wish to remove the car from sale then you will be charged 7.2% of either the starting bid or current bid at that time, whichever is greater.

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This is to cover our costs of working with you during the auction preparation process.

No - after we agree consignment of the car with an associated reserve price then this is set for the duration of the process / auction. 

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However, you could cancel the contract with us, but then you would be liable for 6% + VAT of the initially agreed reserve price - please see Section 6.1.21 of our terms for more info. 

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This rule is in place to protect our service, as if you decide to move the reserve up then naturally it will decrease the chances of sale - which is a key factor for us when deciding to take your car into our service.

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You are free to lower the reserve - please see 'Can I change the reserve price down?' for more information.

Yes - you are free to lower the reserve at any time  - we just need at least 2 hours notice before the end of the auction, e.g. if your auction ends at 7.30pm then you have up until 5.30pm on the day of the auction to write to us saying you want to reduce the reserve.

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Naturally there is no restriction on lowering the reserve as it will increase our chances of a successful sale.  However, we do need the direction in writing on email or instant message to one of the team you are working with.

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IMPORTANT NOTE - As we have spend considerable time and money bringing your car to market, you can't under any circumstances increase the reserve that we initially agreed - this is because of course raising the reserve reduces our chances of selling your car.  We make about a £250 loss for every unsold car when you count up the work we do, and the marketing spend for each car.  So out of fairness, it's not right to reduce the chances of sale.

No - if you decide to authorise a lower reserve to us for any reason, at any point in the process, then we will not make up the difference to any previously agreed reserve price.  This is because you have decided to reduce the lowest price for the car that you are willing to accept.  This decision may have been by your own accord or recommended to you by us - either way it is your decision.

The buyer is contractually bound to purchase the car from you within 7 days of the auction end.

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We automatically deduct our non-refundable 6%+ VAT Trade Classics Fee (Buyer Commission) for Curated Auctions from the buyer's credit card at the end of the auction, so they are financially tied to the transaction.

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If the buyer still doesn't complete then you can either choose to take no action, or issue legal proceedings to recover the money.  This is the same process as any other auction sale - traditional or online.

YES - VIP Auctions - we offer a fully managed service, meaning we will collect the car, prepare the car and also store the car during the auction, plus we'll also manage all viewing requests - more info here. 

If your car doesn't sell at auction then we'll try our best to sell it post-auction at a price you're happy with.

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However, of course we can't guarantee a sale, like any other service, but we do try our very best to get you that sale.

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If the car doesn't sell at auction or post-auction, then we'll let you know and give you feedback on the process.  Rest assured, due to our own extensive buyer network and the unique way we advertise your car across other platforms, e.g. eBay, Cazoo, Pistonheads, Motors.co.uk, Facebook and Instagram, it does mean all potential interested parties will have seen the car.

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If we think your car could sell in the future then we may offer a re-run of the auction, however, that has to be at least three months from the date of the last auction - it's just there is no point re-auctioning a car sooner as we will have marketed it to all interested parties at that time.  We'd need to wait for a new group of people that may be interested in the car, or economic situations to change, in order to stand a chance of sale at the price you're looking for.