Unlike traditional auctions, we disclose every reserve. Here's the philosophy behind it and why buyers keep coming back.
Hidden reserve prices are an auction industry tradition. They're also, in our view, bad for everyone involved.
Here's the standard argument for hidden reserves: sellers are protected from having to sell at prices that don't reflect their floor, while buyers are kept in suspense that drives competitive bidding. In theory, tension equals higher prices.
In practice, hidden reserves erode trust. Buyers who hammer a lot only to be told "reserve not met" feel like their time was wasted and their bids were used as a price discovery tool without their consent. They don't come back.
Our approach
On Cars Auction, the starting price is the reserve. If you win at or above the starting bid, the vehicle is yours. No post-hammer negotiations. No surprises.
This changes buyer behavior in a specific way: instead of speculative bidding to find the floor, buyers bid based on their actual valuation of the vehicle. The competition is real, not theatrical.
The seller side
We had to work to convince our first lender partners to accept this model. Their concern was that disclosed reserves would be systematically bid to — that buyers would anchor on the starting price and refuse to go above it.
What actually happened was the opposite. When buyers trust that the auction is genuine, they engage more seriously. Our average hammer-to-reserve ratio runs 12–18% above starting price. The lenders are happy.
The broader principle
Transparency isn't a feature. It's a business model. Every design decision on this platform — disclosed reserves, real condition photography, verified buyer identities, clean title requirements — is an expression of the same idea: that an auction market works best when everyone has the same information.
We're not the cheapest way to buy a auction vehicle. We are the most honest.