Understanding Your Reserve Price: How to Set Yourself Up for Success
One of the most important steps in selling your car with Bidbus is setting your Reserve Price. We get a lot of questions about what this number actually means and how it impacts your final check.
Understanding your reserve is the key to a smooth sale and making sure you walk away happy.
The reserve price is the minimum amount you are willing toaccept for your vehicle. It acts as your safety net. If the bidding doesn’treach this number (meet or exceed) we work for you for free and your vehicledoes not sell.
However, once a dealer’s bid meets or exceeds that reserveprice, the auction is considered successful and the agreement becomes binding.
This is the most important part to remember: Your reserve price does not include the Bidbus seller fee. When you set your reserve, you need to account for the fee to understand exactly what you will "net," which is the amount of money ending up in your pocket.
Example 1: Vehicles Under $30,000 If your car is in this price range, we charge a flat $300 fee.
Your Reserve: $20,000
The Fee: $300
Your Net Gaining: $19,700
Example 2: Vehicles Over $30,000 For higher-value vehicles, we charge a simple 1% fee of the final sale price.
Your Reserve: $50,000
The Fee (1%): $500
Your Net Gaining: $49,500
If your goal is to walk away with an exact number in your pocket, you should set your reserve slightly higher to account for the fee.
We want you to be positioned strongly. Because the auction becomes a binding agreement the moment your reserve is met, you should only set a number that you are 100% comfortable with. Please make sure that the reserve offer you agree on is actually an offer you are willing to let the car go for.
Ready to see our 1,000+ dealers compete for your car? Start your auction today and let us work to beat your reserve.
Why Your Reserve Price Matters
We want you to be positioned strongly, which means you should only agree to a reserve price that you are actually willing to accept.
Once that number is hit, the "weaponized demand" has done its job, and the dealer expects to take delivery of the car at that price. Before you confirm your reserve, take a moment to do the math and make sure you are 100% comfortable letting the car go for that net amount.
Start your auction today and let our network of over 1,000 dealers compete to get you top dollar for your car.
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