FAQ
The process of purchasing vehicles through the USA Auction Express platform is characterized by its ease and transparency. Key is having basic website navigation skills, which include tasks such as finding the right vehicle, using the filters, depositing a security deposit, and carrying out international transfers in U.S. dollars (USD) and euros (EUR) through your own bank. Our support team will take care of all the formalities for the client: from contacting the auction house, managing documentation, organizing transport in the United States, container loading, unloading, to customs clearance and delivering the vehicle to your country.
When using our service, the bidding process differs slightly from traditional live auctions. The first think you can do is place your deposit in your account. For bidding we can offer two options for our users:
1. You do not bid in real-time personally. Instead, you delegate the bidding on our site by entering the maximum amount you are willing to offer on the page of the selected vehicle. This amount is confidential, visible only to us at USA Auction Express, and is not disclosed before the start of the live auction at the auction house. If the amount you specify is higher than the starting bid of the live auction (i.e., higher than the closing bid of the preliminary auction), then we will represent you up to your specified maximum amount during the live auction. For example, if your maximum bidding amount is 6000$ and the live auctions starts at 5000$ we will raise your bet by one step until we reach your maximum bidding amount but we can win the vehicle on $5400 for example if noone place a bid higher than ours. This option is very comfortable especially for customers who a clients who do not feel comfortable speaking English on the phone with their personal assistant during the live auction
2. However, it's important to remember that we are providing Direct Bidding Access through live video connection on Viber or WhatsApp with your personal assistant. He / She will make a video call on Viber or WhatsApp and users cannot participate directly in the bidding during the live auction. Although there is an emotional connection involved in participating in a live auction, in a live auction you can see how many people are participating in the auction and in many cases a good deal can be made with $50 or $100 over the maximum price. It doesn't cost anything to USA Auction Express’s users to participate in as many auctions as they want until they make a good deal.
After completing the registration and placing your refundable security deposit, find the vehicle you are interested in. To bid in Preliminary Bidding, enter the maximum amount you are willing to pay for the vehicle in the field labeled "Enter Your Maximum Possible Bid," and press "Bid Now.“
USA Auction Express representative will get in touch with you on your mobile or email you have provided during the registration
The fee calculator on the USA Auction Express website is considered accurate, providing precise estimates of the costs of importing a vehicle. However, there are several factors to keep in mind that might affect the final cost:
- It does not include fees for transferring money to the USA, and the exchange rate difference depending on the bank
- It does not cover costs related to additional document processing if the documents provided by the auction house are insufficient.
Bidders enter a maximum bid for the vehicle they would like to purchase.
USA Auction Express will bid on your behalf up to your maximum bid amount, to win you the vehicle at the lowest possible price, sometimes coming in below the bidder's maximum bid. To be represented at the Live Auction, the bidder must submit a reasonable bid in the preliminary bidding. The bidder with the highest preliminary bid is then represented by the USA Auction Express’s representative at the Live Auction.
- The Live Auction happens after Preliminary Bidding and is the final bidding period for every item. Participation in the Live Auction is available is available for all users of USA Auction Express who has a reasonable bids.
- When the Live Auction starts for the yard where the vehicle is located, an item number will be assigned for the vehicle in the order sequence of how the yard will be auctioning the vehicles.
- The Live Auction is held with the assistance for user’s personal assistance through a video call. You will have to wait for your vehicle item number to come up. 7-10 min before the vehicle comes up, you will receive a call on vibe rot WhatsApp. You will simply have to receive the call and watch the live auction. During the live auction you can give directions how much you would like to bid and when you would like to stop. Bear in Mind that all our representatives speaks English!
Some vehicles have a "Buy It Now" option, where the seller is willing to sell the vehicle immediately at the price listed. To be able to purchase a car using "Buy It Now" you will need to have a USA Auction Express account. Buy It Now sales, like all USA Auction Express sales, are final. All normal fees are still applicable with a "Buy It Now" purchase.
Once a bid is placed, it cannot be canceled or reduced in any way. Make sure that you are confident in your bid before you place it. If you end up winning the bid that you placed by accident, you will be responsible for the vehicle and completing the sale.
USA Auction Express will bid, on your behalf, the next highest increment throughout the auction, against other bidders and the seller’s minimum price, if the seller as set a minimum price, until your maximum bid is reached, working to win you the vehicle at the lowest possible cost.
If you win the auction and your maximum bid amount is equal to or above the seller’s minimum, you will be awarded the vehicle. If you win the auction and your maximum bid is lower than the seller’s minimum price, your winning bid will be submitted to the seller for approval. The seller approval process can take two (2) business days.
Most vehicles come with a reserve price, which is the term for the minimum price a seller will accept. If you were the highest winning bid at the Live Auction but your bid does not meet the reserve price, your bid gets submitted to the seller for approval. If the reserve price has not been met, there is a chance that they will still sell for a lower amount. At this time, we can try to negotiate with the seller for you for which you will just have to reach out to our customer service team.
The sellers have up to two (2) business days to accept, reject or negotiate the sale.
Your deposit is not tied to a particular vehicle but your account in general. If you got outbid on a vehicle, you are welcome to start bidding on a different vehicle of your choice. You will not be charged any fees for making your bid. Your deposit will be automatically released after thirty (30) days.
No. The bid amount ONLY includes the price you are willing to pay for the vehicle. Auction fees, USA Auction Express fees, documentation fees, and transportation costs are NOT INCLUDED in the bid and will be added on top of the bid amount. You can calculate the estimated fees for each vehicle at any time using the fee calculator provided below the auction box of each vehicle.
Every client, by registering an account on the USA Auction Express platform, accepts our terms and conditions, as well as the general order conditions. This acceptance has the same legal effects as signing a contract in paper form. We do not require clients to sign an additional paper contract, as the electronic version is fully sufficient for us.
The security deposit is collected in advance via credit card or wire transfer as a guarantee that the bidder will complete the purchase of their vehicle.
Security deposits on a credit card are not typically charged and removed from your account, but instead are simply a 'pending authorization' placing the funds on reserve. Deposit made by credit card/being instant/ gives you the opportunity to bid on the day you make it, but bear in mind that you should make it at least 2 hours before the auction starts.
A security deposit may be forfeited if you win the auction and do not complete the purchase, or if you have an unpaid outstanding balance. The pending status will be removed and your account can be charged, up to the full security deposit amount.
The security deposit must be a minimum of $700, or 12% of your intended maximum bid, whichever one is greater.
If you would like to bid on multiple vehicles, you will need a separate security deposit of $700, or 12% of your intended maximum bid, whichever one is greater, for each vehicle.
No, your security deposit cannot be used to pay for the vehicle.
We will hold your security deposit until the vehicle is paid in full and picked up from the auction facility. At that time, you can request a refund or use the deposit on another auction.
You may pay your security deposit with a credit card or debit card in your USA Auction Express account in section Bidding Power and your security deposit will immediately be applied to your USA Auction Express account.
You may also pay by bank wire transfer. In this case, we will wait until the payment posts to our account before applying the deposit to your USA Auction Express account.
You can increase your security deposit at any time by adding additional amount to your existing one.
To increase your security deposit you will go to your account and select 'Bidding Power'. You will enter the Bidding Limit that you need. This will show you the amount of your Security Deposit.
Yes. If you have not purchased a vehicle, you can request a refund at any time. If you have purchased a vehicle, you have received the invoice and the amount is paid in full you can also request a refund at any time. In the event that you win an auction and then decide not to go through with the purchase of the vehicle, your security deposit will not be refunded.
When a deposit is placed on your account it is typically listed as a 'pending authorization' on your credit or debit card. When it is refunded, USA Auction Express simply cancels this pending transaction. You will not see a new transaction for this amount. This may take up to 2-3 business days to update on your bank statement.
Yes. As your security deposit is actually a 'pending authorization', the bank only allows us to place this hold for 30 days. At the end of this time period your security deposit will expire automatically. You will need to place a new deposit at this time.
We do reserve the right to process the pending authorization as a charge, and may do so if there are any outstanding bids or purchases at the end of this 30 day period.
For most listings, we are unable to advise you if the vehicle starts due to the information we received from the auction. In the event that the company auctioning the vehicle indicates that the vehicle starts, we will put this information into the vehicle listing.
Most vehicles that come from auto auctions with keys. If keys are available, it will be indicated on the vehicle description page. Keys are not guaranteed at the time of pick up.
There are a number of ways that you can make keys for your vehicle. Contact a local authorized dealer for your vehicle's make to request assistance, or contact a locksmith.
You can find brief descriptions of Loss Type and Damage Type under the Vehicle Description section of each listing.
Auto auctions do not provide a damage report or full description of their vehicles. Examine each pictures carefully. CARFAX report will help you identify in the owner/s take a good care of the vehicles during their possession.
USA Auction Express does not have information on repair costs for specific vehicles. Contact your local mechanic or body worker to make this estimation. You can find used parts online or from a local salvage yard.
You may indicate your desire for the loose parts when arranging shipping. Due to the transportation process, we cannot guarantee that loose parts shown in the photos will be included with the vehicle.
These are designations about the condition of the vehicle when it arrived at the auction location. These verifications are performed by auction facility personnel, and not by anyone employed by USA Auction Express. USA Auction Express has no knowledge of how individual verification is conducted and cannot be held responsible for it. USA Auction Express only provides the information as received from the auction facility for the convenience of the buyer.
Engine Start means that the engine started at the time the vehicle arrived at auction location. The engine may have been started with or without a jumper or other means.
Runs and Drives means that the vehicle could move forward under its own power at the time the vehicle arrived at auction location.
It is important to note that the auctions make no guarantee that the vehicle will be able to start, put into gear or move forward under its own power when picked up by the buyer at the auction facility.
All vehicles displayed on our website are sold "as-is, where is".
It is important to understand that the photos shown on the website do not show the undercarriage or other latent defects. We provide all of the information provided to us by the auto auctions. We do not know if there is additional damage not seen in the photographs or if there have been previous repairs.
NMVTIS stands for National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. This system was implemented by the US Department of Justice to protect consumers from fraud and unsafe vehicles.
Every time a title is transferred, the DMV runs the vehicle through the NMVTIS to keep unsafe or stolen vehicles from being resold.
When a vehicle has been involved in an accident, it has to go through the reconstruction process and be authorized to be allowed back on the road.
When the reconstruction process is over, the DMV will issue a reconstructed title which is treated the same way as a clean title for registration and insurance purposes
Sometimes local laws and regulations require the originating companies to transfer the title to the state in question.
Differences between titles types and designations are minor and will be equivalent to what was displayed in the online item description. For example, "California Salvage Certificate" may be displayed in the online item description, but you might receive a title from "Arizona Salvage Title." USA Auction Express does not guarantee title types.
Payment for won vehicles must be received by 13:00 EET the following business day from the sale.
A business day is considered a weekday (Monday-Friday) that is not a Federal holiday.
For example, if you are awarded a vehicle on Monday, then the funds from the wire transfer must be received by us no later than 5pm EET on Tuesday.
If payment is received one day late, a $100 or 2% of the sale price (whichever is greater) late payment fee will be added to your account for every day that the payment is late.
We accept ONLY wire transfers. Once the auction closes, you will receive an email with invoice and payment instructions. Vehicle payment must be made by bank Wire Transfer instructions can be found in the attached invoice in PDF
USA Auction Express only accepts payment in US Dollars.
When a High Bidder wins an auction, our system will send a notification with an invoice to the email address we have on file. The invoice will include wire transfer instructions for making payment.
Please contact your BANK for specific instructions on how to make a wire transfer with them.
Items you should have on hand, most can be found on your invoice:
- Bank name for USA Auction Express
- Account number for USA Auction Express
- Domestic Customers: ABA routing number for USA Auction Express
- International Buyers: SWIFT code for USA Auction Express
Customers for the Balkan Erea – Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania: In order to avoid the expensive same day wire transfers to USA and using intermediary banks while being transferred to USA Auction Express – we will provide the Bulgaria branch Bank Details. This is how you will have a cheap and fast way for payments. After the bank wire transfer is complete, please upload your payment confirmation as indicated on the invoice.
There are several reasons why your invoice may not have been paid in full.
If you did not pay for the vehicle on time, a late fee of $100 or 2% of the sale price (whichever is greater) per day may have been added to the purchase price.
If you did not pay on time, we will not pick up the vehicles on time (within 3 business days inclusive of the sale date), a minimum storage fee of $50 per day per vehicle may have been added to the purchase price.
If you had an outstanding invoice, part of this payment may have been applied to that invoice. It is our policy to apply payments to past due invoices first.
New York Terminal
From the moment of purchase to arrival at the terminal - 5-11 days
From arrival at the terminal to loading into the container - 3-34 days
From loading into the container to the ship's departure - 2-13 days
From the ship's departure to the ship's arrival at Rotterdam - 20-40 days
Savannah Terminal
From the moment of purchase to arrival at the terminal - 5-9 days
From arrival at the terminal to loading into the container - 2-11 days
From loading into the container to the ship's departure - 3-37 days
From the ship's departure to the ship's arrival at Rotterdam - 25-30 days
Houston Terminal
From the moment of purchase to arrival at the terminal - 5-9 days
From arrival at the terminal to loading into the container - 8-30 days
From loading into the container to the ship's departure - 4-29 days
From the ship's departure to the ship's arrival at Rotterdam - 23-29 days
Los Angeles Terminal
From the moment of purchase to arrival at the terminal - 4-13 days
From arrival at the terminal to loading into the container - 2-17 days
From loading into the container to the ship's departure - 1-25 days
From the ship's departure to the ship's arrival at Rotterdam - 40-57 days
Indianapolis Terminal
From the moment of purchase to arrival at the terminal - 3-12 days
From arrival at the terminal to loading into the container - 35-62 days
From loading into the container to the ship's departure - 9-47 days
From the ship's departure to the ship's arrival at Rotterdam - 17-41 days
From ship’s arrival to unloading at the warehouse in Rotterdam - 2-5 days
Custom clearence process - 2-4 days
Transport Rotterdam – Beograd, Sofia, Bucharest - 3-5 days