On fees alone, Cars & Bids and Bring a Trailer are now almost the same for buyers: 5% of the winning bid, at least $250, capped at $7,500. The real differences are what each site sells best, who’s bidding, and what the seller pays to list. Pick the wrong one and the same car can sell for noticeably less.
Here’s how they compare, with fees taken from each site’s own pages, and which one we’d choose for which car.
TL;DR: Cars & Bids vs. Bring a Trailer
- Buyer fees: the same for cars, 5% with a $250 minimum and $7,500 cap
- Seller fees: Cars & Bids lists free. BaT charges $99, plus $330 for professional photos.
- Cars & Bids is the better pick for modern enthusiast cars, roughly 1980s onward
- Bring a Trailer is stronger for classics, rarities, and categories beyond cars
- Both reward great photos, honest disclosure and no-reserve listings
Selling dozens of cars a year? Run your own branded version with our car auction software and keep the buyer’s fee yourself.
Quick comparison
| Cars & Bids | Bring a Trailer | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Modern enthusiast cars, 1980s onward | All eras, strongest for classics and collectibles |
| Buyer’s fee (cars) | 5%, $250 min, $7,500 max | 5%, $250 min, $7,500 max |
| Buyer’s fee (other) | Not applicable | 10% with a $4,000 cap in some categories (e.g. motorcycles, parts) |
| Seller listing fee | Free | $99, plus $330 for Plus photography |
| Extras | Free vehicle history report, SafePay checkout | Custom-written listing, BaT Verified Checkout where available |
| Bid verification | Credit card hold for the buyer’s fee | Credit card hold for the buyer’s fee |
| Founded by | Doug DeMuro | Randy Nonnenberg and Gentry Underwood |
Fees in detail
For buyers on a standard car listing, the two sites now charge the same: 5% of the final bid, minimum $250, maximum $7,500. Both put a hold on your card for the fee when you bid, and release it if you don’t win. On a $40,000 car, you pay $2,000 on either site. Past $150,000, the cap kicks in and the fee stops rising.
Bring a Trailer charges 10% in some categories, such as motorcycles and parts, with a lower $4,000 cap. That only matters if you’re not buying a car.
Sellers see the bigger difference. Cars & Bids lists for free and says sellers receive 100% of the sale price. Bring a Trailer charges $99 for a listing with a custom-written description, and $330 more if you want its professional photographer. On a car worth $30,000, $99 is small. On a $6,000 project car, it’s noticeable, and it’s lost if the car doesn’t sell.
Audience and what sells
Cars & Bids was built for cars from the 1980s, 1990s and later: hot hatches, modern Porsches, JDM imports, sports sedans, quirky enthusiast cars. Its audience skews younger, and those cars often do very well there.
Bring a Trailer covers everything from pre-war cars to new supercars, and beyond cars to motorcycles, boats, parts and automobilia. For a 1960s classic, a rare survivor or a car with deep history, it usually has the deeper pool of bidders. Its comment section is famous for crowd-sourced inspection, which can help or hurt depending on your car.
Getting accepted
Both sites curate, and neither accepts everything. Bring a Trailer turns down cars for reasons like a duplicate model already in the queue, weak photos or an unproven audience. Cars & Bids accepts a wider range of modern cars, and may ask for a lower reserve before accepting a car if it thinks the number is too high. If BaT says no to a 2000s car, Cars & Bids is the obvious next stop.
Which one should you use?
Choose Cars & Bids for a car built from the 1980s onward, especially a modern enthusiast car, when you want to avoid a listing fee. Choose Bring a Trailer for pre-1980 classics, rare or historically significant cars, and anything that isn’t a car.
For high-value modern cars, it’s closer. Both have strong audiences, and identical buyer fees mean the choice is about which bidders want your specific car. Look at recent results for the same model on each site before you decide. Other options, from PCARMARKET to Collecting Cars, are in our Bring a Trailer alternatives.
Tips that work on both
Photos first: 150 to 300 good ones, including the underside, engine bay, flaws and documents. Disclose every issue in the listing, because commenters will find it anyway. Answer questions quickly during the auction. And consider no reserve. Cars & Bids says on its own site that no-reserve cars get more bids and more attention, and we’ve seen the same pattern on BaT.
Building your own Cars & Bids-style site
If you’re a dealer, a restoration shop or a club selling cars regularly, the 5% buyer’s fee on every sale is going to someone else’s platform, along with your buyers’ contact details. Forty cars a year at $40,000 average is $80,000 in fees.
Our car auction software lets you run the same format on your own domain: timed auctions with soft close, proxy bidding, reserve and no-reserve listings, large photo galleries and video, VIN decoding, document uploads, bidder deposits and verification, and your own buyer’s premium through Stripe or PayPal, with Escrow.com available for expensive cars. It’s a one-time license ($899 to $2,999). The Professional and Enterprise tiers include development hours we’d use to build public comments and seller Q&A, the community features that make this format work.
The full feature list, costs and launch plan are in how to build a site like Cars & Bids. Selling your own stock instead? The car auction website guide walks through a dealer example, and building a Bring a Trailer clone website covers classic cars.
Keep the buyer’s fee on your own sales
Click through the live demo, see license pricing, or tell us how many cars you sell.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cars & Bids better than Bring a Trailer?
For modern enthusiast cars from the 1980s onward, it’s at least as good, and listing is free. For classics, rare cars and non-car items, Bring a Trailer usually has the deeper audience.
What are the fees on Cars & Bids?
Buyers pay 5% of the winning bid, with a $250 minimum and $7,500 maximum. Sellers list for free.
What are the fees on Bring a Trailer?
Sellers pay a $99 listing fee, plus $330 for optional Plus photography. Buyers pay 5% on cars ($250 minimum, $7,500 cap), or 10% capped at $4,000 in some categories such as motorcycles and parts.
Which site gets higher prices?
It depends on the car. Check recent results for your exact model on both sites. Modern enthusiast cars often do well on Cars & Bids, and older classics on Bring a Trailer.
Can I list on both at the same time?
We wouldn’t. If the car sells on one site while bidding is live on the other, you have a problem with a buyer, and auction sites generally expect exclusivity while a listing runs. Check each site’s terms, pick one, and try the other if it doesn’t sell.
Can I build my own site like Cars & Bids?
Yes. You need timed auctions with soft close, proxy bidding, big galleries, bidder verification and buyer’s premium collection. Our car auction software includes these. Talk to our team about yours.
