Buyer Process Walkthrough: OPENLANE Canada Sales Types

Our two main sales formats are two sides of the same coin — they are both digital auctions, lead to fast sales, are a nationwide dealer network, and are easy to use. Logistically, they are a bit different. As a buyer, here’s what you need to know.

45-Minute Auctions

There are 5 buyer trade “states” in total that a vehicle may experience as part of a 45-minute auction: Upcoming, Active, Closing, Pending, and Purchases. 

When you’re browsing for inventory on your homepage, you’ll see two tabs at the top of the screen — Upcoming and Active:

• Upcoming shows vehicles you can preview, add to your Watchlist, or place Proxy Bids on before they go live. 
• Active are those in a live, 45-minute auction. If a bid is placed at the last minute, the timer extends.

If the floor price is met, the vehicle moves to Closing. The seller has committed to selling the car. The top two bidders here have an additional 15 minutes to place their winning bids. If there’s a bid placed in the last 5 minutes, the timer extends. 

Once the Closing period ends, the vehicle appears in the top bidder’s Purchases.

If you bid on a vehicle but its floor price isn’t met, the vehicle goes into Pending. Here, the seller decides if they want to negotiate or send it to Closing. If you’re the top bidder, you can start a negotiation or wait for the seller to initiate. If a negotiation falls through with the top bidder, the last price proposed by the seller will be sent to the second highest bidder for consideration. But remember, Pending vehicles only have 24 hours to sell before they are removed, so act fast or risk missing out.

Simulcast Sales

Simulcast Sales include vehicles from commercial sellers, rental/fleet sellers and other dealers. It is a live auction that you can join online from anywhere. 

You can join one by clicking the Simulcast tab. You’ll then see an overview of our Simulcast Sales schedule for that week, along with its Run List, which you can export to better prepare for the sale. You can add vehicles you’re interested in from the run list directly to your Watchlist. You’ll also see a list of all the dealers, commercial sellers, and rental/fleet companies with vehicles in the sale. 

Sales that are live will have a red indicator saying LIVE. You can join up to one hour before the scheduled start time, or at any time once it’s live, by clicking the Join button. You’ll also be able to set auto-bids on vehicles before the sale starts.

Ready to make wholesale easy? Sign In

For any questions, give us a call and one of our team members will be happy to help.

888-260-4604

Monday – Friday: 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET

Saturday: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET