Seller Process Walkthrough: OPENLANE Canada Sales Types
Our two main sales types 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 seller, here’s what you need to know.
45-Minute Auctions
There are 11 trade “states” in total that a seller listing a vehicle may experience as part of a 45-minute Auction listing: Create, Parked, Upcoming, Active, Closing, Pending, Sold, Landed, Picked Up, Not Sold, and Sent to Simulcast.
First, hit the Create button on your mobile device to generate your listing. You’ll input the VIN, add the vehicle’s multimedia (quick pro tip: the more photos and videos, the higher chance you have of selling) and all disclosures.
Once your inspection is complete in Create, the listing moves to Parked and is ready for inspection. When your vehicle is fully inspected, you have three options: Upcoming, Active or Send to Simulcast.
Your first option is to launch it into Upcoming, where you can give buyers up to four days to preview the vehicle, create their Watch Lists, and place Proxy Bids. Alternatively, you can get in on the action immediately, and launch the vehicle directly into a 45-minute auction — which skips the Upcoming state and moves you straight into Active. Your third option is Send to Simulcast — but more on that later.
Active is where you’ll see your vehicles being auctioned live, watch the bids come through, smile that you went digital, and maybe wonder what you’ll do with the time you got back. Okay, you caught us; those last two aren’t officially part of the process — but you’ll still enjoy the benefits.
If your floor price is met, the car goes to Closing, indicating the seller has committed to selling the vehicle. This state gives the two highest bidders some extra time in the 45-minute auction to bid against one another. If a buyer bids in the final minutes of the auction, the timer extends.
If your floor price isn’t met, the vehicle moves into Pending.
In Pending, you can either choose to negotiate with the top bidder or send the vehicle to Closing. You only have 24 hours to choose one of these paths, so be sure to act fast and be responsive to your potential buyer. Otherwise, if no decision is made, your vehicle moves to Not Sold.
If your vehicle ends up in Not Sold, you can quickly relaunch it to Upcoming or Active, or decide to send it to Simulcast. The vehicles you’ve sent to Simulcast and their current status are listed in Sent to Simulcast.
When your vehicle is sold either in Closing or Pending, and it hasn’t landed at the dealership yet, it’ll move to the Sold trade state. This is when one winner has been determined, and you can see the buyer that won your vehicle. Once the vehicle lands at your dealership, you can mark it as Landed. Make sure you don’t do this any later than two business days after the date expected that you outlined on your listing — nobody enjoys a delayed delivery.
For your in stock vehicles, Sold will skip and they will go straight to Landed. This is where the buyer is notified that the vehicle is ready to be paid for and picked up.
When the buyer or transporter comes to pick up the vehicle, you both must sign a Vehicle Release Form. Once the vehicle is off your lot, it moves to Picked Up. If the buyer has used OPENLANE transport, this will happen automatically. If the buyer did not use OPENLANE transport, you can mark your vehicle as Picked Up from the Landed state.
Simulcast Sales
You’re able to use our Simulcast sale format both if your vehicle didn’t sell in a 45- minute auction, and if you’d just prefer to use this sale type. However, the logistics are a bit different depending on if you first tried a 45-minute auction.
If your vehicle wasn’t first listed on a 45-minute auction, you can send your vehicle to one of our 14 vehicle logistics centres (VLCs). Once the vehicle arrives at our location, we’ll complete the required Pre-Sale Inspection and then take care of listing it for you.
If your vehicle was captured and put in Parked, or has already been put up on a 45-minute auction but didn’t sell, or you can either have it transported to a nearby vehicle logistics centre, or sell it directly from your lot. We encourage you to rep your vehicle on the day of the sale by using our Remote Repping tool. You’ll get to communicate one-on-one with the auctioneer and answer any buyer questions in real time.
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