Cars are posted as they come in. Each auction ends at noon on day 7 after it is posted. Because of the 5-minute extension (see below), an auction can run a little past its end time if there's a late bid.

Every car has a minimum bid and a bid increment. Your bid has to be at least the minimum (or, once bidding has started, at least the current bid plus the increment). When the auction ends, the highest bid wins. Bids can't be withdrawn once placed, so bid only what you're ready to pay.

Yes. Creating one is free and takes a minute. We'll email you a link to confirm your address, and you'll need to click it before you can bid.

If someone bids during the last 5 minutes of an auction, the end time moves to 5 minutes after that bid. That keeps last-second bids from shutting everyone else out, so an auction can run a little past its posted end time. The countdown on the car's page always shows the current end time.

Yes. We email you when someone tops your bid (no more than one email per car every 10 minutes), and your account page shows whether you're winning or outbid on each car.

No. The bid history shows only the date, time and amount of each bid, never names.

We'll email you, and the car will show under My purchases on your account page. Payment and pickup are due by 5:00 PM on the next business day (see below), at our office by cash, check or credit card. You can tell us which you plan to use on your account page.

Payment and pickup are due by 5:00 PM on the next business day after the auction closes. You can pay by cash, check or credit card at our office. If you can't make it by then, call us before the deadline to make arrangements. Anyone who doesn't pay, or make arrangements, within that time will be banned from bidding.

Every car has a lot number, which is the number we use for it in our own system. It's shown on the car's page and in the list. Mention it when you call or visit so we can pull up the right car.

Yes. You can inspect any vehicle by visiting our office Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Cars are sold as-is, so we encourage you to take a look, or call us with questions, before you bid.

We show the first 11 characters, which describe the vehicle (maker, model, engine, model year and where it was built), and hide the last 6, which are the car's unique serial number. Staff have the full VIN on file.

Keys tells you whether we have a key for the vehicle. Runs tells you whether it runs and drives, doesn't run, or whether we don't know. "Unknown" means we haven't been able to check, so plan for the worst.

On your account page, tick "Get notified as soon as new vehicles are posted". We'll email you when new cars go up, and every email has a link to turn it off.

Once an auction ends, the listing comes down from the public site. Cars that have sold and been paid for show for a while in the Recently sold section on the home page (without prices). If you won, it stays in your account under My purchases.

Use "Forgot password?" on the log-in form and we'll email you a link. It works once, for one hour.