How to Register for a Car Auction
Registering to bid takes a government-issued ID, a payment method on file, and often a refundable deposit or a paid membership tier. Some platforms are open to any adult; others require a dealer license or a broker before you can bid on certain lots. Check the platform's own rule before you gather anything else.
Pick the platform and check your state's public-access rule
The first decision is not which auction to join, it is which kind of auction will even take you as a customer. Dealer-only auctions such as Manheim and OPENLANE serve licensed dealers buying or selling wholesale vehicles, not the general public, and ACV Auctions states plainly on its own site that bidders must hold a dealer's license. If you do not have one, none of those three will open an account for you no matter how much ID you bring.
Public auctions are a different story, and a mixed one. Copart and IAA both accept public registrations, but for salvage and non-clean-title lots, access and fees depend on your state and the lot's title type, and a licensed broker is sometimes required to buy a salvage-title vehicle. Ritchie Bros., IronPlanet, Cars & Bids, Bring a Trailer, eBay Motors, GovDeals and Public Surplus are open to public signup with no dealer license stated as a requirement. Before you spend an evening filling out a form, search the platform's own site for its stated buyer eligibility rather than assuming a name you recognize behaves like the last one you used.
Gather ID and address proof
Every platform we checked verifies identity in some form before it lets a new account bid. At minimum, expect to supply a government photo ID (driver's license or passport) and a current address, and Bring a Trailer additionally requires two-factor authentication and billing verification before a registered account can place a bid. Cars & Bids requires a verified email address and a valid credit card on file as part of registration, not just a name and address.
If you plan to buy a salvage-title or non-clean-title lot as a private individual, keep a scan of your driver's license and proof of address in one folder, since some states require a licensed broker for that category regardless of how complete your personal paperwork is. If you are ever unsure what your state accepts as valid ID for a vehicle transaction, your state's DMV publishes the current list, and the rules for buying at auction line up with the rules for titling once you get the vehicle home.
Choose a membership tier
Several platforms use tier names that sound like a subscription decision but are really an eligibility filter. The table below is limited to what each platform states on its own published pages, checked September 2026; where a platform gates its fee schedule behind a login, we say so rather than guess.
| Platform | Public or dealer-only | What signup asks for | Deposit or hold |
|---|---|---|---|
| IAA | Both, fees differ by buyer type | Register to Buy form; no subscription cost stated on the homepage | Not published on the pages we checked |
| Ritchie Bros. | Public | Free registration, in person, online or by PriorityBid | About 25% of bidding limit, refundable |
| IronPlanet | Public | Free registration; site cites 1.8 million-plus users | None stated |
| Cars & Bids | Public | Verified email plus a valid credit card | 5% buyer's fee held per bid, not at signup |
| Bring a Trailer | Public | Two-factor authentication, email and billing verification | None stated |
Notice what is missing from that table: a dollar figure for Copart or IAA membership, or a buyer's premium percentage for Manheim, OPENLANE or ACV Auctions. None of the three dealer-only platforms publish that on a page a member of the public can reach, and Copart's registration pricing was not confirmed on any page we could load this session, so we are not going to hand you a number that might already be wrong by the time you read this.
Place the deposit
A bid deposit is money the platform holds before the sale, separate from what you eventually pay for the vehicle. Ritchie Bros. is the clearest example: a refundable deposit of roughly 25% of your desired bidding limit is typical, though account verification can qualify you for a limit without a deposit, and approved buyers can get up to 100% financing through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services, which removes the deposit question entirely.
Cars & Bids works differently. It does not ask for a deposit at registration, but once you place a bid, it places a hold on your card for 5% of that bid, capped between $250 and $7,500. That hold releases if you do not win, though it can take up to about seven business days to clear depending on your bank, so do not plan on that money being free again the next morning.
Read the fee schedule and payment window before bidding
This is the step people skip, and it is the one that turns a winning bid into an unpleasant invoice. Every platform adds something on top of the hammer price, usually a buyer's premium or an equivalent fee, and the structure varies enormously. Purple Wave charges a flat 10% buyer's premium, confirmed in its own terms. IronPlanet publishes exact default and late-payment fees tied to sale price, starting at a $500 default fee on sales of $2,500 or less and rising in tiers to $6,500 on sales over $100,000. Copart and IAA both publish tiered fee schedules that scale with sale price and change by payment method and buyer type, so treat any number you see quoted for either one as a snapshot, not a promise, and go read the platform's own current schedule before you bid.
The payment window matters as much as the fee. IronPlanet gives you 5 business days from contract before a default fee applies. Ritchie Bros. wants full payment within 7 days of the auction's end, with a 2.95% late convenience fee after that. Purple Wave wants payment by 4 p.m. on the second business day following the sale. None of these windows are long enough to shop for financing after you have already won, so line up your money before you bid, not after.
Set up your payment method
Wire transfer is accepted almost everywhere and is usually the cheapest option once you account for card fees and caps. Ritchie Bros. allows credit cards but requires them entered at least 15 minutes before online bidding starts, with holds lasting up to 5 days for US and Canadian cards or 45 days for international cards. Purple Wave caps credit card payments at $3,000 regardless of the sale price, which matters if you are counting on a card to cover a larger purchase. Bring a Trailer offers an optional paid service, Verified Checkout, for about $99, or $149 if you want title and registration handling bundled in, as a way to move money without wiring it yourself.
Whatever method you choose, confirm it works with the specific platform before auction day. A wire that has not landed by the deadline is treated the same as no payment at all, and late fees start accruing on the schedule, not on your intentions.