Bring a Trailer vs Cars & Bids: Fees and Which Is Better

Bring a Trailer and Cars & Bids now charge buyers the same fee, so the choice between them comes down to seller costs, the kind of car you have, and who’s watching the auction. This guide is for sellers deciding where to list and buyers who want to know what they’ll really pay. [PLACEHOLDER: one true line of experience, such as “I’ve tracked [number] listings on both sites” or “I’ve bought and sold cars on each.”] Below you’ll find the fees, worked examples at real sale prices, and a quick way to decide. For more auction guides, browse our blog.

Quick Answer: Both sites charge buyers 5% of the final price, with a $250 minimum and a $7,500 maximum. The difference is on the seller side: Bring a Trailer charges a listing fee starting at $99, while Cars & Bids lets sellers list for free. Bring a Trailer suits a wider range of cars, including older classics. Cars & Bids suits sellers with a modern enthusiast car who want no upfront cost.

How much does Bring a Trailer cost?

Bring a Trailer charges the buyer 5% of the winning price, and charges the seller a listing fee that starts at $99. There’s no seller commission on top. Here’s how each piece works.

Buyer’s premium. Buyers pay 5% on top of the final sale price, with a $250 minimum and a $7,500 maximum. The minimum applies to any car that sells at $5,000 or below. The cap kicks in at $150,000. Motorcycles, ATVs, parts, tractors, and a few other categories carry a 10% fee with a $4,000 cap instead. So if you’re bidding on anything that isn’t a car, check the category before you set your max. amerifreightamerifreight

Seller packages. Sellers pay $99 for the Classic package. The Plus package costs $429 and includes professional photography. White Glove pricing varies by vehicle. Photos matter a lot on an auction site, so it’s worth asking whether the extra money buys you more bids. A clean, well-lit car with good shots may not need it. A car you can’t photograph well might. hypercars

Verified Checkout. Verified Checkout launched in March 2024 and is included in the standard 5% buyer’s fee. It handles payment and title transfer, with the platform acting like an escrow service that receives the buyer’s money and passes it to the seller once the deal is done. That’s worth knowing, because it means the 5% covers more than a listing on a website. privateautoprivateauto

The card hold. BaT places a hold on your card for the buyer’s fee and converts it to a charge if you win. Bidders who don’t win don’t pay it. carcheckervin

Proof: [PLACEHOLDER: screenshot of a real BaT invoice or fee page, with the date you captured it]

How much does Cars & Bids cost?

Cars & Bids charges buyers the same fee as Bring a Trailer, and sellers pay nothing to list. The buyer’s fee is 5%, with a $250 minimum and a $7,500 maximum. Sellers list for free and receive the full sale price. carsandbidscarsandbids

A note on older numbers. If you’ve read a Cars & Bids fee article from a few years back, it probably says 4.5%. The site used to charge 4.5% with a $4,500 cap and a $225 minimum, then raised the fee to 5%, a $7,500 cap, and a $250 minimum. Some comparison sites still show the old figures, so check the date on anything you read, and confirm the numbers on Cars & Bids’ own fee page. theautopian

The card hold. When you bid, the site places a temporary hold on your card. The hold equals 5% of your bid, with the same minimum and maximum, and it’s released if you don’t win. If you win, the hold becomes the charge. The fee isn’t refunded after a win. That’s a good reason to be sure before you place your last bid. carsandbidscarcheckervin

Proof: [PLACEHOLDER: screenshot of the C&B fee page or a bid hold on your card, with the date you captured it]

What do the fees look like on real sale prices?

At every price level, buyers pay the same fee on both sites. The only fee gap is on the seller side, where Cars & Bids costs $0 and Bring a Trailer costs $99 or $429. The table does the math for you.

Sale price	Buyer fee (both sites)	Seller costs: BaT	Seller costs: C&B
$5,000	$250 (the minimum)	$99 or $429	$0
$30,000	$1,500	$99 or $429	$0
$75,000	$3,750	$99 or $429	$0
$150,000 and up	$7,500 (the cap)	$99 or $429	$0

Here’s how to read it. Say a buyer wins a car at $30,000. They pay $1,500 in fees, so the car costs $31,500 before tax and shipping. A seller of that same car keeps the full $30,000 on Cars & Bids, or $29,901 on Bring a Trailer with the Classic package.

The cap changes the picture for expensive cars. At $300,000, the fee is still $7,500, which works out to 2.5% of the price instead of 5%. So the fee hurts most on cars in the low and middle price range, and matters least at the very top.

If you’re planning to run your own vehicle auctions and want to set fees like these, take a look at our car auction software. You can try the live vehicle demo to see how buyer’s fees and commissions work in practice.

Which platform is cheaper for buyers?

Neither, on the standard fee. Both charge 5% with a $250 minimum and a $7,500 maximum, so a $40,000 car adds $2,000 in fees on either site. What changes your real cost is everything around the fee.

• Special categories on BaT. Motorcycles, ATVs, parts, tractors, and a few other categories carry a 10% buyer fee with a $4,000 cap. If you’re bidding on anything other than a car, check the category first. amerifreight
• Sales tax and shipping. Budget for state sales tax and shipping when the car isn’t local. Neither is part of the buyer’s fee, and shipping alone can add up on a cross-country purchase. amerifreight
• Inspection. A pre-purchase inspection costs money, but it costs less than finding a problem after the sale.

Plan your max bid with the fee built in. Decide your total budget, then divide it by 1.05. If you can spend $42,000 all-in on the car and fee, your top bid is $40,000. That math works between $5,000 and $150,000. Below $5,000, subtract the $250 minimum instead. Above $150,000, subtract $7,500.

Which platform is cheaper for sellers?

Cars & Bids wins on listing cost, since it’s free and Bring a Trailer starts at $99. A free listing only saves you money if the car sells for as much there. A $99 fee is small next to a car that sells for $30,000, so the better question is which site gets you the better price.

On BaT, the $99 Classic package includes a custom-written listing and a 7-day auction, and the $429 Plus package adds professional photography and video. That’s a $330 difference. Here’s a simple test: if better photos would add more than $330 to the final bid, Plus pays for itself. A clean car that you can photograph well in good light may not need it. A car in a cramped garage, or a seller who isn’t confident behind a camera, may get real value from it. amerifreight

Pick the site on the car, then look at the fee.

Proof: [PLACEHOLDER: a real seller result or story, such as what a car sold for, which site, and which package or photos you used]

How do the two sites differ beyond fees?

The auction mechanics are similar, and the bigger differences are audience and the type of car each site favors. Here’s how they compare on the points that matter most.

	Bring a Trailer	Cars & Bids
Auction length	7 days	Typically 7 days
Late-bid extension	A bid in the last 2 minutes resets the timer to 2 minutes	Sniping protection adds a short extension [VERIFY exact length]
Listing review	BaT reviews every submission, and not all vehicles are accepted	The team reviews every listing against its standards
Focus	Classic, collector, and enthusiast vehicles	Enthusiast cars [VERIFY model-year range]
Location	[VERIFY]	Cars must be in the US or Canada, and bidders can be anywhere
Reserve options	Reserve and no-reserve	[VERIFY]
Payment help	Verified Checkout handles payment and title transfer, and it’s included in the buyer’s fee	[VERIFY] bring a trailer your guide to buying selling cars +9

Audience and community. Both sites rely on comment sections where buyers question sellers. On BaT, sellers answer buyer questions during the 7-day auction. Cars & Bids was launched by YouTuber Doug DeMuro in June 2020 and has a strong focus on community. That background shapes the crowd. One review warns that a vintage model or a high-mileage daily driver may struggle to find the right buyer on Cars & Bids. Treat that as one reviewer’s view and test it by browsing recent sold listings for cars like yours. bring a trailer your guide to buying selling cars +2

A note on location. Bring a Trailer is expanding to the UK in 2026, with seller fees starting at £79 and a 5% buyer fee capped at £5,000 plus VAT. All the fee numbers in this post are for the US site. If you’re in the UK, check the local fee page.

Which one is better for you?

Neither site wins every time. “Better” depends on your car and on whether you’re buying or selling. Use this guide to match your situation.

• You’re selling a modern enthusiast car and want the lowest upfront cost. Start with Cars & Bids. Sellers list for free and keep the full sale price. If the car fits the site’s audience, you spend nothing to find out. carsandbids
• You’re selling an older, rarer, or higher-value classic. Look hard at Bring a Trailer. The platform focuses on classic, collector, and enthusiast vehicles. On a car worth tens of thousands, the $99 listing fee is a small cost next to reaching the right buyers. Browse recent sold listings for similar cars on both sites before you decide. amerifreight
• You’re buying and want the widest choice. Watch both. Bring a Trailer runs auctions for cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, and other vehicles, so it covers more ground. Check the category before you bid, since some carry a higher fee. amerifreight
• You’re buying and care most about total cost. The buyer fee is the same, so compare the rest: shipping from the car’s location, sales tax, and inspection. A cheaper car that’s far away can cost more than a pricier one down the road.

The honest answer is that fees won’t decide this for you. The car, the crowd, and the way the listing is presented matter more.

What mistakes do buyers and sellers make on these sites?

Most mistakes come from rushing. Here are four to avoid.

Forgetting the buyer’s fee in a max bid. It’s easy to set a limit of $40,000 and then realize you’ve committed to $42,000. Build the fee into your budget before the final minutes, when bidding gets exciting.

Skipping photos and a clear description. Buyers bid on what they can see. Take photos in good light from every angle, and write plainly about flaws. A listing that hides problems draws hard questions in the comments.

Choosing a site by fee alone. A free listing doesn’t help if your car sits in front of the wrong crowd. A $99 fee means little next to a few extra bids from the right buyers.

Ignoring shipping and tax. The final price is only part of the cost. Sales tax and shipping come on top of the winning bid and the buyer’s fee. Get a shipping quote before you bid, not after you win. amerifreight

Proof: [PLACEHOLDER: a lived mistake or story, what happened, what it cost, and what you’d do differently]

What if you want to run your own car auction site?

Some dealers, clubs, and groups run their own auctions so they control the fees, the branding, and the customer list. That means you set the buyer’s fee and any seller commission yourself. If that appeals to you, take a look at our car auction software. You can also try the live vehicle demo to see how bidding, offers, and buy-now work. For more auction guides, browse our blog.

Running your own site makes sense when you sell cars regularly, or when you have a community that will come to you. If you only sell one car now and then, joining an existing site is smarter, since those sites already bring the audience.