The car you’ve been waiting for has finally popped up - the one your heart has yearned for since youth. Or maybe it's just a cheap and cheerful runner for your kid who's learning to drive.

Whatever your reason for coming, if you're new to CARBIDS or online car auctions, here's everything you need to know about how it works.

1. How to register

We keep our platform safe and secure so you only ever compete against legitimate, verified bidders - so there are a few short steps before you're ready to bid. 

Create your profile. Hit the register button at the top right of the website. Enter your name, email, username and password. We'll text a quick verification code to your mobile number. Once verified, you're officially a "Provisional Bidder" with a $500 bid limit.

Get Authorised. To bid on cars, you'll need to become an "Authorised Bidder". Head to "Edit your details" on your profile page to verify your ID online (a one-time, 5-minute process), and nominate a credit card.

There are three bidder statuses to choose from.

Pay the refundable deposit. Place a $500 initial deposit. This stays securely in your account for future purchases. Or, if you don't win, you can request a refund at any time - simply go to your "Transaction History" page and click "Refund Deposit", or contact our friendly admin team.

Pro tip: Give yourself about 15 minutes to comfortably finish registration before your target auction closes.

2. How to bid

Head to your listing, and once you've reviewed the photos and description carefully, hit "Place your bid". There are two strategies to choose from:

Maximum bidding. This lets you set the highest amount you're willing to pay, and the system will automatically do the rest. But the system will only bed enough to beat the previous bidder by the minimum increment, keeping your actual maximum amount hidden.

Example: Bidding is at $2,000, but you're willing to pay up to $10,000. Enter $10,000. The system automatically sets the current bid to $2,010. If someone else bids, the system keeps bidding for you up to your $10,000 cap. If you win at $4000, you only pay $4,000.

You can choose between Instant and Maximum bids.

Instant bidding: Alternatively, want to show other bidders you mean business? An "Instant Bid" jumps the price up immediately to a higher number to knock out competitors.

Example: If a bid is sitting at $500 and you place an "Instant Bid" of $2,000, the auction price immediately jumps to $2,000 and goes from there.

3. Important rules to remember

No "sniping". To keep things fair, and emulate a live auction floor, CARBIDS prevents last-second "sniping".

5-Minute Rule: If a winning bid is placed within the final 5 minutes, the auction automatically extends by another 5 minutes.

1-Minute Beat Rule: If your bid in the last minute is instantly beaten by a competitor's proxy bid, the auction extends by 1 minute so you have a chance to rebid.

Buyer's Premium: Remember to factor the Buyer's Premium into your budget. This is an auctioneer's fee (normally 12.5%) added to the final winning bid price, and is inclusive of GST.

Example: A $1,000 winning bid + 12.5% Buyer's Premium = $1,125 total invoice.

Full payment is required within 3 business days of the auction closing.

Binding contract: Remember, a bid is a legally binding contract. When the auction clock hits zero, the highest bidder wins. Here's how that looks:

Final Bid of $1,000 & under: Your card is charged the full remaining balance immediately (total invoice amount minus your $500 initial deposit).

Final Bid between $1,001 – $50,000: Your card is immediately charged a $500 deposit payment, with the remaining balance due within 72 hours (3 business days).

Final Bid of $50,001 & above: Your card is immediately charged a $1,000 deposit payment, with the remaining balance due within 72 hours.

And that's it! You're ready to go and do battle over your next car ...