Frequently Asked Questions

Honest Car Auction is the online car auction platform of Honest Car Trading, designed to make buying and selling vehicles in the Philippines more convenient, transparent, and organized. The platform connects sellers who want to auction their vehicles with buyers looking for their next car through a secure, structured, and time-based online bidding process. Sellers can submit their vehicles for listing, including relevant details, photos, and other required information. Before a vehicle goes live, our team reviews the submission to ensure that the listing meets the platform's requirements. Once approved, the vehicle is published on the website, where interested buyers can explore its details, evaluate the available information, and participate in the auction. Each auction runs for a specified period, allowing registered buyers to place bids and compete for the vehicle. Buyers can monitor auction progress, track their favorite listings, and stay updated as bidding activity develops. When the auction ends, the winning bid is determined according to the platform's auction rules and any applicable reserve price conditions. Honest Car Auction aims to provide a reliable and user-friendly environment for online vehicle auctions in the Philippines. By bringing vehicle listings, seller reviews, bidding activities, and post-auction coordination into one platform, we help simplify the process of connecting buyers and sellers while promoting transparency, accountability, and confidence throughout the auction experience. Our goal is to make online car auctions more accessible, straightforward, and trustworthy for both buyers and sellers across the Philippines.

Once you and the seller have agreed with our team how the sale is handled, your Buyer Dashboard shows what you pay us and your payment reference. Pay it by bank transfer to Honest Car Auction, then report it there with your bank reference and receipt, and we'll confirm it.

You and the seller choose, on a call with our team right after the auction. Nothing is due until it's agreed:

• EasyProcess: a separate paid service where you pay us, and we prepare and notarize the deed of sale, take care of the HPG clearance and the LTO transfer, and pay the seller. There's a ₱20,000 processing fee that covers all the costs of the transfer, including the government and notary costs; you and the seller agree who pays it, or how you split it.
• Direct deal: you pay the seller the winning bid yourself and arrange the transfer together. Our team puts you in touch. You pay us only the service fee, which your deposit already covers.

The winning bid plus the service fee: 5% of the auction's starting bid (minimum ₱10,000, maximum ₱50,000), the same amount as its deposit, so your deposit already covers it. If you and the seller choose EasyProcess, there's also a ₱20,000 processing fee that covers all the costs of the transfer, and you agree who pays it, or how you split it. In a direct deal, you pay the seller the winning bid directly and pay us only the service fee.

Yes. If you win, your deposit becomes the service fee.

Until 11:59 PM (Philippine time) on the 5th working day after you and the seller agree with our team how the sale is handled. We send you reminders before the deadline.

The sale is cancelled, your deposit for that auction is forfeited, and you can't bid again until our team lifts the block.

With EasyProcess, we prepare and notarize the deed of sale, arrange the handover and take care of the HPG clearance and the LTO transfer; each step shows on your Buyer Dashboard as it's done, with the documents. In a direct deal, you pay the seller and arrange the handover and the LTO transfer together, and our team follows up with you both.

A verified profile, and either an approved refundable deposit for the auction you want to bid on or VIP membership (which lets you bid on any auction without one). Verify your profile with a valid ID, then click Deposit in the auction's bid panel, pay it by online bank transfer and upload your receipt. Our team checks it and you can bid on that auction as soon as it's approved.

Open a live auction and enter your amount in the bid box. It must be at least the minimum bid shown. You can also tap a quick-bid button (Min, or a higher amount). Then place your bid and confirm it. You'll be notified if someone outbids you. While you're the highest bidder, you can't raise your own bid.

Bid increments increase as follows:

• The first bid must reach the auction's starting bid
• ₱2,000 increments up to ₱199,999
• ₱5,000 increments from ₱200,000 to ₱499,999
• ₱10,000 increments from ₱500,000 to ₱999,999
• ₱20,000 increments from ₱1,000,000 to ₱1,999,999
• ₱25,000 increments at or above ₱2,000,000

No. Every bid is binding once it's placed, so check the amount before you confirm it. If your bid wins, you're expected to complete the purchase; if you back out or don't pay in time, your deposit for that auction is forfeited.

5% of the auction's starting bid, at least ₱10,000 and at most ₱50,000. It's the same for every bidder and doesn't change as the bidding goes up. Pay it by online bank transfer to the account shown, then enter your bank reference and upload the receipt. We don't accept payments to personal accounts or through chat. VIP members don't need a deposit for each auction.

Yes, unless you're a VIP member. Each deposit lets you bid on its own auction only, so place one on every car you want to bid on. Deposits close 40 minutes before an auction ends. VIP members bid on any auction without a deposit for each one.

Yes. After the auction ends, we refund it by bank transfer to the account you gave with your deposit. You can check it, or correct the account, on your Bidding Deposit page until the refund is sent.

A bid in the final 2 minutes extends the auction by 2 minutes, up to 30 minutes in total, so everyone gets a fair chance to respond and no one gets sniped.

An auction without a minimum price: the car sells to the highest bidder when the auction ends, whatever the final price. Bidding still starts at the starting bid, and if nobody bids, the car isn't sold.

The lowest price the seller will accept. If bidding doesn't reach it, the car isn't sold.

Listing a car on this platform is completely free — and sellers receive 100% of the final sale price! We do offer some paid services to make the process as easy and successful as possible, including EasyProcess.

Verify your profile, then submit your car's details, photos and OR/CR. Our team reviews the listing and may call you to confirm a few details before it's approved.

You request a reserve price when you list. Our team can give you a free price guide to help you set a realistic one.

With EasyProcess: once the buyer has paid us, the car is handed over and the deed of sale is notarized, we send you the winning bid, less any part of the processing fee you agreed to pay. In a direct deal, the buyer pays you directly.

Upload at least 5 photos to submit your listing (up to 150 in total), as JPG, PNG or WebP, at least 1024×768 and up to 10 MB each. For the best results:

• Shoot in daylight, with the car clean
• Cover every angle of the exterior, plus the interior, dashboard and odometer
• Include the engine bay, tyres and any scratches or damage
• Add photos of your OR/CR and service records, with names, addresses and ID numbers covered

Yes, short videos help buyers trust the car. You don't upload them on the site: during our verification call, our team sends you a Google Drive link. Please prepare:

• Engine start
• Walkaround, inside and out
• Dashboard at startup
• Exhaust at startup
• The car running or driving
• Film sideways (landscape), in good light, with the sound on

Our team does. During the verification call we ask you about the car, then write the short description and highlights, plus equipment, modifications, known flaws, service and ownership history, from your answers. Buyers see them once the listing is published.

Our team schedules the auction once your car is approved. It can start right away or at a set date and time.

Most auctions run for 7 days, and never longer than 10. Bids in the final 2 minutes extend the end by 2 minutes each time, up to 30 minutes in total.

No. Once your car is published to an auction, scheduled or live, its details and photos are locked, so every bidder sees exactly what they're bidding on. If something needs correcting, let our team know. Your reserve price can still be lowered while the auction is live (see below).

Buyers ask questions in the comments on your auction page, and your comments and replies show a Seller tag. To get the best result:

• Answer questions quickly and honestly
• Mention any flaws you know about, even small ones
• Share extra details or photos people ask for
• Stay polite, even with tough questions

You don't have to. Your reserve price stays private: buyers can see whether an auction has a reserve, but never the amount. Only if the auction ends without reaching it is the amount shown to the highest bidder, so they can tell us whether they'd negotiate the price with you.

You can lower it, but not raise it. While your auction is live, open your auction page and click "Lower reserve" in the bid panel, enter the new amount and confirm. It can't go below the starting bid, and once the current bid meets your reserve, there's no need to lower it. Bidders aren't told. Before your auction starts, or if you need it raised, contact our team.

Only verified members who have an approved refundable deposit for your auction, or who are VIP members. Accounts blocked from bidding can't bid at all.

No. A car listed on Honest Car Auction can only be sold through its auction. If a buyer or seller tries to make a deal on the side to get around the auction, we'll permanently ban them from the site, and other penalties may apply. If someone asks you to skip the auction, point them back to it and ask them to bid the most they're willing to pay. That's the best way to get the highest price.

Yes, as a VIP member: you bid on any auction without a deposit for each one. It takes a one-time, refundable VIP deposit of ₱200,000 and a verified profile. The VIP deposit is never applied to a purchase; when you win, you pay your bid and the service fee as usual.

Request it from your Bidding Deposit page:

• Click Request VIP
• We email you a step-by-step guide with our bank account; don't send money before you get it
• Transfer the VIP deposit, then click Send VIP deposit and enter the transaction number, receipt and the account to refund it to
• We check the transfer, and you're told once your VIP membership is approved

Click End VIP on your Bidding Deposit page. It's refunded to the account you gave, except while you're the highest bidder on a live auction or have a won car to pay for. If you miss a payment for a car you won, that sale's service fee is kept from it, the rest is refunded, and VIP ends.

Only verified members can bid or sell, so every buyer and seller on Honest Car Auction is a real, identified person.

We notify you on the site and by email. You can choose which notifications you get in Settings.