How to buy from Copart UK, start to finish

Registration, deposits, fees, bidding, payment, collection and paperwork: the complete first-timer's walkthrough for Copart UK auctions.

BASICS · 6 min read

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1. Registration

Membership is not free. Copart UK's own help pages put the registration fee at £100 for 12 months at the time of writing, with an annual renewal after that. No trade licence is needed in the UK. You then lodge a refundable deposit, commonly quoted as 10 percent of your intended top bid with a minimum, before auction day. Check the current figures on your member dashboard.

2. Finding lots

Auctions run daily from regional yards. Filter by damage type and Run and Drive. Watchlist candidates early, because photos and details improve as auction day approaches. Paste the lot URL into the Analyzer before you fall in love with the car.

3. Bidding

UK Copart is online only. Pre-bids run before the live virtual auction, and the live phase moves in seconds. Set your ceiling from the Analyzer's max bid figure and do not cross it in the heat of the moment. The next identical car is always two weeks away.

Get a graded deal ticket for your lot →

4. Fees

Budget the buyer fee tier, the internet bid fee, and VAT on all fees. The Analyzer's fee model follows Copart UK's published member-fee table. On a £2,000 car bought on the lower-volume tier, fees add £562.80 including VAT, see the full fee breakdown.

5. Payment and collection

Pay within three business days or storage charges start, charged per day after the free period at a rate that varies by yard, so check the lot page. Bring a trailer or book Copart's transport. The yard loads you, you strap it down.

6. Paperwork

Check what paperwork the lot carries before bidding. Never bid on a lot marked Certificate of Destruction expecting to put it back on the road. A Cat S lot without a V5C means a V62 application, £25 without the new keeper slip. After repair, Cat S and Cat N both need an honest MOT.

7. The habit that makes money

Track every car you analyse. Saved analyses become your own database of what things really sell for, which is exactly what the Results tab builds automatically.

See the median closing bid recorded for each model, free

Related guides

• What does Cat S mean? Category S explained - Category S means an insurer recorded structural damage and decided repair was uneconomical. What that means for buying, repairing, insuring and reselling.
• What does Cat N mean? Category N explained - Category N means a non-structural insurance write-off. What it covers, why it is the easiest salvage to flip, and the hidden traps that catch beginners.
• Cat A and Cat B explained: the cars that never come back - Category A and Category B are the two write-off categories you must never buy to put back on the road. Here is exactly what they mean and why.