Most dealers look at an auction as a place to dump bad cars.
They see it as the “end of the road” for inventory. But a growing group of innovative dealers in California and Pennsylvania are flipping the script. They aren’t using auctions to dispose of cars; they are using auctions to acquire customers and get leads.
Here is the secret: An auction is the most powerful marketing hook in the automotive industry. It creates urgency, excitement, and—most importantly—registrations.
Let’s look at two real-world case studies of dealers who are crushing it by running their own public sales.
Case Study 1: The “Lead Factory” in Southern California
A used car dealer in Southern California was struggling with the high cost of third-party leads. Buying names from lead aggregators was expensive, and the quality was low.
So, they started running a Weekly Public Auction every Saturday morning.
The Strategy: They marketed the event as a “Wholesale to the Public” liquidation. They put 20–30 trade-ins across the block.
The Result:
The Hook: On average, they get 50–100 registered bidders showing up every single Saturday.
The Sale: They sell a few cars under the hammer (keeping the cash flow moving).
The Real Win: The 90 people who didn’t win a car didn’t just leave empty-handed. They are now qualified leads.
The “After-Party” Pivot: Instead of letting the non-winners walk away, the sales team immediately works the floor. “I saw you bidding on that 2018 Camry but missed it. We have a similar one on the retail lot, or we can get you pre-registered for next week’s auction online.”
They turned a Saturday morning event into a lead-generating machine that feeds their sales team for the entire week.
Case Study 2: The Pittsburgh “Buy Here, Pay Here” Revolution
In Pittsburgh, a Buy Here Pay Here (BHPH) dealer found a way to de-risk the auction process entirely.
They run a public auction every Sunday, but with a brilliant twist: Pre-Approved Bidding.
The Strategy: Before a customer can register to bid, they go through a quick credit qualification process.
The dealer tells the customer: “Based on your down payment and income, you are approved to bid up to $8,000.”
The customer gets a bidder badge with their specific limit.
The Result:
Zero Payment Failures: Every winning bid is backed by approved financing.
Higher Bids: Customers bid with confidence because they know they are already approved.
Inventory Turn: The dealer moves aged inventory fast, while still capturing the high-interest financing profit on the back end.
Why This Works
In both cases, the auction isn’t just about the hammer price. It is a marketing event.
It Builds Your Database: Every bidder gives you a name, email, phone number, and ID. You own that data forever.
It Creates Urgency: Retail buyers procrastinate. Auction buyers act now.
It Clears the Lot: You turn aged metal into cash (or finance contracts) in hours, not months.
Stop buying leads. Start building a crowd.
With Selling Lane, you can launch your own white-label public auction site in minutes.
Capture registrations online.
Run “Pre-Approved” or Cash sales.
Retarget non-winners instantly.
