Copart UK fees explained
Copart's fees are added to your winning bid, and they follow price bands, so the cost isn't a simple percentage until the price gets high. Here's how each charge works, with a worked example.
The three charges
- Lot retrieval fee: a flat £50 on every vehicle.
- Buyer fee: depends on the sale price, and on whether you're a high volume or low volume buyer.
- Bidding fee: depends on the sale price, and on whether you bid before the auction (a preliminary bid) or during it (an online live bid).
All of these are quoted without VAT. VAT is added on top at the prevailing rate, currently 20%.
High volume (Fee A) vs low volume (Fee B)
Copart charges a lower buyer fee to members who buy a lot of vehicles. You're a high volume buyer (Fee A) if you've bought 12 or more vehicles in the previous year or the current calendar year. Everyone else pays Fee B, which is higher. Copart's own example: a member who reaches 12 purchases in the current year (its example is January) is treated as high volume from the following month, and stays high volume for the following year. Check your own tier with Copart.
Buyer fee: a few examples from the table
| Sale price | Fee A | Fee B |
| £500.00 – £549.99 | £105 | £145 |
| £900.00 – £999.99 | £170 | £210 |
| £1,000.00 – £1,199.99 | £185 | £225 |
| £2,000.00 – £2,399.99 | £300 | £340 |
| £5,000.00 – £5,999.99 | £515 | £555 |
| £10,000 and above | 5.5% of price | 6.5% of price |
The fee jumps at each band boundary. For example, at £999 a low volume buyer pays £210, but at £1,000 it's £225. The full table has many more bands, and the Copart calculator uses all of them.
Bidding fee
| Sale price | Preliminary bid | Online live bid |
| £0 – £99.99 | £0 | £0 |
| £100 – £499.99 | £25 | £35 |
| £500 – £999.99 | £39 | £49 |
| £1,000 – £1,499.99 | £59 | £69 |
| £1,500 – £1,999.99 | £69 | £79 |
| £2,000 – £3,999.99 | £79 | £89 |
| £4,000 – £5,999.99 | £89 | £99 |
| £6,000 – £7,999.99 | £95 | £105 |
| £8,000 and above | £99 | £109 |
Worked example: a £1,000 vehicle
A low volume buyer who placed a preliminary bid:
| Winning bid | £1,000.00 |
| Buyer fee (Fee B, £1,000 band) | £225.00 |
| Bidding fee (preliminary, £1,000 band) | £59.00 |
| Lot retrieval fee | £50.00 |
| VAT at 20% on the fees (£334.00) | £66.80 |
| Total landed cost | £1,400.80 |
A high volume buyer who bid live:
| Winning bid | £1,000.00 |
| Buyer fee (Fee A, £1,000 band) | £185.00 |
| Bidding fee (live, £1,000 band) | £69.00 |
| Lot retrieval fee | £50.00 |
| VAT at 20% on the fees (£304.00) | £60.80 |
| Total landed cost | £1,364.80 |
Same vehicle, same price, a £36 difference. And these totals are before repairs, transport and anything you'd need to do to resell the vehicle.
What about VAT on the vehicle itself?
The tables above only cover Copart's fees. Whether VAT is charged on the vehicle price depends on the lot, so check the lot details or ask Copart. For background, see our guide to VAT on auction fees.
How BidCalc helps
The Copart calculator has all of Copart UK's fee bands built in. Enter the sale price, choose high or low volume and preliminary or live bidding, and it finds the right fees and adds VAT. Then add your estimated repair cost and expected resale value to see your likely profit, and download the result as a PDF.
Open the Copart calculator Copart FAQGeneral information only, not tax or financial advice. Auction houses set their own fees and terms, so always check the conditions of sale and confirm the details with the auction house before you bid.