No. Only sellers using the OPENLANE Sell portal* are able to send and receive counteroffers. There is no way for buyers to know whether or not a particular car will be eligible for negotiation, so it’s still in their best interest to maximise their chance of winning during the initial auction.

You can negotiate on Dynamic auctions, up until the requested sales price for the vehicle has been reached. For Target or Buy Now auctions, you can only negotiate if the bid is below the set price.

* The OPENLANE Sell portal is not yet available in all countries.

Both the openlane.eu website and the OPENLANE Sell portal are 100% mobile friendly, so whether you’re buying or selling, you can negotiate from any computer or smartphone with an internet connection.

When an auction ends, the highest bid is sent to the seller for approval. Sellers then have 24 hours to send one of three responses via the OPENLANE Sell portal*:

• Accept the offer – This means the car is sold to the highest bidder.
• Decline the offer – This means the car is not sold and the highest bidder misses out. The seller can then auction the car again.
• Make a counteroffer – The seller proposes a new price to the buyer. This price must be higher than the initial winning bid.

If the seller chooses to make a counteroffer, a new 24-hour window begins. Within this 24-hour negotiation period, the buyer and seller must settle on a new price.

When the buyer receives a counteroffer, they have four options:

• Accept the offer – This means the buyer agrees to buy the car for the price given in the counteroffer.
• Send a new counteroffer – The seller will then have the opportunity to accept or decline the offer, or make a new counteroffer of their own.
• Stand by the initial offer – This lets the seller know the buyer is not willing to pay more than their highest bid. The seller can then accept or decline the offer.
• Abandon the negotiation – The buyer chooses to walk away, the car is not sold, and the seller is free to auction it again.

Buyers and sellers can send one another counteroffers until the end of the 24-hour negotiation period. Each time a counteroffer is made, OPENLANE will notify the other party via email so they can react as quickly as possible.

*The OPENLANE Sell portal is not yet available in all countries.

Both buyer and seller will receive an email notification as soon as there’s a counteroffer, so keep a sharp eye on your inbox. On the openlane.eu website, counteroffers will be shown in the “decision pending” section of My Bids. On the OPENLANE Sell portal*, you’ll find counteroffers in the “To be assigned” section.

*The OPENLANE Sell portal is not yet available in all countries.

Abandoning the negotiation allows you to walk away from the sale. All offers are off the table, and the seller can choose to put the car in another auction.

This lets the other party know that you’re not willing to increase (buyer) or decrease (seller) your price anymore. The other party will have to accept or decline that offer, there is no more room for counteroffers at this point.

Once the seller makes the first counteroffer, a 24-hour countdown begins. If neither the seller nor the buyer accepts an offer within this timeframe, the most recent offer remains in effect for one day.