Deposits & Buying Power
What are deposits and how much do I need to make? What is buying power? How do I increase my buying power?
Deposits help prevent fraud and loss. If someone has to make a deposit, they are less likely to try to steal a vehicle or place fake bids to drive up the price of their own lots offered for sale. Generally, deposits help guarantee that Member accounts represent real bidders & buyers.
Buying Power is the total amount you can bid, and the total amount of active bids you can make.
Copart handles Buying Power and Deposits differently depending on whether you are a Basic or Premier Member.
Basic Member
Bid up to $2,000 without a deposit. To bid more, you’ll need to deposit 10% of the total amount you want to bid. So, if you want to bid a total of $20,000, you’d need to make a deposit of $2,000. $20,000 is your Buying Power, the total amount you can bid, or the total amount of active bids you can make.
Example: If you have $10,000 in buying power, you could bid $5,000 on Lot A, $4,000 on Lot B, and $1,000 on Lot C. At that point, you would hit the limit of your Buying Power. If you lose an auction, you’ll get back the amount of bids you made on that vehicle. For example, if you lose Lot A in the example above, you’d get back $5,000 in Buying Power.
To increase your deposit and your buying power, go to the Payments tab, then select Deposits. Enter the amount you want to increase your deposits, then choose the payment method you want use to provide those funds.
Premier Member
Make a one-time deposit of $400 to bid up to $100,000 at any given time.
Buying Power beyond $100,000: Premier Members may request approval to bid or win above $100,000 without placing additional deposits. Email [email protected] or call +1-972-391-5400 with your Member ID and the lot number you wish to bid over $100,000 on. Copart will review your profile and purchase history before approving.
Refunding Your Deposit
All deposits are fully refundable if your account is in good standing and all outstanding invoices have been paid. A refund of the $400 Premier deposit will also stop you from being able to bid and will downgrade your account to a Basic Membership.
