Japanese wholesale vehicle auctions are only available to members of the automotive industry in Japan. They are not available to the general public.

However, as an importer from Japan you can access these auctions through a Japan based exporter who has membership and bidding access with the Japanese wholesale vehicle auction houses.

Though the auctions may sometimes refund for vehicles in certain situations (e.g. if the vehicle was significantly mis-described in the auction sheet) they are truly wholesale auctions.

Generally the terms offered by the auction houses are "what you see is what you get" with no guarantees or warranties. However, the vehicles are inspected by auction house inspectors and you can minimise risk by requesting a translation of the inspection report.

Companies in Japan who want to put their vehicles through the wholesale vehicle auctions need to deliver the vehicle to the auction house before the day of auction.

You'll see vehicle listings start to appear several days before the day of auction in the JP Auction System, which combines all of Japans major wholesale vehicle auctions into a single database.

Before the vehicle is accepted by the auction house the odometer reading of the vehicle is checked against the reading at the last Shaken vehicle inspection and readings at other times the vehicle has been through auction.

This is to check for tampering with the odometer reading.

Vehicles are sometimes also screened for radioactivity and only vehicles with no significant radioactivity are accepted. However, screening for radioactivity at auction houses is not universal and varies from auction house to auction house.

A form is filled out which becomes the basis of the inspection sheet. Sometimes this is filled out by the seller (you'll sometimes see 2 sets of handwriting on the sheet) and sometimes this is done entirely by the auction house. Some auctions are now moving to digitised sheets with no handwriting.

Arrangements for the storage of vehicles during the auction process varies from auction to auction. Since the larger auctions offer over 5,000 vehicles a lot of storage capacity is needed.

Storage can be in either undercover or open. Covered storage is typically in large multi-storey carparks serviced by lifts, similar to large shopping centre carparks. Large open carparks sometimes use golf carts as shuttle buses between different

Frequently the vehicles are physically grouped according to vehicle type. e.g. exotic sports cars in one area, buses in another area, motorhomes in another area etc.

Most vehicles put to auction are in driveable condtion and these are taken through the auction house photo booth.

Traditionally only 2 photos - exterior front and rear - were taken. However more auctions are now adding addtional photos to the photo set including additional exterior views and interior photos. Photographs of non-driveable vehicles are taken in the auction house parking area.

USS Auction also allows the seller to upload their own photos of the vehicle. We can transfer these into your Bid Tracker if they're available on the vehicles that you're interested in.

Additional photos are usually also available from inspection companies and can be arranged in conjunction with a pre-export inspection. For vehicles that are containerised photos are usually available of the vehicles prior to and during containerisation.

The auctions are carried out "in situ" in the auction house parking area. Inspectors can start and run the vehicle, but there is no workshop inspection or road test.

Once the inspector has completed their inspection the inspection sheets are uploaded to the auction house database, together with photographs of the vehicle. Once this is done bids can be placed on the vehicle.

Inside the bidding hall registered bidders place bids by clicking a button. Each button increases the bid price by one increment, often Y3,000. The bidding is shown on electronic screens at the front of the Bidding Hall. Some auctions run more than one lane at the same time.

Bidding is also available online and increasingly there are fewer bidders who go to the auction venue. Sometimes the Bidding Hall can be near empty but bidding is still vigorous.

If successful the vehicle needs to be paid for immediately and removed from the auction house within the time period stipulated, typically 3 days.

If the vehicle isn't removed in time penalties apply and the auction house will sometimes have the right to re-run the vehicle at auction and charge a penalty fee. We can either truck your vehicles directly to the port for immediate shipment or to our Export Centre for storage or dismantling.