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Octane vs Collecting Cars: what are the differences?

Octane and Collecting Cars both auction special cars online and charge the seller no commission. Yet the approach differs considerably. Collecting Cars is an international auction platform with a focus on the United Kingdom and Asia-Pacific. Octane focuses on the enthusiast market in Western Europe and builds its own campaign around every car to reach exactly the right buyer. The question is therefore not just which platform has the largest reach. What matters more is where the most relevant buyers for your car are, what it costs them to bid, and what the platform does to actually reach those buyers.

The short version

Octane is probably the better fit if:

The natural buyer market for your car is in Western Europe.
You want the platform to actively reach new buyers for your specific car, rather than depending on existing platform traffic alone.
You want as much as possible of the buyer’s total budget to remain available for the bid on the car.
You value a platform that thinks beyond the auction itself, from presentation and marketing to help with inspection and transport.

Collecting Cars is probably the better fit if:

Your car has a clear collector market outside Europe.
A strong international community already exists around your specific model.
You accept higher bidding costs in exchange for a larger existing international platform audience.

Octane and Collecting Cars side by side

What is the main difference between Octane and Collecting Cars?

On paper the platforms look alike. Both run seven-day online auctions, on both the car stays with the seller during the auction, and both earn from a premium paid by the buyer rather than from a seller commission. The difference sits mainly in how reach is built. As the older platform, Collecting Cars already has an existing audience and lists cars in multiple currencies and regions. Octane deliberately adds something to that: we do not rely on existing platform traffic alone, but build a separate campaign around every accepted car. It is aimed at the enthusiast market in Western Europe. Alongside visibility on the platform, we use targeted social advertising, our own channels and e-mail alerts to relevant users to bring new buyers to the auction. On regular auctions, Octane covers the campaign costs. At the same time, the buyer pays a 3% premium instead of 6%. The starting point, then, is not to show a listing to as many people in the world as possible, but to reach as many serious candidates for that specific car as possible within the relevant market.

Selling your car through Octane or Collecting Cars

Selling through Octane

You submit your car, we assess whether it fits and agree a realistic reserve together. We then write the listing copy and structure the specifications and history. Photography is arranged through a photographer, or you supply the images yourself as long as they meet our photo guide. Then the real work starts: we build a campaign around the car to bring new buyers to the auction, usually at our cost.

Selling through Collecting Cars

You submit a few key details, after which a consignment specialist discusses the next steps and a realistic reserve level with you. Once the car is approved, you are matched with a freelance photographer from their network, who typically takes more than 150 photos of the car and its documentation. The car then appears in the Coming Soon section and their listings team writes the copy.

Up to and including the listing, both platforms work in a comparable way. The difference starts after that, in what happens to bring buyers to that listing.

What does selling through Octane and Collecting Cars cost?

Sale price	Octane	Collecting Cars	Difference
€15,000	€450	€1,000minimum fee	+€550
€25,000	€750	€1,500	+€750
€75,000	€2,250	€4,500	+€2,250
€150,000	€3,600maximum fee	€7,000maximum fee	+€3,400

At Collecting Cars the minimum fee applies below a sale price of roughly €16,700.

At Octane the €3,600 cap applies above a sale price of roughly €120,000.

Octane's amounts include VAT.

Collecting Cars's amounts are the published rates; VAT treatment varies by situation, see the note.

The 6% buyer’s premium quoted (minimum €1,000, maximum €7,000) applies to bidders who do not live in the United Kingdom or Australia. For vehicles listed in Germany and bought by a buyer in the EU, Collecting Cars charges 7.14% including sales tax, with a minimum of €1,190 and a maximum of €8,330. Lower minimums apply to motorcycles.

On both platforms you pay nothing as the seller. The difference lands with the buyer, and that is exactly why it concerns you as the seller. A buyer looks at their total purchase price, not just their bid. Someone who wants to spend at most €80,000 on a car has to pay the buyer’s premium out of that same budget. A lower premium therefore potentially leaves more room to bid on the car itself. On both platforms the premium does not run on forever. Above roughly €120,000 Octane sits at its €3,600 maximum, while Collecting Cars continues up to €7,000. At the lower end the difference is relatively largest. At Collecting Cars a €1,000 minimum applies up to roughly €16,700, where Octane comes to €450 on a €15,000 car.

Where does your car get seen?

As an international platform, Collecting Cars has larger worldwide organic reach. For a car with a specific collector market across several continents, that can be valuable. Octane deliberately chooses a stronger concentration on Western Europe. And we do not depend solely on people who already know Octane: around every car we actively run a campaign to reach potential buyers beyond our existing user base as well. That distinction matters. A large platform audience says something about how many people visit a website. What ultimately counts for a seller is how many serious candidates for their specific car are reached. For a Porsche, BMW M, Ferrari or youngtimer located in Western Europe, a significant share of that market is relatively close by. Viewing, inspection, transport and the eventual handover are practically easier to organise. For cars with a pronounced worldwide collector market, international reach can weigh more heavily instead.

More than just the auction

Octane is built to be more than just the place where the highest bid lands. Around the platform we are building a Western European network of specialised partners for transport, inspections, detailing and other services around buying and selling special cars. If your car is in the Netherlands and the strongest bidder is in Belgium, that buyer does not have to find an inspector or transporter from scratch. On request, we connect buyer and seller with a suitable specialist. That way we can help not only to bring buyer and car together, but also to complete the transaction as smoothly as possible afterwards.

Which cars suit Octane and which suit Collecting Cars?

Octane

European sports cars and supercars
Youngtimers and classics with documented history
JDM and modern performance with a Western European buyer market
Rare specifications and low mileage

Collecting Cars

Cars with a demonstrable collector market outside Europe
Very rare cars where scarcity outweighs location
Right-hand-drive cars with a natural British or Australian market
Motorcycles, for which Collecting Cars has its own category

The overlap is large: a Porsche 911, a BMW M3 or an Alfa Romeo with full history fits on both platforms. For that type of car, the question is not which platform accepts it, but where the serious bidders are and what it costs them to bid.

When to choose which?

When would I choose Octane?

For a special car located in Western Europe, with a significant share of its potential buyers in this market as well, we usually consider Octane the more logical choice. First, we actively promote every accepted car. You do not just get a slot on the platform: we build a campaign around the car and invest in reaching potential buyers ourselves. Second, the buyer pays a lower premium: 3% instead of 6%. That difference counts towards the total purchase price and can therefore affect how much budget a buyer has left for the bid itself. Third, we focus on the complete transaction: from presentation and marketing during the auction to support with, for example, inspection or transport once buyer and seller have found each other.

When would I choose Collecting Cars?

Collecting Cars can make more sense when the car has a clear worldwide collector market and a significant share of the serious bidders is likely to come from outside Europe. Collecting Cars can also be interesting for very niche collector cars that already have a strong international community around them. The trade-off is whether the extra international reach for your specific car outweighs the higher premium the buyer pays.

Octane or Collecting Cars?

No platform is automatically the best choice for every car. Does your car have a genuine worldwide collector market, where location barely matters to potential buyers? Then the larger international reach of Collecting Cars can be interesting. Is your car in Western Europe, with the most likely buyers in this market as well? Then we consider Octane the stronger proposition. Not only because of the lower 3% buyer fee, but because we actively build a campaign around every car and invest in finding the right buyers ourselves. And once buyer and seller have found each other, we make the rest as easy as possible too. Not as much reach as possible for its own sake. The right car for the right buyers, with as little friction as possible in between.

Frequently Asked Questions

For the seller, both are free: on Octane and on Collecting Cars you receive the full winning bid. For the buyer, Octane is cheaper in every price range. Octane charges 3% including VAT, with a minimum of €350 and a maximum of €3,600. Collecting Cars charges 6% with a minimum of €1,000 and a maximum of €7,000, and the VAT treatment depends on the country where the car is listed. The difference is relatively largest below €16,700, where the €1,000 minimum applies at Collecting Cars. Because a buyer looks at their total purchase price, that premium partly determines how much of their budget can go to the car itself.

As an international platform, Collecting Cars is visible in more countries. Octane concentrates on Western Europe and, within it, actively looks for buyers for your specific car, including beyond our own user base. The number of visitors to a website is not the same as the number of serious candidates who actually get to see your car.

For every accepted car we set up a separate campaign: promotion through our own channels, e-mail alerts to relevant registered users, and targeted advertising campaigns to reach new potential buyers. As the seller you pay no commission, and on a regular auction no advertising costs either: Octane covers those campaign costs.

Yes. On Octane you agree a confidential reserve with us that bidders cannot see during the auction. On Collecting Cars you discuss the reserve with their team, and once bidding passes it the auction is shown as No Reserve. If the reserve is not met, both platforms work on a deal after the auction.

On both platforms an auction runs for seven days. The car simply stays with you during that week, on Octane as well as on Collecting Cars.

Both platforms arrange the photography. Collecting Cars matches you with a freelance photographer from their network. Octane works the same way with a photographer, with the added option of supplying the images yourself as long as they meet our photo guide. On both platforms, the listing copy and specifications are written by the platform itself.

At Collecting Cars the buyer’s premium is charged to the buyer’s card automatically, after which buyer and seller are put in direct contact and have seven working days to arrange payment and collection. At Octane the first step depends on how the buyer verified: if they bid with a card, the fee is charged automatically; if they registered through identity verification, they receive a payment link. Buyer and seller then get access to a private chat environment with each other’s details, where they complete payment and handover between themselves.

Comparison of Octane and Collecting Cars on selling costs, auction length, presentation and settlement
Item	Octane	Collecting Cars
Platform type	Same on bothOnline auction for enthusiast cars
Types of car	Same on bothSports cars and supercars, Youngtimers and classics, JDM and modern performance, Rare specifications and low mileage
Seller cost	Same on bothNone. You receive the full winning bid
Buyer fee	3% of the winning bid, including VAT, minimum €350	6% of the winning bid, minimum €1,000, VAT treatment varies, see the note under the fee table
Maximum buyer fee	€3,600	€7,000
Auction length	Same on both7 days
Reserve price (minimum) available	Same on bothYes, confidential and agreed with the team
Geographic focus	Western Europe: the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden and Finland	International, with a clear focus on the United Kingdom and Australia
Car stays with the seller	Same on bothYes
Presentation and photography	Editorial listing copy and structured specifications written by the platform. Photography through a photographer from our network, paid directly by you, or you supply your own images that meet the photo guide	Editorial listing copy and structured specifications written by the platform. Photography through a photographer from the platform network
Promotion of the car	An active campaign per car, aimed at both the existing Octane audience and new potential buyers in Western Europe. Campaign costs are covered by Octane on regular auctions	Promotion through the international platform, its own channels and the existing community
Contact with bidders	Same on bothBidders ask questions in the comments under the auction and the seller answers them
After the auction ends	Buyer and seller get a private chat environment with each other’s details, where they complete the transaction between themselves	Contact details are shared with both parties, usually by e-mail, after which buyer and seller arrange payment and collection between themselves within seven working days
Support around the transaction	On request, Octane connects buyer and seller with specialists for inspection and transport among others	Storage partners for won cars, with their own rates and insurance during storage