Before You List
Most vehicles need to be in your Selling tab as a Draft before they can be scheduled for auction. You then complete the required fields and photos before scheduling. The one exception is ARIES, which pushes vehicles in as Active. See Option 3.
Option 1: Add a Single Vehicle Manually
Go to My Autura and select the Selling tab.
Select Add Vehicle.
Enter the VIN. Year, make, model, and color fill in automatically.
If the vehicle has no standard VIN, toggle Non-standard VIN and enter details by hand.
Select Inspect Vehicle or click the placeholder image to open the listing details form.
Complete all required fields via Add/Edit Media and Edit Details buttons: photos (minimum 4), condition information, pricing.
Add any applicable fees: key fee, storage fee, doc fee.
Choose Public or Private for auction type (defaults to Public).
Save the listing.
NOTE All required fields must be complete and at least 4 photos uploaded before you can schedule the auction. The platform will show which fields are missing if scheduling is blocked. |
TIP You can add several vehicles in one step. Enter VINs on separate rows or separate them with commas or semicolons. Each vehicle is created as its own Draft. |
WATCH OUT The Non-standard VIN toggle applies to the entire entry, not to individual VINs in the list. If you turn it on and include standard VINs in the same batch, those standard VINs will not decode and you will have to key in year, make, model, and color by hand for every one of them.
Upload in separate batches by VIN type: one batch of standard VINs with the toggle off so they decode automatically, and a second batch of non-standard VINs with the toggle on. |
SUCCESS Vehicle saved as a Draft. Displays as “Ready to Launch” on the vehicle card, and is ready to schedule. |
Photos and Video
More and better photos give buyers confidence and lead to stronger bids. Four photos is the minimum. Exterior on all sides, interior, and any damage are worth capturing.
You can also link a video to your listing:
Open the listing form for the vehicle.
In the media section, select the option to add a video link.
Paste the URL of your hosted video (for example, a YouTube link).
Save. The video appears alongside your photos on the vehicle page.
Setting Your Price
Starting bid. Every vehicle needs a starting bid set at the vehicle level. There is no account-wide default. If you do not enter a starting bid, the vehicle starts at $10.
Fees are shown as part of the starting price. Any fee you add rolls into the starting price the buyer sees. For example, a $200 starting bid with a $250 fee displays as a $450 start.
Storage fees are not collected through the platform. They are disclosed on the listing and collected by you directly from the buyer if a vehicle is not picked up in time.
Reserve price vs. floor price. These are not the same thing:
Field | What It Does |
Reserve price | The minimum amount you will accept. If bidding does not reach the reserve, the vehicle does not sell automatically. |
Floor price | A negotiable soft floor below your reserve. It is not a reserve. |
WATCH OUT
If you enter only a floor price and leave the reserve blank, the vehicle effectively has no reserve and will sell to the top bidder at whatever the high bid is. If you have a minimum you must receive, enter it in the reserve price field. |
NOTE The system rounds the starting bid up to the nearest bid increment. Rounding is applied to the all-in starting price, meaning your starting bid plus any fees you have added. Buyers will see the rounded figure as the opening price, so the amount displayed may be slightly higher than the total you entered. |
NOTE Buyers never see your reserve amount. If a reserve is set, the listing shows a buyer Reserve Not Met or Reserve Met only after that buyer has placed a bid on the vehicle. Buyers who have not bid see no reserve status at all, and no buyer sees the dollar figure. |
Option 2: Upload Multiple Vehicles with Upload File
From the Selling tab, select Add Vehicle and Upload File.
Upload your file. The system creates a Draft for each vehicle automatically.
Complete required fields and photos for each vehicle individually before scheduling.
NOTE Upload File creates Drafts only. It does not auto-complete listings. You still need to add condition information, photos, and pricing for each vehicle before it can go to auction.
For file format, required columns, and pricing setup, see Bulk Vehicle Upload via CSV. Reviewing this guide before you build your file will save you rework from potential errors. |
TIP When your vehicles are ready, use select mode in the Selling tab to bulk schedule them. The order you select vehicles sets the order they close, and you can set a staggered end interval, so they close in sequence rather than all at once. See How to Schedule an Auction for details. |
Option 3: Use Your TMS (TOPS or ARIES)
If you use TOPS or ARIES as your towing management system, vehicles can flow into Autura Marketplace automatically. The two integrations behave differently once the vehicle lands, so read the section that applies to you.
TOPS: When a vehicle is entered in TOPS, it appears in your Marketplace inventory as a Draft with details pre-filled. You complete condition information, photos, and pricing, then schedule it yourself.
ARIES: When a vehicle reaches disposition-ready status in ARIES, it is pushed to your Marketplace inventory in Active status. Active means the vehicle is already scheduled and open for bidding.
WATCH OUT Vehicles pushed from ARIES do not wait in Draft. They arrive Active, which means buyers can bid on them right away. Review pricing, photos, and condition information as soon as they land in your Selling tab so nothing goes to auction with the wrong price or a missing detail. |
NOTE TMS integration must be enabled for your account to figure out field mapping. Contact your Customer Success Manager before attempting to push Marketplace inventory after entry in your TMS to ensure proper setup. |
What Happens After the Listing Is Complete
Once all required fields are filled and photos are uploaded, your vehicle is ready to schedule for auction. See How to Schedule an Auction for next steps.
Need Help?
Contact Autura support for help with your account, a listing question, or a post-sale issue.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (888) 998-6085
Hours: Monday–Friday, 7 AM – 5 PM Pacific Time