The iDirect System |
Membership / bidding |
Costs / charges |
Technical problems |
Vehicle repair / options |
The iDirect system
|^|
Membership / bidding
|^|
Costs / charges
|^|
Technical problems
|^|
Vehicle repair / options
|^|
What is iDirect?
iDirect is a proxy bidding service offered by IBC Japan.
The iDirect website is updated daily showing thousands of vehicles that will be auctioned in Japan. Customers of IBC Japan can use the simple and powerful bidding process on iDirect to purchase cars directly from auctions in Japan.
|^|
Since you are a proxy service, why do you call the site iDirect?
The service is called iDirect because we offer the most direct access possible, to Japanese auctions, without actually attending each of the auctions held nationwide, simultaneously, every day. Although
IBC Japan
and its affiliates also sell its own high quality cars at low prices,
by using iDirect customers have direct control over the prices they pay.
|^|
Are the prices on iDirect the final price?
The prices shown on iDirect are the
start prices for the cars at auction. Customers enter a maximum for each car along with
additional notes on buying criteria. iDirect staff will then bid on the vehicle on the customer's behalf up to the
maximum bid requested. The customer wins the vehicle if it matches their
additional notes and it is sold at auction for less than the customer's
maximum bid. The customer saves money any time a vehicle is sold for less than the maximum bid.
|^|
Can I talk to someone directly?
Yes we welcome enquiries via email, fax and phone.
Please see contacts.
|^|
Is iDirect the same as IBC Auctions?
No. iDirect is a proxy bidding service offered by IBC Japan that covers most of the major live auctions held daily in Japan.
IBC Auctions are the auctions held by IBC twice a month to reduce inventory by offering the lowest prices possible.
|^|
What currency are prices given in?
All prices on iDirect are currently shown in Japanese Yen.
There is a currency calculator available on pages with prices (after log in),
to convert the Yen price into your local currency.
|^|
Does iDirect cover vehicles other than cars?
iDirect covers sports cars, passenger cars, SUVs, 4 wheel drive, buses, trucks, multipurpose vehicles, and commercial vehicles.
We do not handle other types of cargo due to the difficulty of transportation and handling.
|^|
Are there left-hand-drive cars?
Most auctions have a foreign (to Japan) car section that contains left-hand-drive vehicles. Prices for left hand drive cars in Japan are usually much higher than in normal left-hand-drive countries. Cars are driven on the left side of the road in Japan, thus the steering column is on the right side. If you are bidding on vehicles you believe to be left-hand-drive, you should confirm in the
comments/notes section that you require the vehicle only if it is left-hand-drive. Without specific confirmation that a customer requires a vehicle that is left-hand-drive, it will not be bid on.
|^|
How can I make bids?
First you must become a member of IBC-Japan Ltd by filling out the application form on the
IBC Japan website . After receiving your ID and password , visit iDirect, log in and click
search stock . Before a bid is accepted by IBC Japan you must make a deposit according to the
terms of trade .
|^|
What are the terms of trade?
View the iDirect
terms of trade here.
|^|
I would like to bid on a car. How do I make a deposit?
In order to place bids on iDirect you need to pay a refundable iDirect deposit of ¥100,000. You can make the deposit with a credit card or by a bank transfer into one of our
bank accounts.
If you pay by bank transfer please notify us when you send the money and under what name you sent it.
If you wish to pay by credit card, log on to
IBC Japan with your ID and Password, go to pay online, fill in the required details, put an amount of ¥100,000, and choose pay now.
You will then get a receipt. Please print the receipt for your own records.
|^|
Can I make a deposit to a different bank, for example one closer to my location?
Unfortunately bank deposits can only be made through one of iDirect's
designated banks.
|^|
If I make the deposit then decide I no longer want to bid, will you refund the deposit, and if so, how?
We can refund your deposit by bank transfer or crediting your credit card.
A bank transfer will incur a bank charge of ¥3500.
A cancelation of a credit card transaction won't show up on your credit card bill for a month.
Your credit card will be updated after your next billing date.
|^|
When is the best time to bid on cars?
Vehicles can be viewed on the system from the time the auctions provide us with auction information,
usually between 10:00pm-1:00am (Japan time) the night before the auction is held.
Bids are accepted until 9:00am (Japan time) the morning of the auction so that the information can be distributed to our buyers.
Any bids submitted after the 9:00am deadline must be handled manually and the risk of not making the bid is very high.
The vehicles may already be processed and/or the difficulty in contacting and checking the vehicle during the auction may preclude a bid from being made.
We strongly suggest that all bids be submitted before 9:00am (Japan time).
The time in Japan is shown on the iDirect website once you log in.
|^|
How many cars may I bid on?
You may bid on as many cars as you wish, but your deposit of ¥100,000 only covers one successful purchase.
If you wish to purchase many vehicles you should send a larger deposit.
If you are the successful bidder you need to pay a 50% deposit
within 7 days time or else we will have to re-auction the vehicle at your expense.
|^|
Can I bid on more cars than I actually want to purchase? For example, I want to place bids on 5 cars but can only afford to purchase 2?
Clearly state your intention to only purchase a set number of vehicles in the auction
notes/comments section provided when you submit your bids.
Our buyers will limit your purchased to that number.
|^|
What order are vehicles auctioned at?
Because iDirect vehicles come from many different auctions,
and within each auction the order is not always made clear by the data available,
it is not possible to determine this.
|^|
Is there a minimum number of cars I must purchase?
There is no minimum if your deposit is sufficient to allow the bidding to proceed.
If accounts are paid on time, you can buy as many or as few cars as you like.
However accounts that have not purchased cars in a few months may be deactivated.
|^|
None of my bids are high enough. Can you give me some bidding guidelines?
Please reference our
Probability of purchase calculator function.
|^|
What is the average price a particular vehicle usually sells for at auction?
A feature that will display average bids will be released soon.
|^|
If another customer bids on the same vehicle, and we both bid over the sold-price, who wins?
If more than one IBC customer has a qualifying bid on a vehicle purchased by IBC,
the customer who bid first will receive the vehicle.
|^|
Can you tell me what auction a vehicle is at?
The auctions have asked us to keep this information confidential.
However you may have a copy of the auction sheet and know which auction you bought a
vehicle from, should you make successful purchases.
|^|
<What information can I put in the auction comments/notes section for my purchasing needs?
You may put any information you like. IBC will attempt to meet all reasonable expectations.
Even though IBC will attempt to contact you if we need clarification of your instruction,
IBC cannot be responsible for mistakes made due to ambiguous or confusing notes.
|^|
Are there any cases when a vehicle presented at auction does not get sold? i.e. a vehicle is passed through by the owner as it didn't reach the required reserve
There are many cases where bidding doesn't meet the owners reserve and the vehicle isn't sold at the auction.
Usually about 40% of all units do not meet the reserve at auction.
Auctions are held weekly so usually owners put them through the next week or at another auction later in the same week.
|^|
How do I find out the results of my bid?
Usually you will be advised by email within a day after the auctions close.
Occasionally there are delays in notification.
Please wait at least 24 hours for notification.
If you still have not received confirmation please contact your account manager or send an
enquiry email.
|^|
Can I view the auction sheet for a vehicle?
The auctions have asked us to not display the auction sheets for vehicles as they reveal the auction's name
and creates diplomatic problems for them with other export companies as it appears IBC is receiving preferential treatment.
If you can read the auction sheets (they are in Japanese), you may be given access to view the check sheets with special permission.
If you cannot read Japanese, it is better to rely on the grading system at auction and know that Autoterminal Japan will recheck the unit,
photograph it and provide full descriptions of damage etc., in English, after your purchase
|^|
I have just received email confirming my bids. What happens next?
Usually you will be advised by email within a day after the auctions close.
If your bids were successful IBC Japan contact you about payment and the shipping process.
|^|
Is the grading system of IBC at par with the grading system of auction houses in Japan?
IBC's grading system is more stringent than the grading provided by the auction houses in Japan.
Each auction house has their own standards of grading and are not consistent with each other.
Note that the grading on IBC's system is .5 lower than the original auction grade you see on iDirect.
If you bid on a grade 4.0, your vehicle may receive a grade 3.5 on IBC's system with little variance in the expected condition.
Our buyers make sure that the grade you see is consistent with an IBC grade within a margin of .5.
|^|
What is the cost of C&F and service charges if my bid is successful?
C&F cost and service charges depend upon the value and type of vehicle.
Freight depends on the size of the vehicle.
For expensive cars, service charges will be more.
The final C&F charge for each vehicle is shown clearly as you are submitting your bids,
just before you confirm your bids, and in an email to you afterwards.
|^|
Can I bid FOB instead of C&F ?
Yes, simply subtract the Freight & Export charge listed in the cost listing.
Put in your purchase notes , and inform your account manager directly,
that you would like to be charged the FOB price instead of the C&F one.
|^|
What other costs are charged for a vehicle?
If you are successful, you must pay a few other costs in addition to the cost of the vehicle at auction.
All costs with a total are explained to you at the time you place your bid.
Explanation of pricing .
|^|
How is freight calculated? Why is the size so large for my small vehicle?
Freight is calculated based on the size of a vehicle.
The number of vehicles we can fit in one ship container determines the cost of shipping.
We do not know the size for all vehicles available through auctions.
In unknown cases we use a large default size (16 cubic meters).
Sometimes our non-default information may also be faulty.
If the vehicle is actually much smaller than shown on iDirect,
contact your account manager to verify that we will be able to reduce the price accordingly after auction.
If a vehicle is much larger than shown on iDirect, we may need to charge more for freight.
This would mostly only occur when bidding on larger vehicles such as buses and vans.
|^|
Why can't I see photos for all of the vehicles?
Some photos are not available.
We provide access to many auction sites within Japan.
Not all auction sites have photos that can be viewed on the system.
Sometimes photos aren't available until after the auction starts which is the time when most bids must be completely submitted..
Vehicles with blue linked IBC numbers have photos available.
|^|
Why can't I see photos for vehicles with blue links?
Sometimes there are technical difficulties for individual vehicles.
If you find this is problem occurs for a large number of vehicles, please
contact us .
|^|
Why I can't see photos for any of the vehicles?
If there are no blue links for any of the vehicles,
we may be experiencing technical difficulties.
Please feel free to contact us if the problem continues.
|^|
When searching and then going off line, why doesn't the search menu clear?
On the search form it is possible that "remember search criteria" is checked. By default, it is not checked.
To clear the search form uncheck and click the "Reset Form" button.
|^|
Do you do maintenance work on the vehicles i.e. filter and oil change, cleaning and tyre changes etc.?
Do you check the condition of the vehicle?
We fully clean all vehicles and condition-grade them for you to view on the Internet.
We do not change filters, fluids, and tyres.
You can see details on our condition checks and quality control standards on the
IBC Japan website under Company > Quality Control.
|^|
Can you install extra options on my car i.e. spoilers, aluminium wheels, CD changers etc.?
Yes, but we can only quote firm costs after a vehicle is purchased.
We can put new tyres on the vehicle, install spoilers, fix aluminium wheels etc.
at a price to be negotiated after the type and model of vehicle is determined.
|^|
Can you remove interior equipment like TV, radio, CD player, spare keys, and NAVI and send them by courier?
Yes, but only at the expense of the customer.
There may be an additional service charge depending on the vehicle and the amount of labour needed.
|