Buying a Car on Hemmings Auctions: Fees, Reserves and Title Checklist

To buy a car on Hemmings Auctions without regret, add the 5 percent buyer's fee (minimum $500, maximum $10,000) to your top bid, read the listing and the seller Q&A, get an independent inspection, and verify the title and VIN yourself before you bid. Hemmings only introduces you to the seller. You pay the seller directly, you arrange pickup or shipping, and once your bid is accepted you owe Hemmings that 5 percent even if the deal falls apart afterward.

Hemmings has been a collector car marketplace since 1954 and launched its online auctions in 2019, which a July 25, 2019 Hemmings story by Terry Shea described as weeks away. The site blocks automated checks, so I am citing its pages here by name rather than linking them. On October 16, 2026 I went through the Why Hemmings page, the Learn About Bidding page, the Hemmings Pay + Title FAQ and the Hemmings Marketplace User Agreement (effective April 18, 2024). The checklist follows what those say, in the order you will hit each step.

1. Price the fee before you fall for the car

The buyer's fee is 5 percent of the purchase price, with a $500 minimum, and it tops out at $10,000 once the price reaches $200,000. On a $30,000 car that is $1,500. The floor matters most at the cheap end: a $6,000 project still pays $500, which works out to about 8.3 percent. For comparison, our Cars and Bids checklist found a 5 percent fee with a $250 floor and a $7,500 cap, and our Bring a Trailer checklist found 5 or 10 percent by category with a $250 minimum and caps of $7,500 and $4,000. So Hemmings costs the most of the three at the cheap end and on very expensive cars, where its $10,000 cap sits highest. In between, its 5 percent matches Cars and Bids.

Sellers pay a $99.95 listing fee, and the user agreement bars them from adding dealer or document fees on top of the bid. Taxes, registration, title and inspection fees in your state are still yours.

2. Understand what a winning bid commits you to

This is the part people skim. The user agreement says a bid is a non-binding expression of interest until it is accepted, and once it is, you have entered a binding sale. It also says you agree to pay the 5 percent fee if your bid or offer is accepted, even if you never complete the purchase, and that the fee is charged to your card on file at that moment. Walk away after winning and you are out the fee with no car. Disputes with the seller are yours to sort out directly, and the agreement points account disputes with Hemmings to binding individual arbitration.

3. Read the reserve and the clock

Hemmings researches each car and recommends either a reserve or no reserve, and the seller can lower or waive the reserve mid-auction. If a reserve auction does not sell, it rolls into a Make Offer listing, so a no-sale is not always the end. The clock has anti-sniping: per Learn About Bidding, any bid in the final five minutes adds two minutes, and that can repeat. Set your number before the last five minutes, not during.

4. Inspect it, even though the marketing says vetted

The Why Hemmings page says listings are reviewed by specialists and ownership is confirmed. The user agreement is more careful: Hemmings does not guarantee the accuracy of listings or the condition of the car, recommends an in-person inspection, and says you are responsible for due diligence on condition and title. Hemmings points buyers to Lemon Squad for third-party inspections. Use the separate Q&A to ask for a cold start video, rust photos underneath and the title state. Our auction history check walks through what to ask.

5. Check the VIN, knowing old cars are different

NHTSA's vPIC decoder only handles 1981 and newer VINs; give it an older year and it rejects the decode. For a 1969 car you are matching the stamped number on the body or frame to the title by eye. Search NMVTIS for salvage or junk brands either way, and read our CARFAX for classic cars post for what reports can and cannot show on older iron. A report on a 50-year-old car can be thin, and that is normal, but a brand is still a brand.

6. Decide how money and title move

You can pay the seller directly, or use Hemmings Pay + Title. Its FAQ says it costs a flat $299 (buyer pays by default, though the two sides can split it), runs through KeySavvy acting as a dealer, verifies the title and handles a seller's loan payoff. It needs a U.S. title and a U.S. buyer address, wants a wire above $50,000, and issues an as-is bill of sale. It does not collect your sales tax except for Minnesota residents, so you still pay at your DMV. I would pay the $299 for any car where the seller's lender holds the title.

7. Plan pickup the day you bid

The agreement makes pickup the buyer's job and says sellers are not responsible for shipping. Hemmings offers Hemmings Shipping, powered by NTS, or you can hire your own carrier. Get a transport quote before the auction ends; a cross-country haul can change whether the car is actually a deal.

CarVins is a licensed CARFAX and AutoCheck reseller and has no tie to CARFAX, AutoCheck, Experian or Hemmings. A report has recently been about $5.50 for guests or $4.50 for members, roughly $6.75 for both, versus $39.99 to $44.99 retail; confirm at checkout. CARFAX's overview shows the sections.

Sources

• Hemmings: Why Hemmings Auctions and Learn About Bidding (hemmings.com, read Oct. 16, 2026; not linked because the site blocks automated checks)
• Hemmings Marketplace User Agreement, effective April 18, 2024
• Hemmings Pay + Title buyer FAQ
• Terry Shea, "Hemmings Auctions: We're doing it our way," Hemmings, July 25, 2019
• NHTSA vPIC VIN decoder
• NMVTIS (U.S. Department of Justice)
• CARFAX vehicle history reports