Classifieds Rules

1.What this covers

As well as auctions, cars can be listed as classified ads at a set price or "Buy Now", sometimes with room to make an offer. This guide covers those non-auction sales.

2.Buying at the listed price

If you Buy Now at the listed price, you've agreed to buy the car — it's a binding commitment, the same as winning an auction.

3.Making an offer

Where offers are allowed, you can offer a price. If the seller accepts your offer, that forms a binding sale. So only offer what you're willing and able to pay.

4.After a sale forms

Once you've bought or your offer is accepted, you pay and collect under the normal terms (the Combined Buyer & Seller Terms, the Fees & Payments Schedule, and the Collection & Handover Terms). The same payment deadlines, fees, and collection rules apply as for an auction.

5.Disputes and conduct

Any dispute about the car is between you and the other party. We're the marketplace, not a judge, and our liability is limited. Play fair — misuse can lead to suspension.

1.Introduction and Scope

These Classifieds & Direct Sale Rules govern vehicles listed for sale as classified listings on Trader.co.uk (the "Platform"), as distinct from auction listings (which are governed by the Auction Rules). They form part of the Trader.co.uk Terms Suite and apply to all Buyers and Sellers who use classified listings. Capitalised terms have the meaning given in the Platform Terms.

Trader.co.uk's role. Trader.co.uk operates classified listings as the Seller's disclosed agent. We provide the listing, Buy Now, offer, and messaging tools only. We do not set or influence prices, do not negotiate, and are not a party to the contract of sale, which is formed directly between the Buyer and the Seller.

2.Classified Listings

How classifieds work. A classified listing offers a Vehicle for sale without a timed auction. A classified may be sold in one of two ways: (a) at a fixed Buy Now price; or (b) by the Buyer and Seller agreeing a price through the offer/negotiation process in clause 4.

Seller responsibilities. All Seller obligations in the Seller Terms apply to classified listings, including accurate description and disclosure, ownership/authority warranties, VIN/V5C responsibility, and the rules on misdescription.

3.Buy Now

Fixed-price purchase. Where a classified listing shows a Buy Now price, a Buyer may commit to purchase at that price. Submitting Buy Now forms a binding contract of sale between the Buyer and the Seller at the Buy Now price, concluded by Trader.co.uk as the Seller's agent under the authority in Seller Terms clause 2.

4.Offers and Negotiation

Making an offer. Where a listing allows offers, a Buyer may submit an offer to the Seller through the Platform. The Seller may accept the offer, decline it, or make a counter-offer. The Buyer may then accept the counter-offer, decline it, or make a further offer, and so on.

When a binding sale forms. A binding contract of sale is formed at the moment one party accepts the other party's current offer without change — that is, when the Seller accepts the Buyer's offer, or the Buyer accepts the Seller's counter-offer, through the Platform. Where the Seller accepts, Trader.co.uk concludes the sale as the Seller's agent under the authority in Seller Terms clause 2; where the Buyer accepts the Seller's counter-offer, the Buyer commits to the purchase in the same way as Buy Now.

Negotiate on the Platform. Offers and negotiation must take place through the Platform. You must not use the messaging or offer tools to arrange a sale off-Platform to avoid fees (see the anti-circumvention provisions in the Platform Terms and Seller Terms).

Offers are commitments. An offer or counter-offer is a genuine commitment to buy or sell at that price if accepted. You must not make offers you do not intend to honour.

5.What Happens After a Sale Forms

Same machinery as auctions. Once a binding contract of sale is formed (by Buy Now or accepted offer), the sale proceeds in exactly the same way as an auction sale. In particular: an invoice is created; the Buyer must pay within 24 hours under the Buyer Terms; the fees in the Fees & Payments Schedule apply; collection, handover, and acceptance follow the Collection & Handover Terms (including acceptance via the Trader app and the release code); and the Seller is paid through the same wallet/draw-down process in the Seller Terms.

Direct-seller sales. Where a classified is sold by a Seller who settles outside the PSP, the direct-seller provisions of the Buyer Terms apply in the same way as for auctions.

6.Disputes, Conduct and Liability

Any dispute about a Vehicle or a classified sale is between the Buyer and the Seller, who must resolve it directly. Trader.co.uk does not mediate, adjudicate, or bear any liability in respect of it. The conduct rules, anti-manipulation provisions, suspension rights, and liability provisions (including the liability cap) in the Platform Terms, Seller Terms, and Buyer Terms apply equally to classified listings.

7.Relationship with Other Documents and Governing Law

These Classifieds & Direct Sale Rules are subject to the order of priority in the Platform Terms; for classified listing and formation, these Rules take precedence. The Fees & Payments Schedule prevails on all fee amounts. These Rules are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.