Truck sales portals compared: classified portals, auctions and platforms – where listings are free, who sets the price and how to sell safely.
If you want to sell a used truck online, you can choose between three types of portal: classified portals such as mobile.de or TruckScout24, online auctions and transactional platforms that handle the entire sale. They differ in who sets the price, how much work stays with you and what the listing costs.
On classified portals the vehicle is advertised with photos and a description – but the actual sale takes place outside the portal. You organise enquiries by phone and email, viewings, negotiation, contract and handover yourself. In return, you set the price yourself.
In online auctions, registered commercial dealers usually bid up to a fixed deadline. Vehicles are mostly bought as seen, so bidding is correspondingly cautious. Whether there is a minimum price depends on the provider and the contract – at some auction houses the vehicle goes to the highest bid with no lower limit.
On transactional platforms the whole sale runs online: vehicle data capture, valuation, bids, contract, payment and collection. Your contractual partner is the platform operator, not the individual buyer. At truckoo you receive the free valuation within 24 hours; after that, vetted dealers and exporters submit binding bids – you decide whether to accept a bid. For sellers, the sale is free of charge.
mobile.de is the best-known vehicle portal in Germany. Its focus is on cars; commercial vehicles have their own section. Listings are subject to a fee, and more visible packages cost more. Many commercial vehicle details – such as body length or the insulation of a tipper body – cannot be mapped in the search filters, which makes searching tedious for buyers.
TruckScout24 specialises in commercial vehicles and is aimed at private and commercial sellers. The principle is the same as with mobile.de: you list the vehicle, and interested parties contact you directly.
Autoline focuses on trucks, trailers and construction machinery and is aimed mainly at dealers, including international ones. Vehicle data is partly translated, free-text descriptions not always – for commercial vehicles with a lot of optional equipment, the language barrier remains.
Most people know Kleinanzeigen (formerly eBay Kleinanzeigen) from private use, and trucks can be offered there too. For private sellers the basic listing is usually free; separate terms apply to commercial sellers. Facebook groups and Facebook Marketplace are also used – there is no protection whatsoever for payment and processing there.
Portal prices change regularly, which is why we do not quote any amounts here. The current terms can be found on the providers' pricing pages.
Listings are free on Kleinanzeigen for private sellers and on transactional platforms where the fees are not borne by the seller. On the major classified portals, listings for commercial vehicles are usually subject to a fee or free only in a limited basic version. At auctions, seller fees apply depending on the contract.
On classified portals and transactional platforms you decide yourself which offer to accept. In an auction, the bidders ultimately determine the price – and in an auction without a minimum price, that can mean downwards too.
With a classified portal almost everything is down to you: listing, enquiries, viewings, negotiation, handover. Auctions and platforms take most of this off your hands; with auctions you often have to plan for a fixed date and transport to the site.
Many used trucks go abroad. What matters is whether foreign buyers can understand the listing at all – a description only in German excludes some of the potential buyers.
Classified portals charge listing fees, auctions charge seller fees depending on the contract. At truckoo, the sale is free of charge for sellers.
Prices agreed over the phone are often renegotiated at collection, and with a classified portal it is your risk whether a prospective buyer actually buys and collects on time. Auction houses and transactional platforms handle the contract and payment themselves.
Which sales route is the best fit overall – dealer, listing, auction or platform – is compared in the guide Dealer, listing or auction? Ways to sell a truck compared
Documents for selling a truck · Selling on solid legal ground · free truck valuation · Sell your truck
Gabriel Böhm is Managing Director of truckoo GmbH, the digital platform that is redefining commercial vehicle trade in Europe. With a passion for innovation and efficiency, he shapes the strategic direction and drives operational excellence to connect sellers and buyers smarter, faster and more transparently.
More practical knowledge about selling, valuation and documents.
The registration certificate, mileage and photos are all you need. Verified dealers bid bindingly and you decide – free of charge and with truckoo as your contractual partner.
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