A car from a US Copart or IAAI auction is often noticeably cheaper than a similar one in Poland or Ukraine. But the price you see at the auction is only one of several parts of the total. To avoid surprises, it pays to know the full list of costs before you bid.
1. The winning bid
This is the amount you win the auction for. Most of the later charges — including duty and taxes — are calculated from it, so every extra USD 1,000 in your bid raises the final cost by noticeably more than USD 1,000.
2. Auction fees
The auction adds its own buyer fee on top of the price. On Copart, for cars between USD 5,000 and 15,000 it is roughly 8–8.5% of the price; cheaper cars pay a fixed amount per price bracket. Small fixed charges come on top, such as the gate fee for releasing the car from the yard and an environmental fee. IAAI fees are usually a few percent higher than Copart's.
3. Towing to the US port
The car has to be moved from the auction yard to the port of departure. The cost depends on the state and the particular yard: a yard near the port is cheaper, one deep inland costs more. That is why two identical cars from different states can have very different delivery costs.
4. Ocean freight to Europe
Cars most often sail to Rotterdam, Bremerhaven or Klaipeda. The price depends on the US port, the destination port and the body type: an SUV costs more than a sedan, and a large pickup more still. Hybrids and electric cars carry a surcharge for shipping the battery.
5. Customs clearance in Poland (EU)
Import duty is charged on the customs value: winning bid + auction fees + US towing + ocean freight. EU rates: passenger cars — 10%, pickups and trucks — 22%, motorcycles — 6%.
VAT is paid in the country of customs clearance, on the customs value plus duty: 21% in the Netherlands (Rotterdam), 19% in Germany (Bremerhaven), 23% in Poland.
Polish excise is paid at registration. Its base is the customs value plus duty, in zloty. Rates:
- petrol and diesel: 3.1% up to 2.0 l, 18.6% above 2.0 l,
- hybrid (HEV): 1.55% up to 2.0 l, 9.3% above,
- plug-in hybrid (PHEV): 0% up to 2.0 l, 9.3% above,
- electric: 0%.
That is why a hybrid with an engine up to 2.0 l is one of the best-value choices from the USA for Poland.
6. Customs clearance in Ukraine
We deliver cars to Ukraine only via the port of Klaipeda (Lithuania), and customs clearance takes place in Lviv. So for a Ukrainian estimate, pick Klaipeda in the calculator.
Ukraine uses a different formula: 10% duty on the customs value, excise that depends on the fuel type, engine size and the car's age (the older the car, the higher the excise), and 20% VAT on the customs value plus duty and excise. Because of the age factor, newer cars often work out better for Ukraine.
7. Customs broker, registration and our service
On top come the customs broker, registration fees and the fee of the company that runs the whole process. At BidBridge the service fee is fixed and shown in the calculator as a separate line — it is not hidden inside other costs.
How to calculate it in practice?
Working it all out by hand is slow, and it is easy to get the duty or excise base wrong. That is why we built a free calculator: enter the price, year, engine size, fuel type and port, and it shows every item separately plus the full turnkey amount for Poland or Ukraine. You can download the result as a PDF.
For a specific car from our auction catalogue, the calculator fills itself in — including the state the car has to be towed from.
The figures are estimates: exchange rates, carrier rates and auction fees change over time. Our manager will confirm the exact amount for the car you choose.