Used-car lot software: stock, reservations, commission, contracts
A consignment lot is not a classified ad. It is a contract with the owner, a commission, a reservation with a deposit and a log of who viewed the VIN. A spreadsheet mixes “ours” with “on consignment” and will not lock a car that already has a deposit.
A lot lives on stock turn, not one ad. A car may be yours or on consignment (commission %, a floor, an owner contract, a “we take it off the yard” date). Classifieds are the shop window. The truth (“reserved, deposit in, preliminary contract”) must live with you — or you sell the same car twice, miss a commission or let search show a VIN that is gone. In Poland the names are Asystent Komis (Meteoryt: contracts, cash docs, invoices), Auto w Chmurze (ad export, AI photos), AutoMarket24.online (consignment contracts, portal export). Integra DMS and franchise ASO suites are another league and price.
The salesperson is on a test drive and does not pick up. The consignment owner calls “is it sold?”. A second buyer puts a deposit on the same car because the notebook sits in the hut. Viewing history leaves with the employee — like a developer CRM, only a VIN instead of a unit. Lot software is a VIN file + contract + hold + a site fed from stock, not “pretty ads in WordPress”.
What hurts on ads and a notebook
- Two calls on the same car, no lock after a deposit, two deposits, one shame.
- Nobody knows consignment vs own stock — different margin, different contract, different VAT.
- The owner calls for status while the salesperson is on the road; there is no “your car, last views, last contact” panel.
- Viewings, offers and “back Friday with the spouse” leave with the staff.
- The website is stale; search and portals still show a car that is gone.
- A workshop on the lot (prep, diagnostics) does not join the “in prep” status on the card.
What we build
We do not replace the national vehicle register or a franchise DMS. We do not promise government integrations “in the lot price”. We run the yard, the contracts and the money. Portals stay as a channel — the system says what you may still list.
- A VIN file: photos, spec, defects, mileage, source (consignment / purchase), prices, key count.
- A consignment contract: %, a floor, a term, a settlement, an annex when you drop the price.
- A deposit hold and an automatic return to the yard after X days without a contract.
- Leads from portals / site / phone: who called, who viewed, what offer — like property CRM.
- A “our cars” site fed from stock, not hand-edited WordPress. The photo dies when status ≠ available.
- Sale paperwork — with KSeF when you invoice companies.
- Several yards: location, transfer, one VIN file, commission per salesperson.
Consignment vs own stock — two books in one file
On consignment: not your car, another contract, commission, a duty to inform the owner, a time cap on the yard. Own stock: margin, prep, warranty, invoice. A spreadsheet mixes the two; VAT and civil law will not. The system must carry source on the VIN from day one. When a car moves from consignment to a buy-in — a source change and a new contract, not “a cell edit”.
A workshop on the lot (prep, diagnostics, paint) we join to workshop software or leave as “in prep / in paint / ready on the yard” on the car card. You do not need a full service to start with stock and deposits. Prep cost must hit the margin, not vanish on a mechanic’s slip.
Portals: export, not the source of truth
Auto w Chmurze and AutoMarket24 live on an ad integrator — one click to the big classifieds. It saves time. The source of truth must still be your status: reserved = unlist or mark. At the start you often unlist by hand when the system shows a hold. Auto-export when the portal has a path and you have volume. We do not promise “every portal in the MVP price”. Some marketplaces stay manual by nature.
A buyer on the site can pay a hold for X hours/days. The contract and the balance happen with you, on your template. This is not e-commerce with a VIN by courier. It is a hold like property: money locks the goods, it does not finish the sale.
Lot SaaS or your own panel
20 cars, one yard, a standard consignment contract — Asystent Komis or Auto w Chmurze can be enough (docs + export). Custom when: several yards, salesperson commission, a workshop in the flow, your own SEO “used cars [city]”, a panel for the consignment owner, or you want data and photos with you when you sell the firm. A salesperson app on the lot: list, status, photos — a PWA first, not Play Store.
- MVP: VIN stock + consignment/purchase source + deposit hold + consignment contract.
- A site from stock. Leads and viewing history.
- Ad export when the portal and volume exist. An “in prep” status for the workshop.
- A second yard, commission, a consignment-owner panel.
- KSeF for company sales. A workshop bridge when you actually live off it.
Describe yard size, consignment share, whether you have a workshop and whether deposits, ads or owner settlement hurt. MVP: stock + hold + consignment contract. Site and leads immediately if the ads lie.
A funnel like property: viewing, offer, deposit, contract
A living lot has a funnel: in from classifieds / Google / referral, a booked viewing, a test drive, an offer, a deposit, a contract, handover, commission. Developer CRM knows this rhythm on units; a VIN is another SKU. Without a history of “who came, what was promised, coming back with a spouse” the salesperson calls blind and a second person takes a deposit on the same car. Card statuses: available, hold X days, preliminary contract, sold, returned to the consignment owner, in prep, on the other yard. Each status has an ad effect: unlist, mark, leave. That is not “a pretty WP gallery”.
A Polish consignment contract has civil teeth: commission, a floor, time on the yard, who pays prep, what happens when you drop the price. The system holds the template, an annex, a date, PDF, a signature. Settlement after sale: the owner’s amount, your commission, optional workshop. A panel for the car owner (“your car, last 7 days, 12 viewings, 3 offers”) cuts the “is it sold?” call. Asystent Komis prints cash docs and invoices — if that is enough, we do not write custom. Custom when the owner should log in themselves and salespeople earn on a close, not on “I posted an ad”.
The ad, the photo, AI, the truth on the yard
Auto w Chmurze boasts AI photos and portal export. Useful. The source of truth is still the VIN on the yard: is the car physically there, on a test drive, on hold. An integrator that lists a reserved VIN creates a double deposit. A bridge: status from your panel drives export, or at the start you unlist by hand after a hold. We do not promise every classifieds site in one sprint. One portal with volume + your own SEO “used cars [city]” beats five half-dead exports.
Warranty, GAP, insurance on the lot — add-on sales at contract, not a second CRM. Workshop: prep cost on the VIN, paint status, ready on the yard. National register and vehicle history: an attachment, not an API in the price. How many cars, what % consignment, whether ads lie.
A salesperson on the yard, commission, a second job in the hut
A large yard: a salesperson with a phone, a VIN list, a filter “available / hold / consignment”, photo, price, defects, last contact. A PWA, not a mandatory Play Store app. Commission on a close, not on posting an ad — a report you see on Monday, not in a December fight. The hut’s second job: contracts, cash docs, invoices; Asystent Komis covers that; we add custom when the hut also has a workshop and a second yard. Training a new salesperson: 20 cars in the panel with history, not a folder in a cupboard after the predecessor who “remembered everything”.
SEO “used-car lot [city]” and a site from stock beat a dead WP listing. Google does not like VINs that are gone. Unlisting within 5 minutes of a deposit is a shield against two contracts on one body number. Yards, consignment %, whether leads vanish.
VAT, margin, consignment floor — numbers OLX does not know
Own stock and consignment are two VATs and two margins on one yard. Software with one “price” field will make an accountant’s error. A floor in the consignment contract: dropping the price needs an annex and sometimes the owner’s OK — status “waiting for annex”, not a quiet change on the portal. Prep (paint, valet, tyres) hits the VIN and the margin, or the workshop eats profit “on a slip”. A hold deposit: amount, days, automatic return, unlist the ad. Two deposits on one VIN cost more than a year of lot SaaS.
A week report: days on the yard per VIN, lead source, % of holds that reached a contract, commission per salesperson, cars past consignment term. That is management, not a gallery. AutoMarket24 and Asystent Komis cover documents. Custom when the report and the owner panel must live on your domain. The national register stays with the office.
A test drive, hourly insurance, two sets of keys
A test drive is a resource: the car leaves the hold “on the road”, a second client does not view an empty bay. Insurance / cover for the drive, the driver’s ID, a licence copy — an attachment on the VIN, GDPR retention. Two key sets and a service book as a handover checklist, not memory. When the car returns, status is available again or a hold if a deposit landed in between — a queue, not chaos. The same problem as booking a room: one resource, two people who want it.
The consignment owner in a panel: last ad views, viewings, offers, a price-drop proposal to accept. The “is it sold” call dies. A salesperson does not promise below the floor without an annex. After sale: settlement, invoice, unlist from every portal. An integrator you do not join to status will leave the ad up for a week and create a double contract. Drives, keys, owner panel.
A yard MVP: VIN, source, hold, contract
A file with consignment/purchase, a deposit with a return date, a consignment template, a site from stock, unlist after a hold. That closes a double sale. Owner panel, commission, integrator and a second yard — a queue. We leave Asystent Komis for documents if it works. We do not join the national register. We do not fake a franchise DMS. Cars on the yard, consignment %, whether classifieds lie.
Consignment vs own stock — two VATs on one yard
A consignment car: not yours, commission %, a floor, time on the yard, a duty to inform the owner, an annex when you drop the price. Own stock: margin, prep, warranty, invoice. A spreadsheet mixes the books. The system must carry source on the VIN from intake day. Asystent Komis (Meteoryt) prints contracts and cash docs. Auto w Chmurze and AutoMarket24.online export ads. Integra DMS is franchise league, not 20 cars on gravel. We do not replace the national register.
- A deposit hold and automatic return after X days; unlist from classifieds / the site in minutes.
- A funnel like a developer CRM: viewing, offer, deposit, contract.
- Workshop “in prep / paint / ready” on the card or a bridge to workshop software.
- Several yards: location, transfer, commission per salesperson.
The ad lies when status lives with you
The source of truth is the VIN on the yard, not the portal. An integrator that lists a reserved VIN creates two deposits. At the start you unlist by hand after a hold; auto-export when volume and a portal path exist. A “our cars” site from stock beats dead WordPress. A buyer may pay a hold — the contract stays with you; this is not e-commerce with VIN delivery. KSeF on company sales.
A test drive as a resource and two sets of keys
When the car is on a drive, a second client does not view an empty bay — status “on the road”, then available again or a hold if a deposit landed in between. Keys, the service book, hourly cover, a licence copy as a VIN attachment (GDPR retention). Salesperson on a PWA: list, consignment/hold filter, defects, last contact. Commission on a close, not on posting an ad. Vehicle history (Carfax and kin) is an attachment, not a government API in the lot price.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a buyer reserve on the site?
- They can pay a hold for X hours/days. The contract and the balance happen with you, on your template. This is not a shop that delivers a car to the door.
- Auto-list on classifieds?
- Export if the portal has a path and you have volume. At the start you unlist by hand when status is reserved. We keep an integrator (Auto w Chmurze and kin) if it already works — we join status.
- Several yards?
- Yes — a location on the car, transfers, one VIN file, a report per yard and per salesperson.
- A salesperson app on the lot?
- A phone list, status, photos — yes on a large yard. A PWA is enough for phase one; not a Play Store listing.
- Asystent Komis / Auto w Chmurze instead of custom?
- A small lot, one contract, ad export — often yes. Custom for several yards, a workshop in the flow, an owner panel and SEO on your domain. We do not replace working PDF contracts for ideology.
- Do you connect the national register / vehicle history?
- We do not promise government APIs. A history report can be an attachment you upload. The source of truth on the sale is your status and contract, not the portal and not the register in our MVP.
- Commission settlement with the owner?
- The consignment contract: %, floor, date, a price annex. The panel shows status and (optionally) sends a digest to the owner. Payout after sale — on your template, with a system document.
- How long is an MVP?
- VIN file + deposit hold + consignment contract + a site from stock: weeks if photos and VINs sit in folders, not in a drawer. Portal integrator and a second yard — the next iteration.
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