Pickles vs Manheim: which one for what
The two biggest Australian vehicle auctioneers carry overlapping inventory but operate very differently. Here's the practical breakdown — what each does well, where each is weaker, and which one to point at depending on what you're trying to buy.
Auction formats
| Aspect | Pickles | Manheim |
|---|---|---|
| Live auctioneer format | Bid Live (Velocicast) | Simulcast |
| Timed online format | Timed Online | BidNow |
| Average lots per sale | 300-700 | 100-350 |
| Photo coverage | 5-20 photos per lot, full damage detail | 3-8 photos per lot, less consistent |
| VIN visibility on listings | Partial — many listings mask VIN until login | Generally visible on detail page |
Inventory strengths
Both run all WOVR classes (No-WOVR clean-title ex-fleet, Repairable WO, Statutory WO) but their dominant inventory differs:
- Pickles dominates insurance-source salvage. Heavy presence in repairable + statutory write-offs from major insurers. Their salvage volume per week typically beats Manheim 2-3×. Best for parts buyers, repair specialists, and high-volume rebuilders.
- Manheim is stronger on ex-fleet, ex-government, and ex-lease. Their NS (non-salvage) book has more consistent clean-title inventory at known mileage with full service histories. Best for end-user buyers wanting a re-registered car with paperwork.
Buyer fees
Both charge a buyer's premium on top of the hammer (in addition to government stamp duty and transfer fees). Pickles' fee tables are generally a touch lower at the higher hammer brackets; Manheim's are flatter across the curve. Full GST-inclusive tables are on the buyer-fees guide.
When to use which
Buying a Repairable WO to rebuild and resell
→ Pickles. Bigger pool, more photos, more lots per make/model means tighter comp data on Auction Intel's hammer-history predictions.
Buying parts (statutory write-off, parts-out)
→ Pickles. Highest statutory volume, most diverse parts donor pool. Manheim's stat inventory is thinner.
Buying a daily driver / clean-title used car
→ Manheim NS. Better ex-fleet/government inventory with verifiable service records. Pickles NS works too — just smaller pool.
Buying industrial / heavy plant / commercial
→ Either. Both run dedicated Industrial auction streams. Pickles' industrial catalogue is larger; Manheim's tends to be higher-quality fleet rotation.
The aggregator advantage
Comparing the two by tabbing between their sites is brutal — different search UIs, different filter taxonomies, no cross-source price history. Auction Intel indexes both (plus IAAI, Grays, and Slattery) so a single search returns every lot of a make/model across all five sources, with hammer history baked into the ranking. That's the workflow most buyers settle into after a few sale cycles.