How it works
Five steps from a VIN to a certified listing.
Two of them are yours, two are ours, and the one in the middle we do together. You approve every dollar before it is spent, the car stays titled to you throughout, and you list it yourself.
-
01 You
VIN and photos
Enter the VIN, add mileage and history, upload a handful of photos from your phone.
Create an account, put a card on file, and enter the VIN. We decode year, make, model, trim and engine for you. Add mileage, ownership and service history, known issues and modifications, then upload photos: front and rear three-quarters, both sides, interior, dash and odometer, engine bay, and anything you know is wrong. The shot list tells you what is still missing. Ten minutes on a phone is typical.
-
02 Us
AI valuation
A per-venue hammer range, a condition read, and the prep list that would move the number.
Our model reads the decode, your details and your photos against comparable sold results. You get an estimated hammer range for Bring a Trailer, Cars & Bids and Mecum separately, a plain-language condition read (what a bidder would notice, what looks original, what looks tired), a value-add list with rough cost and expected uplift per item, a recommended venue, and a sell-as-is or prep-first call. The valuation fee is charged when it is delivered and credited against any prep job.
-
03 You
Send it to us
Tell us where the car is and how it gets here. Drive it in or we arrange transport.
If the plan makes sense, tap Send it to Go to Hammer. Tell us where the car is, whether you will drive it in or want us to arrange an insured carrier, and your target sale window. You accept the intake agreement in your account. At intake we photograph the car, record mileage and condition, and give you the intake record. The car stays titled to you the whole time; we hold it for work only.
-
04 You and us
Approve the estimate
A hands-on inspection becomes an itemized estimate. You approve it line by line.
We inspect the car properly: on a lift, on the road, with the diagnostic gear it needs. Then we turn the findings into an itemized estimate: mechanical, cosmetic, detailing, photography, documentation, transport, certification. Each line has a price, an expected effect on value, and a recommended or optional flag. You approve or decline each line in your account. Nothing chargeable happens on a line you have not approved. Anything we find mid-job becomes a change order on the same terms, and you watch progress with photos as the work is done.
-
05 Us
Go to Hammer Certified
A reviewed, dated statement of what we found and what we did, with a public verification link.
When the approved work is done, we write the Go to Hammer Certified statement: vehicle identity, inspection findings, work performed with before-and-after photos, a condition grade, and what was not addressed. A designated reviewer signs off before release. You attach it to your listing, under your own account, on the venue you choose. Any bidder can check the code on our verification page.
What you do
Your side of the bench.
- ■Create an account and put a card on file. Nothing is charged until a valuation is delivered.
- ■Enter the VIN, mileage, history, known issues and modifications, and upload the photos the shot list asks for.
- ■Decide whether to send the car. Tell us where it is and how it gets here.
- ■Read the estimate and approve or decline each line. Answer change orders the same way.
- ■Collect the car within a week of completion, list it on the venue you choose, under your own account, and attach the certification.
What we do
Our side.
- ■Decode the VIN, coach the photo set, and produce the valuation: per-venue range, condition read, value-add list, venue call.
- ■Schedule intake, arrange an insured carrier if you want one, photograph and record the car on arrival.
- ■Inspect it properly and write an itemized, priced estimate with an expected value effect per line. A person prices and signs it.
- ■Do or subcontract the approved work, post progress photos, and stop to ask when something new turns up.
- ■Write the Go to Hammer Certified statement, put it through review, release it with a public verification code.
Timeline expectations
How long each step takes.
Honest ranges, not promises. The estimate carries a date range for your job and we update it in your account as work progresses. Auction listings themselves run one to two weeks once live, and venues have their own queues; plan backwards from the sale window you want.
| Step | Typical | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Valuation | Minutes | Photo set completeness. The shot list tells you what is missing. |
| Intake scheduling | 1 to 2 weeks | Shop capacity and, if we arrange it, carrier availability. |
| Inspection and estimate | 2 to 3 business days | After the car arrives. Longer if a subcontractor has to quote a line. |
| Your approvals | Your pace | Estimate prices hold for 30 days. |
| Work | 1 to 6 weeks | Detail, fluids and photos: about a week. Paint correction, mechanical, upholstery or machine work: two to six. |
| Certification review | 1 to 2 business days | Every statement passes a designated reviewer before release. |
| Collection | Within 7 days | Of the completion notice. Storage applies after that. |
Step one
Start with the valuation.
A per-venue range and an honest prep list for $49.00, credited in full against any work you approve. Ten minutes with your phone.