11:06 am, January 8, 2026
Motorway has launched paid-for listings on its auction platform – charging some consumers to sell their cars to dealers.
Sellers can choose to pay £29.99 to promote their listing with these flagged in the daily auctions as such.
Motorway has told dealers this is a ‘small-scale test’ with the option only shown to a small number of sellers.
In an email to its customers it told dealers they will see a ‘limited number’ of these listings and they will be ‘gradually scaled’ based on the results.
Motorway said the idea has come about as it had identified a ‘pain point’ for dealers when it came to some sellers committing to a sale.
In a blog post, the firm said: ‘We’re now testing a paid listing feature that will allow private sellers to make an upfront payment and signal their commitment to selling their car.
‘We believe that a seller who has made an upfront payment to promote their listing is showing an even greater level of commitment to sell their vehicle, resulting in even smoother transactions.’
Motorway says these paid-for listings are ‘additional signals’ that will help dealers ‘identify motivated sellers’.
The firm added: ‘While all sellers on Motorway are looking to sell, the “paid listing” badge indicates a seller that has made a higher upfront commitment.
‘These listings may be more likely to result in a successful sale, helping you buy with even more confidence.’
Only a small percentage of sellers are being given the option to promote their listing. The £30 fee is a one-off and non-refundable.
Motorway said the ‘visibility’ of the advert was no different to any other on the platform, apart from the ‘paid-listing’ badge.
A spokesperson for Motorway told Car Dealer: ‘We’re testing a paid listing option that lets sellers signal extra commitment to completing a sale. It’s optional, we’re only offering it to a percentage of sellers, and we’re gathering data on how it improves outcomes for dealers. We’ll share more when we have results.’
Motorway clocked up losses of £37.3m on revenues of £66.4m in 2024, its most recent accounts show. These losses were up on the year before after a year of ‘deliberate investment’, said the firm.
In a separate statement, released to time with the publication of the firm’s 2024 accounts, Motorway also told Car Dealer that it expects to ‘reach profitability in mid-2026’.
Unusually also detailing performance for the year ended December 31, 2025, the firm said accounts are likely to show an 18% revenue improvement to £78m. It added its operating losses in 2025 will also likely reduce by around 37% ‘to £22m’.
