How does selling a car on consignment in Dubai actually work?

In short: Bilgatti Auto sells cars on consignment in Dubai, meaning the car is sold on its owner's behalf instead of being bought from them. The car stays with you and you keep driving it while it is advertised, you set the minimum price you will accept, and commission is charged only if it sells.

Selling a car in Dubai usually comes down to two familiar routes. Take it to a dealer and accept a trade price, or advertise it yourself and spend your evenings replying to strangers and arranging viewings that fall through. Consignment is a third route, and enough of it runs against how people expect a car sale to work that it is worth walking through in order.

Who sells cars on commission in Dubai?

Bilgatti Auto, formerly Norwest Motors, is a used car dealer in Dubai that sells cars on consignment — the same thing as commission sale. The premises are at 10 San'a Rd, Ras Al Khor Industrial First, open Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 18:00.

One sentence carries the whole model: Bilgatti Auto is not buying your car, it is selling your car for you. Everything else follows from that. Because the company never owns the vehicle, it earns a commission on the sale rather than the trade price a buying dealer works from. And because the buyer is dealing with a company rather than with a private seller, the paperwork and the settlement run through Bilgatti Auto.

If you are weighing up providers, four questions separate one arrangement from another: does the car have to be handed over before it sells, who sets the price floor, is anything payable in advance, and who is liable if a complaint arrives months after the buyer drives away. The rest of this page answers those four.

What happens from the first valuation to the handover?

It starts with a valuation, and the valuation is free. You submit the car's details and photographs through the form on register your car. Bilgatti Auto comes back within 24 hours with a market-based valuation drawn from the car's condition, its mileage and the Dubai market. There is no charge and no obligation to go ahead afterwards. Photographs do most of the work at this stage: front, rear, both sides, the interior from the driver's seat, the dashboard, the mileage display, and any damage you would rather disclose now than argue about later. Extras are worth listing too — a second set of keys, a tow bar, child seats, the original documentation, the service book.

Then you set the floor. The valuation is an estimate of what the car should fetch. The minimum price is a separate number, and it belongs to you. You decide the lowest figure you are willing to accept, and the car is not sold below it.

The advertising is Bilgatti Auto's job. The photography, the listing, the buyer contact, the messages that go nowhere, the enquiry that lands while you are at work. Bilgatti Auto arranges the viewings, and the car stays in your possession throughout.

Then the sale itself. Once a buyer agrees a price at or above your minimum, Bilgatti Auto handles the contract, the settlement and the transfer. At that point the warranty liability moves across to Bilgatti Auto. That is the clause most sellers skim past and the one worth reading twice: in a private sale in the UAE, you as the seller can be held liable after the car has changed hands, while on a consignment sale that exposure sits with Bilgatti Auto instead of with you.

On timing, the published expectation is straightforward. Most cars sell within 2-4 weeks. Popular models can go faster, niche models longer.

Does the car have to sit at a dealership while it is advertised?

No, and this is the part most people need to hear twice.

The car stays with you for the whole period it is advertised. It sleeps in your driveway or your building's parking bay. You drive it to work, do the school run, take it out to Hatta at the weekend. You keep the keys and the use of the vehicle, and nothing about your week changes while the listing is live. The car changes hands exactly once, at completion, to the buyer.

That matters to anyone who cannot afford a gap without transport. It matters particularly if you are leaving the UAE and need the car until the day you go. With consignment there is no upfront cost, so listing early costs you nothing, and you keep driving until the sale is done. Timing depends on your departure date, so contact Bilgatti Auto to check what is possible in your case.

Which parts of the sale stay with me, and what does it cost?

The division of labour is deliberately lopsided. Almost everything sits on one side of this table.

The cost line is the one people ask about first. There is nothing payable in advance. Commission is charged only on a completed sale, so if the car does not find a buyer, you pay nothing and you still have the car. The commission rate is not published, so ask for it directly when your valuation comes back — by phone or through the sell your car page.

One detail on the buyer's side is worth knowing about. If a buyer needs a loan to complete, Bilgatti Auto can help arrange car financing through UAE banks, with a response on an application within 24 hours. The published requirements are that the applicant is 18 or older, has a stable income, has no payment defaults and holds UAE residency. A calculator on the financing page estimates a monthly payment, and the final terms come from the bank rather than from Bilgatti Auto.

How do I get started?

Send the car's details and a set of photographs through register your car. A valuation comes back within 24 hours, free of charge and with no obligation to sell afterwards.

If you would rather talk it through first, call +971 52 270 8056 or email bilgattiauto@gmail.com. The office at 10 San'a Rd, Ras Al Khor Industrial First is open Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 18:00.