Privacy Policy

1. Overview

This Privacy Policy explains how AuctionCalc ("AuctionCalc," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and protects information when you visit auctioncalc.co or use our salvage auction bid calculator (the "Service"). We built AuctionCalc to work primarily inside your own browser, and we try to collect as little as possible. Please read this policy carefully to understand our practices.

This policy also covers the AuctionCalc browser extension for Chrome. See Section 14 for what the extension reads, stores and sends.

2. Information We Collect

a. Calculator Data Stays in Your Browser

The core calculator — vehicle details, parts, labor estimates, fee breakdowns, and your saved calculation history — is stored using your browser's local storage. This data is never transmitted to our servers and is not visible to us. Clearing your browser data or using a different device or browser will remove it.

b. Information You Provide Directly

If you contact us, sign up for an account, subscribe to a paid plan, or purchase a Manual VIN Lookup package, we (or our payment processor) collect information such as your name, email address, and billing details necessary to provide that service.

c. Information Collected Automatically

Like most websites, our hosting and analytics tools automatically collect standard technical information when you visit — such as your IP address, browser type, device type, pages viewed, and referring URLs — through server logs and cookies.

3. How We Use Information

• To provide, maintain, and improve the Service;
• To process subscriptions, trials, and one-time purchases, and to communicate about your account or order;
• To respond to support requests sent through our Contact Us page or email;
• To understand aggregate usage trends and improve site performance;
• To detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, or security issues.

4. Cookies & Analytics

We use essential cookies required for the site to function, and may use standard analytics cookies (such as those provided by our hosting platform) to understand aggregate traffic patterns. We do not use cookies to build advertising profiles about you. You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings, though some site features may not work as intended if you do.

5. Third-Party Services

AuctionCalc relies on a small number of third-party services to operate:

• NHTSA vPIC API — our VIN decode feature calls the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's free public API (vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov) directly from your browser. The VIN you enter is sent to this US government service to retrieve year, make, model, and trim; we do not store or see this data ourselves.
• Payment processing — when subscription billing and Manual VIN Lookup checkout are live, payments are handled by a PCI-compliant third-party payment processor (such as Stripe). AuctionCalc does not store your full card number.
• Website hosting — auctioncalc.co is hosted on WordPress.com infrastructure, which processes standard server logs and technical data as part of delivering the site.

6. Data Sharing & Disclosure

We do not sell your personal information. We only share information with the third-party service providers described above (to the extent necessary for them to perform their function), or where required to comply with law, enforce our Terms of Service, or protect the rights, property, or safety of AuctionCalc, our users, or the public.

7. Data Retention

Calculator data stored locally in your browser remains until you clear it yourself. Account and billing information is retained for as long as your account is active, plus a reasonable period afterward to comply with tax, accounting, and legal obligations.

8. Your Rights & Choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, or delete personal information we hold about you, or to object to or restrict certain processing.

• California residents (CCPA/CPRA) — you have the right to know what personal information we collect, to request deletion, and to opt out of the sale of personal information. We do not sell personal information.
• Canadian residents (PIPEDA) — you have the right to access personal information we hold about you and to request correction of inaccuracies.
• EU/UK visitors (GDPR) — if applicable to you, you have rights to access, rectify, erase, restrict, or port your personal data, and to object to certain processing.

To exercise any of these rights, email contact@auctioncalc.co. Because most calculator data lives only in your own browser, you can also simply clear your browser's local storage to remove it yourself at any time.

9. Children's Privacy

AuctionCalc is intended for business and professional use by adults and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 18. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will remove it.

10. Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect information we process. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. International Data Transfers

AuctionCalc serves buyers in both the United States and Canada, and our service providers may process data in either country. By using the Service, you understand that information may be transferred to and processed in a country other than your own.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be posted on this page with a new "Last updated" date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

13. Contact Us

Our privacy contact is Auction Calculator, reachable at contact@auctioncalc.co. Questions about this Privacy Policy or your data? Email contact@auctioncalc.co or visit our Contact Us page.

14. The AuctionCalc Browser Extension

AuctionCalc publishes a Chrome extension, AuctionCalc — Max Bid Side Panel, which opens in Chrome’s side panel beside a vehicle listing and calculates what that vehicle will really cost. This section describes the extension specifically. Where it differs from the website, this section governs.

a. What the extension reads, and where

When the side panel is open on a supported auction listing, the extension reads the lot details already displayed on that page — year, make, model, damage description, odometer, location and current bid — so you do not have to re-type them. On a supported retail listing it reads the asking price, which feeds two features: the free dealer price calculator, which works out the out-the-door total including the dealer’s documentation fee, sales tax, title and registration, any trade-in and any financing; and the optional resale comparison inside an auction profit calculation.

The extension reaches those pages in two different ways, and the difference matters:

• A standing permission on seven sites. Copart, IAAI, Manheim, OPENLANE, CarGurus, AutoTrader and Cars.com are listed in the extension’s manifest, so the panel can read a listing on those sites as soon as you open it. These are the only sites the extension holds standing access to.
• A one-page, one-visit permission everywhere else. On every other supported auction or retail site, the extension has no standing access at all. Clicking the AuctionCalc icon is what opens the side panel, and that same click is what grants Chrome’s active tab permission for the page you are on. The permission covers that one page, and it lapses when you navigate away. Nothing is granted in advance and nothing persists.

The dealer price calculator requires no AuctionCalc account. You can install the extension and use it on a retail listing without signing in or creating an account of any kind.

Reading is one-way and limited to a page you have open and have invoked the extension on. The extension does not modify listings, does not place or submit bids, and does not act on your behalf on any auction or retail platform.

b. What the extension does not access

The extension does not read your browsing history, your bookmarks, your saved passwords, your browser profile, or the contents of any page other than a supported listing you are actively viewing. It does not track you across sites, and it does not build an advertising or behavioural profile. On every site outside the seven named above, it can read nothing at all unless you have clicked the icon on that page.

c. What the extension stores

The extension uses Chrome’s local extension storage to remember your own settings between sessions — your default labor rate, transport cost, tax handling, preferred market (United States or Canada) and similar calculator defaults — together with the session token that keeps you signed in to your AuctionCalc account. This data is held locally in your browser.

d. What the extension sends to us

The extension communicates with auctioncalc.co in order to sign you in to your AuctionCalc account, confirm which plan you are on, and — only when you choose to save a calculation — store that calculation in your account history. A calculation you do not save is not stored by us.

Calculations saved from the extension are the same records described in Section 2 of this policy and are retained, used and deleted on the same terms.

e. Why each permission is requested

• Active tab — to read the listing you are currently viewing at the moment you open the side panel, on any supported site the extension does not hold standing access to. Granted by your click, scoped to that page, and released when you leave it.
• Scripting — to run the page-reading script on that listing so the vehicle details or asking price can be extracted and priced.
• Storage — to remember your calculator settings and keep you signed in between sessions.
• Side panel — the extension’s entire interface is a Chrome side panel, so the calculator can sit beside the listing rather than covering it.
• Site access to Copart, IAAI, Manheim and OPENLANE — to read lot details from auction listings you have open on those four platforms without an extra click.
• Site access to CarGurus, AutoTrader and Cars.com — to read the asking price from retail listings you have open, for the free out-the-door calculator and the resale comparison.
• Site access to auctioncalc.co — to sign in to your account and save calculations you choose to save.

f. What we never do with extension data

We do not sell or transfer data collected through the extension to third parties. We do not use or transfer it for any purpose unrelated to the extension’s single purpose, which is calculating what a vehicle will cost. We do not use or transfer it to determine creditworthiness or for lending purposes. These commitments match the certifications we provide to the Chrome Web Store.

g. Removing the extension

Uninstalling the extension from Chrome removes its local storage, including your saved settings and session token. Calculations you previously chose to save remain in your AuctionCalc account until you delete them or close the account — see Section 8 for how to do either.

A plain-language version of the same ground, with troubleshooting, is on the Support page.