How to start a car consignment business in Queensland
Consignment lets you sell other people’s cars without buying stock. The trade-off is paperwork: licence, trust account, the right forms for every seller and buyer, and the right signs on every car.
- Get a motor dealer licence and register every place of business.
- Open a trust account, notify the Office of Fair Trading, and appoint an auditor.
- Use Form 9 for every seller, a signed seller statement for every car, and Form 12 for every buyer.
- Advertise and sign consigned cars with the “no cooling-off period” wording.
1. Get licensed
You need a motor dealer licence, either individually or through a corporate licence with an individual licensee in charge of each place of business. See our licence guide for the training, suitability rules and 2026–27 fees.
2. Register every place of business
Each place of business is registered with your licence and needs a licensed person in charge.
3. Set up your trust account
Consignment money goes into a trust account. Notify the Office of Fair Trading within 2 months using Form 5, and appoint an auditor within 1 month of opening the account. See our trust account guide for the deadlines.
4. Paperwork for every seller
- A signed Form 9 before you provide any service.
- A signed seller statement before you accept the car, covering ownership, the vehicle details, odometer and any finance owing.
- Reasonable steps to find out or verify who owns the car before you offer it for sale.
- Form 10 if you have a beneficial interest in the car.
5. Paperwork and signs for every buyer
- Form 12 given to the buyer immediately before the sale contract is completed.
- Ads that say “no cooling-off period applies”, and a sign on each car, unless the consigning owner is themselves a dealer. See our Form 12 guide.
- A clear title guarantee in the contract.
- Tell buyers whether a statutory warranty applies. A consigned car is excluded from warranty unless its owner is a licensee, and an unwarranted car must be advertised as having no statutory warranty.
6. What you can’t do
- Accept trade-ins on consignment sales.
- Increase commission after Form 9 is signed, or charge it on more than the actual sale price.
- Keep commission on expenses the seller paid in advance.
Sources
Rules and fees change. Check the official source before you rely on anything here; this guide is general information, not legal advice.