Evaluations
What Is a Vehicle Evaluation in VFT?
An evaluation is the appraisal record for a single unit you are considering wholesaling. In Vehicle Fair Trade, the same record is also what you send to your buyers, so you build it once and the deal runs off it.
A vehicle evaluation in VFT is the appraisal record for a single unit: its VIN-decoded details, its book value, its options, its photos, and the offers that come back. You build it once, send it to your wholesalers, and select the winning bid, all from the same record.
What goes into an evaluation
An evaluation holds everything a wholesaler needs to put an accurate number on the vehicle:
- The vehicle, decoded from the VIN (make, model, trim, engine), with the factory build confirmed by the OEM window sticker.
- A starting value from Canadian Black Book.
- Photos of the actual condition.
- Damages, odometer, and any notes that affect the number.
You build it once, accurately, and you do not re-enter it for the next buyer.
The evaluation is what you send
This is the difference from a paper appraisal sheet. The evaluation is not only a file for your records. It is what goes out to your wholesalers by text. Their offers return and attach to the same evaluation, pulled in automatically, so the unit, its details, and every bid live in one place.
How an evaluation flows, start to finish
- Decode the VIN, confirm the build, and book the value.
- Take the walk-around photos and add them.
- Send it to your wholesalers in one send.
- The offers return and accumulate on the evaluation.
- You select the winner.
There is no paper, no re-entry, and no copy-pasting to multiple buyers.
Why one clean evaluation is better than a phone call
A phone call and a number written on a note leaves no record and can skip buyers. One clean evaluation, sent the same way every time, means every wholesaler sees the same accurate vehicle, every offer is on the record, and no buyer is missed because you were busy. The result is that you know you asked everyone rather than hoping you reached the best number.
When you do not need one
If you retail a unit and never wholesale it, you do not need to send the evaluation anywhere, though keeping the appraisal on record is still useful. And if you take only one trade a month, the speed matters less. The value of not missing a buyer remains, but the benefit grows with volume.
FAQ
What is a vehicle evaluation?
It is the appraisal record for one unit in VFT: its details, value, options, photos, and the offers it has received. It is the same record you send to wholesalers.
What’s the difference between an evaluation and a regular appraisal?
A regular appraisal lives on paper or in your memory. A VFT evaluation is also what you send to buyers, and where their offers return, so it combines appraisal and wholesale in one record.
Do I have to fill everything in by hand?
No. The VIN decode, the window sticker, and the book value pre-fill the repetitive parts. You add the photos, the condition, and anything the factory record cannot know.
Can I reuse or duplicate an evaluation?
Yes. You build it once, and the same record carries through to the offers, so you do not re-enter a unit you already appraised.
Who sees an evaluation?
Your dealership, and the wholesalers you send it to. The offers and messages stay attached to it inside VFT.