CASE STUDY

Direktcar

A real-time car auction marketplace we’ve designed, built and run since 2022. New features now go live in 2 days instead of 24.

Direktcar homepage on a laptop
Direktcar homepage on a phone

Selling a used car, without the middlemen.

The founder came to us with a clear idea and a basic website that couldn’t carry it: owners selling their car directly to buyers, through a fair online auction, with trust and payments handled by the platform.

  • Market: used cars, Romania
  • Launched: March 2023
  • Partnership: since 2022, ongoing

“No car flippers, no hidden middlemen.”

„Fără samsari, fără intermediari ascunși.”

Direktcar's promise to buyers

One marketplace. Three ways to sell a car.

Each one added a new revenue stream, without rebuilding the platform.

A car auction on Direktcar with an online viewing

Online auctions

Owners sell to the best bidder, with video viewings before bidding opens.

A classified car ad on Direktcar with photo, details and price

Classified ads

Fixed-price ads on free or paid plans, live in minutes.

Dealer hub

Dealer pages and plans, with stock that imports itself every day.

Auctions are the hard part. We built them from scratch.

Real money, live bids and a countdown that has to be fair to everyone, down to the last second.

The life of one auction
  1. Car submitted
  2. Reviewed
  3. Viewingonline or in person
  4. Bidding opens
  5. Live bidding
  6. Closed
  7. Seller confirms
  8. Paid & certified

Live bidding

Every bid shows up instantly for everyone watching.

No last-second sniping

A late bid extends the clock, so everyone gets a fair chance.

Simultaneous bids

Two bids in the same second: one wins, the other is told right away.

Verified bidders

Phone verification before the first bid.

Reserve price

Below the seller's target, the seller has the final word.

Paid on the spot

Online checkout and a winner certificate when the auction closes.

“On auctions you gained experience other developers don't have. And it was quite a challenge.”

„Pe licitații ați câștigat experiență pe care alți developeri nu o au. Și a fost o adevărată provocare.”

Cristian Vartaci-Aconi, founder of Direktcar

Live since March 2023.

  • 45,000+registered users
  • 4,500+auctions run
  • 28,000+bids placed
  • 1,500+dealer cars imported automatically

From first workshop to today.

  1. Early 2022Discovery & scope
  2. 2022–23Built with a team of five
  3. March 2023Launch: first live auctions
  4. 2024Online video viewings
  5. 2025Paid ads
  6. 2026Dealer hub, built with AI

From weeks to days.

Since 2026, Direktcar is built by one senior developer working with AI. Same quality checks, a fraction of the time and cost.

Median, request to release 2 days

12× faster than in 2022–23

Who builds it

Smaller team, smaller invoice.

Quality
1,000+automated checks on every release

Nothing ships unless they all pass.

How a feature ships today.

  1. You describe it
  2. AI drafts the spec
  3. You approve it
  4. AI builds, we review and test
  5. Live in days, explained in plain words

Have a product that should move faster?

We ship features in days, not months, so you pay for far fewer hours. Tell us what’s on your roadmap.

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