Independent auctions can now take their own slice of the dealer-to-dealer auction market.

That’s thanks to a partnership and exclusive integration between online auction EBlock and remarketing technology provider Auction Edge announced Tuesday.

The partnership between Auction Edge and EBlock begins this month with the McConkey Auction Group, which through the integration of the technologies will have its own dealer-to-dealer auction platform called MAG Now.

The first MAG Now event will be on Jan. 28.

The companies plan to expand the program to other Auction Edge customers throughout the country.

“Independent auctions are scrappy and very competitive by nature,” Auction Edge chief executive Dan Diedrich said in a news release. “Integrating Auction Edge with EBlock’s platform gives those auctions proven means to facilitate and expedite digital transactions.

“It empowers their success via the absolute best online dealer-to-dealer platform,” he said.

The dealer-to-dealer auction space is growing and has gained momentum as of late.

In addition to EBlock, the space includes such players as ACV Auctions, which in the last two months has announced a $150 million Series E funding and the purchase of inspection provider TrueFrame.  

Not to mention, the two largest corporate auto auction chains each has a dealer-to-dealer auction platform within their corporate families: TradeRev from ADESA parent KAR Global and Manheim Express from Cox Automotive’s Manheim.

Now, independents will have their own resource to compete in this space through EBlock, which launched in Canada in 2015 and entered the U.S. market in 2019. Jason McClenahan was recently promoted to the role of chief executive officer.

“We are selling 5,000 dealer-to-dealer vehicles per month with EBlock in Canada, so when the time came to expand to the U.S., partnering with Auction Edge and piloting with the McConkey Auction Group was the obvious choice,” McClenahan said in a news release.

“The team at Auction Edge has done an outstanding job building a consolidated buyer base of 50,000 buyers at over 200 auction facilities,” McClenahan said.  “Likewise, MAG's auctions have set an incredibly high bar; the independent auctions have been searching for a better tool than what's out there, and we firmly believe that through this partnership, we're bringing them that tool.”

Bob McConkey, who is the president and CEO of MAG and the chairman of Auction Edge’s board, added: “We've always been early adopters, but that doesn't mean we rush into using a technology for technology's sake.

“The partnership between EBlock and Auction Edge is the culmination of a lot of research, finding a lot of common ground, and 20 years' efforts in providing digital solutions for our customers.”