Item 1. Business

Corporate Information

We were incorporated in California in 1982, became a public company in 1994 and reincorporated into Delaware in January 2012. Our principal executive offices are located at 14185 Dallas Parkway, Suite 300, Dallas, Texas 75254 and our telephone number at that address is (972) 391-5000. Our website is www.copart.com. The contents of our website are not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K. We provide free of charge through a link on our website access to our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, as well as amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practical after the reports are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC.

Copart™, VB2™, BID4U™, CI & Design™, Cars with Heart™, 1-800 CAR BUYER™, VB3™ and CrashedToys.com™ are trademarks of Copart, Inc. This Form 10-K also includes other trademarks of Copart and of other companies.

Overview

We are a leading provider of online auctions and vehicle remarketing services with operations in the United States (U.S.), Canada, the United Kingdom (U.K.), the Republic of Ireland, Brazil, Germany, the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Oman, Bahrain, India, and Spain.

We provide vehicle sellers with a full range of services to process and sell vehicles primarily over the Internet through our Virtual Bidding Third Generation Internet auction-style sales technology, which we refer to as VB3. Vehicle sellers consist primarily of insurance companies, but also include banks, finance companies, charities, fleet operators, dealers and vehicles sourced directly from individual owners. We sell the vehicles principally to licensed vehicle dismantlers, rebuilders, repair licensees, used vehicle dealers and exporters and, at certain locations, to the general public. The majority of the vehicles sold on behalf of insurance companies are either damaged vehicles deemed a total loss or not economically repairable by the insurance companies, or are recovered stolen vehicles for which an insurance settlement with the vehicle owner has already been made. We offer vehicle sellers a full range of services that expedite each stage of the vehicle sales process, minimize administrative and processing costs, and maximize the ultimate sales price.

In the U.S., Canada, the Republic of Ireland, Brazil, the U.A.E., Oman, Bahrain, India, and Spain, we sell vehicles primarily as an agent and derive revenue primarily from fees paid by vehicle sellers and vehicle buyers, as well as related fees for services, such as towing and storage. In the U.K., we operate both as an agent and on a principal basis, in some cases purchasing salvage vehicles outright from the insurance companies and reselling the vehicles for our own account. In Germany and Spain, we also derive revenue from sales listing fees for listing vehicles on behalf of many insurance companies.

We converted all of our U.S. and Canada sales to our Virtual Bidding Second Generation (VB2) during fiscal 2004 and we converted our U.K. sales to VB2 during fiscal 2008. VB2 opened our sales process to registered buyers (whom we refer to as “members”) anywhere in the world with access to the Internet. This technology and model employ a two-step bidding process. The first step is an open preliminary bidding feature that allows a member to enter bids either at a bidding station at the storage facility or over the Internet during the preview period. To improve the effectiveness of bidding, the VB2 system lets members see the current high bids on the vehicles they want to purchase. The preliminary bidding step is an open bid format similar to eBay®. Members enter the maximum price they are willing to pay for a vehicle and VB2’s BID4U feature will incrementally bid on the vehicle on their behalf during all phases of the auction. Preliminary bidding ends at a specified time prior to the start of a second bidding step, an Internet-only virtual auction. This second step allows bidders the opportunity to bid against each other and the high preliminary bidder. The bidders enter bids via the Internet in real time while BID4U submits bids for the high preliminary bidder up to their maximum bid. When bidding stops, a countdown is initiated. If no bids are received during the countdown, the vehicle sells to the highest bidder.

We believe the implementation of VB2 increased the pool of available buyers for each sale, which resulted in added competition and an increase in the amount buyers are willing to pay for vehicles. We also believe that it improved the efficiency of our operations by eliminating the expense and capital requirements associated with live auctions. In August 2013, we launched our Virtual Bidding Third Generation (VB3), an Internet auction-style sales technology that was built on VB2. VB3 adds several enhancements which focuses on expanding auction attendance and increasing bidding volume. To attract new members and grow our membership base, VB3 allows non-registered members to view auctions via our website and our mobile applications. In addition, VB3 includes a completely redesigned auction interface, enabling members to fit multiple auction windows on their screen, while simultaneously viewing more vehicle photos and information at the time of live Internet bidding.

For fiscal 2017, sales of U.S. vehicles, on a unit basis, to members registered outside the state where the vehicle was located accounted for 49.8% of total vehicles sold; 29.7% of vehicles were sold to out of state members within the U.S. and 20.1% were sold to International members, based on the address submitted during registration.

We believe that we offer the highest level of service in the auction and vehicle remarketing industry and have established our leading market position by:

•	providing coverage that facilitates seller access to buyers around the world, reducing towing and third-party storage expenses, offering a local presence for vehicle inspection stations, and providing prompt response to catastrophes and natural disasters by specially-trained teams;

•	providing a comprehensive range of services that includes merchandising, efficient title processing, timely pick-up and delivery of vehicles, and Internet sales;

•	establishing and efficiently integrating new facilities and acquisitions;

•	increasing the number of bidders that can participate at each sale through the ease and convenience of Internet bidding;

•	applying technology to enhance operating efficiency through Internet bidding, web-based order processing, salvage value quotes, electronic communication with members and sellers, and vehicle imaging; and

•	providing a venue for insurance customers through our Virtual Insured Exchange (VIX) product to contingently sell a vehicle through our auction process to assess true market value, equipping our insurance customers with market data in its negotiations with owners who wish to retain their damaged vehicles.

Historically, we believe our business has grown as a result of (i) acquisitions, (ii) increases in overall volume in the salvage car market, (iii) growth in market share, (iv) increases in the amount of revenue generated per sales transaction resulting from increases in the gross selling price and the addition of value-added services for both members and sellers, and (v) growth in non-insurance company sellers. For fiscal 2017, our revenues were $1.4 billion and our operating income was $461.3 million.

In fiscal 2015, we opened facilities in Manama, Bahrain; Muscat, Oman; and Moncton, Canada.

In fiscal 2016, we opened facilities in Sonepat, India; Castledermot, Republic of Ireland; Algete, Spain; Dallas, Wilmer and Temple, Texas; Colorado Springs and Denver, Colorado; and Cartersville, Georgia.

In fiscal 2017, we opened facilities in Bad Fallingbostel, Germany; Newbury, U.K.; Betim, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Brighton and Littleton, Colorado; Sun Valley and Wilmington, California; Apopka and Okeechobee, Florida; Casper, Wyoming; Alorton, Illinois; Ogden, Utah; acquired the assets of an excavation company, which engages in earthwork, soil stabilization, equipment hauling and erosion control commercial contractor services; and acquired Cycle Express, LLC, which conducts business primarily as National Powersport Auctions (NPA), a leading non-salvage auction platform for motorcycles, snowmobiles, watercraft and other powersports vehicles. NPA currently operates facilities in Atlanta, Georgia; Cincinnati, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and San Diego, California.

Our revenues consist of sales transaction fees charged to vehicle sellers and vehicle buyers, transportation revenue, purchased vehicle revenues, and other remarketing services. Revenues from sellers are generally generated either on a fixed fee contract basis, where we collect a fixed amount for selling each vehicle regardless of the selling price of the vehicle or under our Percentage Incentive Program, which we refer to as PIP, where our fees are generally based on a predetermined percentage of the vehicle sales price. Under the consignment or fixed fee program, we generally charge an additional fee for title processing and special preparation. We may also charge additional fees for the cost of transporting the vehicle to or from our facility, storage of the vehicle, and other incidental costs. Under the consignment program or fixed fee program, only the fees associated with vehicle processing are recorded in revenue, not the actual sales price (gross proceeds). Sales transaction fees also include fees charged to vehicle buyers for purchasing vehicles, storage, loading, and annual registration. Transportation revenue includes charges to sellers for towing vehicles under certain contracts and towing charges assessed to buyers for delivering vehicles. Purchased vehicle revenue includes the gross sales price of the vehicle, which we have purchased or are otherwise considered to own, and is primarily generated in the U.K.

Operating costs consist primarily of operating personnel (which includes yard management, clerical and yard employees), rent, contract vehicle towing, insurance, fuel, equipment maintenance and repair, and costs of vehicles sold under purchase contracts. Costs associated with general and administrative expenses consist primarily of executive management, accounting, data processing, sales personnel, human resources, professional fees, information technology, and marketing expenses.

Industry Overview

The auction and vehicle remarketing services industry provides a venue for sellers to dispose of or liquidate vehicles to a broad domestic and international buyer pool. Sellers generally auction or sell their vehicles on a consignment basis either for a fixed fee or a percentage of the sales price. On occasion, companies in our industry will purchase vehicles from the largest segment of sellers, insurance companies, and resell the vehicles for their own account. The vehicles are usually purchased at a price based on the vehicles’ estimated pre-accident cash value and the extent of damage. Vehicle remarketers typically operate from multiple facilities where vehicles are processed, viewed, stored and delivered to the buyer. While most companies in this industry remarket vehicles through a physical auction or a hybrid internet and physical auction, we sell virtually all of our vehicles on our Internet selling platform VB3, thus eliminating the requirement for buyers to travel to an auction location to participate in the sales process.

Although there are other sellers of vehicles, such as banks, finance companies, charities, fleet operators, dealers and vehicles sourced directly from individual owners, our primary sellers of vehicles are insurance companies.

The primary buyers of vehicles at our auctions are vehicle dismantlers, rebuilders, repair licensees, used vehicle dealers, exporters, and in some states, the general public. Vehicle dismantlers, which we believe are the largest group of vehicle buyers, based on volume of vehicles purchased, either dismantle a salvage vehicle and sell parts individually or sell the entire vehicle to rebuilders, used vehicle dealers, or the general public. Vehicle rebuilders and vehicle repair licensees generally purchase salvage vehicles to repair and resell. Used vehicle dealers generally purchase recovered stolen or slightly damaged vehicles for resale.

The majority of our vehicles are sold on behalf of insurance companies and are usually vehicles involved in an accident. Typically, the damaged vehicle is towed to a storage facility or a vehicle repair facility for temporary storage pending insurance company examination. The vehicle is inspected by the insurance company’s adjuster, who estimates the costs of repairing the vehicle and gathers information regarding the damaged vehicle’s mileage, options and condition in order to estimate its pre-accident value (PAV), otherwise known as actual cash value (ACV). The adjuster determines whether to pay for repairs or to classify the vehicle as a total loss based upon the adjuster’s estimate of repair costs, vehicle’s salvage value, and the PAV, as well as customer service considerations. If the cost of repair is greater than the pre-accident value less the estimated salvage value, the insurance company generally will classify the vehicle as a total loss. The insurance company will thereafter assign the vehicle to a vehicle auction and remarketing services company, settle with the insured and receive title to the vehicle.

Automobile manufacturers continuously incorporate new standard features, including unibody construction utilizing exotic metals, passenger safety cages with surrounding crumple zones to absorb impacts, plastic and ceramic components, airbags, adaptive headlights, computer systems, advanced cameras, collision warning systems, and navigation systems. We believe that one effect of these additional features is that newer vehicles involved in accidents are costlier to repair and, accordingly, more likely to be deemed a total loss for insurance purposes.

We believe the primary factors that insurance companies consider when selecting an auction and vehicle remarketing services company include:

•	the anticipated percentage return on salvage (i.e., gross salvage proceeds, minus vehicle handling and selling expenses, divided by the PAV);

•	the services provided by the company and the degree to which such services reduce their administrative costs and expenses;

•	the price the company charges for its services;

•	geographic coverage;

•	the ability to respond to natural disasters;

•	the ability to provide analytical data to the seller; and

•	in the U.K., in certain situations, the actual amount paid for the vehicle.

In the U.K., some insurance companies tender periodic contracts for the purchase of salvaged vehicles. Under these circumstances, insurance companies will generally award the contract to the company that is willing to pay the highest price for the vehicles.

Generally, upon receipt of the pickup order (the assignment), we arrange for the transport of a vehicle to a facility. As a service to the vehicle seller, we will customarily pay advance charges (reimbursable charges paid on behalf of vehicle sellers) to obtain the vehicle’s release from a towing company, vehicle repair facility or impound facility. Advance charges paid on behalf of the vehicle seller are either recovered upon sale of the vehicle, invoiced separately to the seller or deducted from the net proceeds due to the seller.

The salvage vehicle then remains in storage at one of our facilities until ownership documents are transferred from the insured vehicle owner and the title to the vehicle is cleared through the appropriate state’s motor vehicle regulatory agency, or DMV. In the U.S., total loss vehicles may be sold in most states only after obtaining a salvage title from the DMV. Upon receipt of the appropriate documentation from the DMV, which is generally received within 45 to 60 days of vehicle pick-up, the vehicle is sold either on behalf of the insurance company or for our own account, depending on the terms of the contract. In the U.K., upon release of interest by the vehicle owner, the insurance company notifies us that the vehicle is available for sale.

Generally, sellers of non-salvage vehicles will arrange to deliver the vehicle to one of our locations. At that time, the vehicle information will be uploaded to our system and made available for buyers to review online. The vehicle is then sold at auction on VB3 typically within seven days. Proceeds are then collected from the member, seller fees are subtracted and the remainder is remitted to the seller.

Operating and Growth Strategy

Our growth strategy is to increase our revenues and profitability by, among other things, (i) acquiring and developing new facilities in key markets including foreign markets; (ii) pursuing national and regional vehicle supply agreements; and (iii) expanding our online auctions and vehicle remarketing service offerings to sellers and members. In addition, to maximize gross sales proceeds and cost efficiencies at each of our acquired facilities, we introduce our (i) pricing structure; (ii) selling processes; (iii) operational procedures; (iv) management information systems; and (v) when appropriate, redeploy existing personnel.

As part of our overall expansion strategy, our objective is to increase our revenues, operating profits, and market share in the vehicle sales industry. To implement our growth strategy, we intend to continue to do the following:

Acquire and Develop New Vehicle Storage Facilities in Key Markets Including Foreign Markets

Our strategy is to offer integrated services to vehicle sellers on a global, national or regional basis by acquiring or developing facilities in new and existing markets. We integrate our new acquisitions into our global network and capitalize on certain operating efficiencies resulting from, among other things, the reduction of duplicative overhead and the implementation of our operating procedures.

Pursue Global, National and Regional Vehicle Supply Agreements

Our broad global presence enhances our ability to enter into local, regional, national or global supply agreements with vehicle sellers. We actively seek to establish national and regional supply agreements with insurance companies by promoting our ability to achieve high net returns and broader access to buyers through our national coverage and electronic commerce capabilities. By utilizing our existing insurance company seller relationships, we are able to build new seller relationships and pursue additional supply agreements in existing and new markets.

Expand Our Service Offerings to Sellers and Members

Over the past several years, we have expanded our available service offerings to vehicle sellers and members. The primary focus of these new service offerings is to maximize returns to our sellers and maximize product value to our members. This includes, for our sellers, real-time access to sales data over the Internet, national coverage, the ability to respond on a national scale and, for our members, the implementation of VB3 real-time bidding at substantially all of our facilities, permitting members at any location worldwide to participate in the sales at our yards. We plan to continue to refine and expand our services, including offering software that can assist our sellers in expediting claims and salvage management tools that help sellers integrate their systems with ours.

Our Competitive Advantages

We believe that the following attributes and the services that we offer position us to take advantage of many opportunities in the online vehicle auction and services industry:

Geographic Coverage and Ability to Respond on a National Scale

Since our inception in 1982, we have expanded from a single facility in Vallejo, California to an integrated network of facilities located in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., the U.A.E., Oman, Bahrain, Brazil, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Spain and India. In Germany and Spain, we also provide online vehicle remarketing services. We are able to offer integrated services to our vehicle sellers, which allow us to respond to the needs of our sellers and members with maximum efficiency. Our coverage provides our sellers with key advantages, including:

•	attractiveness and efficiency to buyers, leading to enhanced selling prices for vehicles;

•	a reduction in administrative time and effort;

•	a reduction in overall vehicle towing costs;

•	convenient local facilities;

•	improved access to buyers throughout the world;

•	a prompt response in the event of a natural disaster or other catastrophe; and

•	consistency in products and services.

Value-Added Services

We believe that we offer the most comprehensive range of services in our industry, including:

•	Internet bidding, Internet proxy bidding, and virtual sales powered by VB3, which enhance the competitive bidding process;

•	mobile applications, which allow members to search, bid, create watch lists, join auctions and bid in numerous languages from anywhere;

•	online payment capabilities via our ePay product, credit cards and dealer financing programs;

•	e-mail notifications available in numerous languages to potential buyers of vehicles that match desired characteristics;

•	sophisticated vehicle processing at storage sites, including digital imaging of each vehicle and the scanning of each vehicle’s title and other significant documents such as body shop invoices, all of which are available from us over the Internet;

•	specialty sales, which allow buyers the opportunity to focus on such select types of vehicles as motorcycles, heavy equipment, boats, recreational vehicles and rental cars;

•	interactive online counter-bidding, which allows sellers who have placed a minimum bid or a bid to be approved on a vehicle to directly counter-bid the current high bidder;

•	second chance bidding, which allows the second highest bidder the opportunity to purchase the vehicle for the seller’s current minimum bid after the high bidder fails to consummate the purchase; and

•	Night Cap sales, which provides an additional opportunity for bidding on vehicles that have not previously achieved their minimum bid.

Proven Ability to Acquire and Integrate Acquisitions

We have a proven track record of successfully acquiring and integrating facilities. Since becoming a public company in 1994, we have completed acquisitions of facilities in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., the U.A.E., Brazil, Germany, and Spain. As part of our acquisition and integration strategy, we seek to:

•	expand our global presence;

•	strengthen our networks and access new markets;

•	utilize our existing corporate and technology infrastructure over a larger base of operations; and

•	introduce our comprehensive services and operational expertise.

We strive to integrate all new facilities, when appropriate, into our existing network without disruption of service to vehicle sellers. We work with new sellers to implement our fee structures and new service programs. We typically retain existing employees at acquired facilities in order to retain knowledge about, and respond to, the local market. We also assign a special integration team to help convert newly acquired facilities to our own management information and proprietary software systems, helping enable us to ensure a smooth and consistent transition to our business operating and sales systems.

Technology to Enhance and Expand Our Business

We have developed management information and proprietary software systems that allow us to deliver a fully integrated service offering. Our proprietary software programs provide vehicle sellers with online access to data and reports regarding their vehicles being processed at any of our facilities. This technology allows vehicle sellers to monitor each stage of our vehicle sales process, from pick up to sale and settlement by the buyer. Our full range of Internet services allows us to expedite each stage of the vehicle sales process and minimizes the administrative and processing costs for us, as well as our sellers. We believe that our integrated technology systems generate improved capacity and financial returns for our clients, resulting in

high client retention, and allow us to expand our national supply contracts.

Our Business Segments

Our U.S. and International regions are considered two separate operating segments and are disclosed as two reportable segments. The segments represent geographic areas and reflect how the chief operating decision maker allocates resources and measures results, including total revenues, operating income and income before income taxes. The segments continue to share similar business models, services and economic characteristics. Our revenues for the year ended July 31, 2017 were distributed as follows: U.S. 82.4% and International 17.6%. Geographic information as well as comparative segment revenues and related financial information pertaining to the U.S. and International segments for the years ended July 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 are presented in the tables in Note 14 — Segments and Other Geographic Reporting, to the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, which are included under in Part II, Item 8 of this 10-K.

Our Service Offerings

We offer vehicle sellers a full range of vehicle services, which expedite each stage of the vehicle sales process, maximizing proceeds and minimizing costs. Not all service offerings are available in all markets. Additionally, in some cases a service offering may be applicable only to a particular subsidiary or operating segment. Our service offerings include the following:

Online Seller Access

Through Copart Access, our Internet-based service for vehicle sellers, we enable sellers to assign vehicles for sale, check sales calendars, view vehicle images and history, view and reprint body shop invoices and towing receipts and view the historical performance of the vehicles sold at our sales.

Salvage Estimation Services

We offer Copart ProQuote, a proprietary service that assists sellers in the vehicle claims evaluation process by providing online salvage value estimates, which helps sellers determine whether to repair a particular vehicle or deem it a total loss.

Estimating Services

We offer vehicle sellers in the U.K. estimating services for vehicles taken to our facilities. Estimating services provide our insurance company sellers repair estimates which allow the insurance company to determine if the vehicle is a total loss vehicle. If the vehicle is determined to be a total loss, it is generally assigned to us to sell.

End-of-Life Vehicle Processing

In the U.K., we are an authorized treatment facility for the disposal of end-of-life vehicles.

Virtual Insured Exchange (VIX)

We provide a venue for insurance customers through our Virtual Insured Exchange (VIX) product to contingently sell a vehicle through our auction process to assess true market value, equipping our insurance customers with market data in its negotiations with owners who wish to retain their damaged vehicles.

Transportation Services

We maintain contracts with third-party vehicle transport companies, which enable us to pick up most of our sellers’ vehicles within 24 hours. Our national network and transportation capabilities provide cost and time savings to our vehicle sellers and ensure on-time vehicle pick up and prompt response to catastrophes and natural disasters in the U.S. and Canada. In the U.K., we perform transportation services through a combination of our fleet of over 200 vehicles and third-party vehicle transport companies.

Vehicle Inspection Stations

We offer some of our major insurance company sellers office and yard space to house vehicle inspection stations on-site at our facilities. We have over 80 vehicle inspection stations at our facilities. An on-site vehicle inspection station provides our insurance company sellers with a central location to inspect potential total loss vehicles, which reduces storage charges that otherwise may be incurred at the initial storage or repair facility.

On-Demand Reporting

We provide vehicle sellers with real time data for vehicles that we process for the particular seller. This includes vehicle sellers’ gross and net returns on each vehicle, service charges, and other data that enable our vehicle sellers to more easily administer and monitor the vehicle disposition process. In addition, we have developed a database containing over 300 fields of real-time and historical information accessible by our sellers allowing for their generation of custom ad hoc reports and customer specific analysis.

DMV Processing

We have extensive expertise in DMV document and title processing for salvage vehicles. We have developed a computer system which provides a direct link to the DMV computer systems of multiple states, allowing us to expedite the processing of vehicle title paperwork.

Flexible Vehicle Processing Programs

At the election of the seller, we sell vehicles pursuant to our Percentage Incentive Program, which we refer to as PIP, Consignment Program, or Purchase Program.

Percentage Incentive Program. Our Percentage Incentive Program is an innovative processing program designed to broadly serve the needs of vehicle sellers. Under PIP, we agree to sell all of the vehicles of a seller in a specified market, usually for a predetermined percentage of the vehicle sales price. Because our revenues under PIP are directly linked to the vehicle’s sale price, we have an incentive to actively merchandise those vehicles to maximize the net return. We provide the vehicle seller, at our expense, with transport of the vehicle to our nearest facility, as well as DMV document and title processing. In addition, we provide merchandising services such as covering or taping openings to protect vehicle interiors from weather, washing vehicle exteriors, vacuuming vehicle interiors, cleaning and polishing dashboards and tires, making keys for drivable vehicles, and identifying drivable vehicles. We believe our merchandising efforts increase the sales prices of the vehicles, thereby increasing the return on salvage vehicles to both vehicle sellers and us.

Consignment Program. Under our consignment program, we sell vehicles for a fixed consignment fee. Although sometimes included in the consignment fee, we may also charge additional fees for the cost of transporting the vehicle to our facility, storage of the vehicle, and other incidental costs.

Purchase Program. Under the purchase program, we purchase vehicles from a vehicle seller at a formula price, based on a percentage of the vehicles’ estimated pre-accident value (PAV), otherwise known as actual cash value (ACV), and sell the vehicles for our own account. Currently, the purchase program is offered primarily in the U.K.

Buy It Now, Make An Offer

We offer an option to our members to purchase specific pre-qualified vehicles immediately at a set price before the live auction process. This enables us to provide a fast, easy, transparent and comprehensive buying option on these pre-qualified vehicles. Additionally, members have the option of submitting an offer amount on certain selected vehicles. If an offer is accepted, the member can purchase the vehicle before the live auction process.

Member Network

We maintain a database of thousands of members in the vehicle dismantling, rebuilding, repair licensee, used vehicle dealer and export industries, as well as the general public, as we sell directly to the general public at certain locations. Our database includes each member’s vehicle preference and purchasing history. This data enables us to notify prospective buyers throughout the world via e-mail of vehicles available for bidding that match their vehicle preferences. Listings of vehicles to be sold on a particular day and location are also made available on the Internet.

Sales Process

We offer a flexible and unique sales process designed to maximize the sale prices of the vehicles utilizing VB3. VB3 opens our sales process to members and to individuals who have not registered to view auctions via our website and our mobile application, anywhere in the world where Internet access is available. The VB3 technology and model employs a two-step bidding process. The first step is an open preliminary bidding feature that allows a member to enter bids either at a bidding station at the storage facility during the preview days, or over the Internet. To improve the effectiveness of bidding, the VB3 system lets a member see the current high bid on the vehicle they want to purchase. The preliminary bidding step is an open bid format similar to eBay®. Members enter the maximum price they are willing to pay for a vehicle and VB3’s BID4U feature will incrementally bid the vehicle on their behalf during all steps of the auction. Preliminary bidding ends at a specified time prior to the start of a second bidding step, an Internet-only virtual auction. This second step allows bidders the opportunity to bid against each other and the highest preliminary bidder. The bidders enter bids via the Internet in real time, and then BID4U submits bids for the highest preliminary bidder, up to their maximum bid. When bidding stops, a countdown is initiated. If no bids are received during the countdown, the vehicle sells to the highest bidder.

Copart Dealer Services

We provide franchise and independent dealers with a convenient method to sell their trade-ins through any of our facilities. We have a dedicated group of employees in the U.S. that target these dealers and work with them throughout the sales process.

CashForCars.com

We provide the general public with a fast and convenient method to sell their vehicles. Anyone can call 1-800-Cash-For-Cars or go to CashForCars.com and arrange to obtain a valid offer to purchase their vehicle. Upon acceptance of our offer to purchase their vehicle, we give them a check for their vehicle and then sell the vehicle on our own behalf.

National Powersport Auctions

In the U.S., we provide non-salvage powersport vehicle remarketing services through live and online auction platforms to dealers, financial institutions and OEMs through our subsidiary National Powersport Auctions, or NPA. NPA, also offers comprehensive data services including the NPA Value GuideTM, which we believe is the industry’s most accurate wholesale valuation tool. NPA has facilities in San Diego, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Dallas, Texas; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Atlanta, Georgia.

U-Pull-It

In the U.K., we have two facilities from which the public can purchase parts from salvaged and end-of-life vehicles. In general, the buyer is responsible for detaching the parts from the vehicle and any associated hauling or transportation of the parts after detachment. After the valuable parts have been removed by the buyer, the remaining parts and car body are sold for their scrap value.

Sales

We process vehicles from hundreds of different vehicle sellers. No single customer accounted for more than 10% of our revenues for fiscal 2017, 2016 and 2015. We obtained 84% of the total number of vehicles processed during fiscal 2017 from insurance company sellers. We obtained 83% of the total number of vehicles processed during fiscal 2016 and 2015, from insurance company sellers. Our arrangements with our sellers are typically subject to cancellation by either party upon 30 to 90 days’ notice.

We typically contract with the regional or branch office of an insurance company or other vehicle sellers. The agreements are customized to each vehicle seller’s particular needs and often provide for the disposition of different types of salvage vehicles by differing methods. Our arrangements generally provide that we will sell total loss and recovered stolen vehicles generated by the vehicle seller in a designated geographic area.

We market our services to vehicle sellers through an in-house sales force that utilizes a variety of sales techniques, including targeted mailing of our sales literature, telemarketing, follow-up personal sales calls, Internet search engines, employee referrals, tow shop referrals, participation in trade shows and vehicle and insurance industry conventions. We market our services to franchise and independent dealerships, as well as the general public. We may, when appropriate, provide vehicle sellers with detailed analysis of the net return on vehicles and a proposal setting forth ways in which we believe that we can improve net returns on vehicles and reduce administrative costs and expenses.

During the last three years, a majority of our revenue was generated within the U.S. and a majority of our long-lived assets are located within the U.S. Please see Note 14 — Segments and Other Geographic Reporting in our Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding the geographic location of our sales and our long-lived assets.

Members

We maintain a database of thousands of registered members in the vehicle dismantling and recycling, rebuilding, used vehicle dealer and export industries. We believe that we have established a broad international and domestic buyer base by providing members with a variety of programs and services. To become a registered member, a person or business must complete a basic application either online or through our mobile applications. Before any member may purchase a vehicle, they must provide copies of current government issued photo identification. Additionally, business members must provide current business information, including copies of licenses, which may include vehicle dismantler, dealer, resale, repair or export licenses, and as needed, completed sales tax exemption certificates. Registration entitles a member to transact business at any of our sales, subject to local licensing and permitting requirements. In certain venues, we may sell to the general public either directly or members may transact business at any of our sales via a registered broker who meets local licensing and permitting requirements. A member may also bring guests to a facility for a fee to preview vehicles for sale. Strict admission procedures are intended to prevent frivolous bids that will not result in a completed sale. We market to members online and via e-mail notifications, sales notices, telemarketing, direct mail, in-location marketing, search engines, social media, radio, television, trade publications and participation in trade show events.

Competition

We face significant competition from other remarketers of both salvage and non-salvage vehicles. We believe our principal competitors include vehicle auction and sales companies and vehicle dismantlers. These national, regional and local competitors may have established relationships with vehicle sellers and buyers and may have financial resources that are greater than ours. The largest national or regional vehicle auctioneers in the U.S. include KAR Auction Services, Inc. (including subsidiaries ADESA, Inc. and Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc.); Auction Broadcasting Company, LLC; and Manheim, Inc. The largest national dismantler is LKQ Corporation (LKQ). LKQ, in addition to trade groups of dismantlers such as the American Recycling Association and the United Recyclers Group, LLC, may purchase salvage vehicles directly from insurance companies, thereby bypassing vehicle remarketing companies entirely. In our International markets, our principal competitors are vehicle auction and sales companies, vehicle dismantlers and privately held independent remarketers.

Management Information Systems

Our primary yard management information system consists of an IBM AS/400 mainframe computer system which runs our proprietary software developed to process salvage sales vehicles throughout the auction process. This system is integrated with the Internet to enable buyers to view salvage vehicles and bid on them. It can also be integrated with the seller’s system and enables the sellers to monitor their vehicles and analyze the progression of vehicles through the auction process. Our auction-style service product, VB3, is served by an array of identical high-density, high-performance servers. Each individual sale is configured to run on an available server in the array and can be rapidly provisioned to any other available server in the array as required.

We have invested in production data centers that are designed to continuously operate to support the business, even in the event of an emergency. The data centers’ electrical and mechanical systems are continually monitored. The data centers are located in areas generally considered to be free of frequent weather-related disasters and earthquakes. We operate fully redundant infrastructure to ensure ongoing operations, even in the event of physical damage to one of our data centers.

We have developed a proprietary system to enable us to address our international expansion needs. This proprietary system is designed to provide multi-language and multi-currency capabilities. We began using our new internally developed proprietary system with our expansion into Spain and India in fiscal 2016 and Germany in fiscal 2017. We intend to continue development of this system and implement it in certain additional international locations in the future.

Employees

As of July 31, 2017, we had 5,323 full-time employees, of whom 819 were engaged in general and administrative functions and 4,504 were engaged in yard operations. We are not currently subject to any collective bargaining agreements and believe our relationships with our employees are good. Employees per geographic region are as follows:

United States		4,012
International		1,311
Total employees		5,323

Environmental Matters

Our operations are subject to federal, state, national, provincial and local laws and regulations regarding the protection of the environment in the countries which we have storage facilities. In the salvage vehicle remarketing industry, large numbers of wrecked vehicles are stored at storage facilities and during that time, spills of fuel, motor oil and other fluids may occur, resulting in soil, surface water or groundwater contamination. In addition, certain of our facilities generate and/or store petroleum products and other hazardous materials, including waste solvents and used oil. In the U.K., we provide vehicle de-pollution and crushing services for end-of-life program vehicles. We could incur substantial expenditures for preventative, investigative or remedial action and could be exposed to liability arising from our operations, contamination by previous users of certain of our acquired facilities or facilities which we may acquire in the future, or the disposal of our waste at off-site locations. Environmental laws and regulations could become more stringent over time and there can be no assurance that we or our operations will not be subject to significant costs in the future. Although we have obtained indemnification for pre-existing environmental liabilities from many of the persons and entities from whom we have acquired facilities, there can be no assurance that such indemnifications will be adequate. Any such expenditures or liabilities could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations and financial position.

Governmental Regulations

Our operations are subject to regulation, supervision and licensing under various federal, national, international, provincial, state and local statutes, ordinances and regulations. The acquisition and sale of damaged and recovered stolen vehicles is regulated by various state, provincial and foreign motor vehicle departments. In addition to the regulation of sales and acquisitions of vehicles, we are also subject to various local zoning requirements with regard to the location of our storage facilities. These zoning requirements vary from location to location. At various times, we may be involved in disputes with local governmental officials regarding the development and/or operation of our business facilities. We believe that we are in compliance, in all material respects, with applicable regulatory requirements. We may be subject to similar types of regulations by federal, national, international, provincial, state and local governmental agencies in new markets.

Intellectual Property and Proprietary Rights

In June 2003, we filed a provisional U.S. patent application on VB2 in the United States. This provisional patent application was followed by a U.S. utility application filed in July 2003. The patent was issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on January 1, 2008. Generally, patents issued in the U.S. are effective for 20 years from the earliest asserted filing date of the patent application. The duration of foreign patents varies in accordance with the provisions of applicable local law.

We also rely on a combination of trade secret, copyright and trademark laws, as well as contractual agreements to safeguard our proprietary rights in technology and products. In seeking to limit access to sensitive information to the greatest practical extent, we routinely enter into confidentiality and assignment of invention agreements with each of our employees and consultants and nondisclosure agreements with our key customers and vendors.

Seasonality

Historically, our consolidated results of operations have been subject to quarterly variations based on a variety of factors, of which the primary influence is the seasonal change in weather patterns. During the winter months we tend to have higher demand for our services because there are more weather-related accidents.