---
title: "Getting Started with the API"
date: 2026-07-22
url: https://marketcheck.uk/products/used-car-market-data-api/api-getting-started
type: page
description: "From sign-up to first API response in minutes: free key with 500 calls, one query parameter to authenticate, full docs and Postman collections. No card required."
---

# Getting Started with the API

# Up and running in minutes

Evaluating the API costs nothing: a free key, 500 calls, full documentation and Postman collections. Here is the whole journey.

[Request a free trial](https://marketcheck.uk/request-data-trial) [Speak to an expert](https://marketcheck.uk/contact#book-a-call)

## Three steps to your first response

1

### Request a trial

Sign up for a free trial and receive an API key with 500 calls. No card details, no contract, no sales call required.

2

### Authenticate

Every request carries your key as a single query parameter. No OAuth dance, no token refresh, nothing to build before you start.

3

### Query

Copy any example from the documentation or import the Postman collection. Your first real market answer arrives in milliseconds.

## What to try with 500 calls

### Search your patch

Every car for sale within 25 miles of your office, faceted by make. One call.

### Price a real car

Predict a value for a VRM you know, then pull its comparables and judge the evidence yourself.

### Profile a competitor

A dealer’s full stock with days-on-market statistics. Two calls.

## From trial to production

Production plans are self-serve subscriptions with published pricing; see the pricing page for API tiers, or talk to us about volume and custom feeds.

If your use case outgrows per-call APIs, the same data is available as bulk feeds delivered to your warehouse on your schedule.

[See API pricing →](https://marketcheck.uk/pricing)

## Common questions

### Does the trial really cost nothing?

Nothing, and it does not auto-convert. You get 500 API calls with no card details and no contract; when they run out you choose whether to subscribe.

### How does authentication work?

A single api\_key query parameter on every request. There is no OAuth flow or token refresh to build, which is why most developers make their first successful call within minutes of receiving a key.

### What if I need more than the API offers?

High-volume use cases usually move to data feeds: the same data, delivered in bulk to your warehouse on your schedule. Trials are available for feeds too, ask us for a sample.

### Where do I find the technical documentation?

Everything lives at docs.marketcheck.com, including full parameter references, example requests and Postman collections you can import and run against your trial key.

## Test our data.

Try the API for free or receive a test of the feed data.

[Request your free trial](https://marketcheck.uk/request-data-trial)