Industrial equipment auctions are a perfect way to recover value from assets, whether you are trying to upgrade your current asset fleet or simply looking to liquidate. 

It’s important to prepare your equipment before the auction date so that it shows well. Although the auction house will try their best to sell your used machine, there are a few things you can do to maximize your chances of a good sale.

The advantage of equipment that shows well is that it will encourage prospective buyers to bid. There’s a variety of ways to prepare equipment for sale.

Tips for Preparing Your Equipment for Auction

Check Pricing Trends

Most consumers are searching for a deal when they browse industrial equipment auction and liquidation sites. They always sort search results so that the lowest price tops the list. This suggests that your listings might get skipped over if your equipment is not competitively priced. 

Before you put the equipment up for sale, you must understand the market conditions and patterns. You can visit online auction markets and look for recently sold lots, but be cautious on websites like eBay because they might just tell you how much someone is paying for a piece of equipment, and not how long they have been looking for it. 

Set the Right Price

It’s important to know what your equipment is worth before you put it up for sale. This will help you form reasonable expectations. You can engage an appraiser to assess the actual value of your equipment. This will help when it comes to determining a starting bid.

If you want to sell your used equipment fast, setting the right price for it is vitally important. There are many things to consider when setting the reserve price, such as the age of the machine, the number of operating hours it has been in use, warranties (if any), and depreciation.

Clean Your Equipment

Cleaning your equipment is the first step in getting it ready for an auction. Your equipment should look its best in front of potential buyers. Clean equipment is more likely to sell for a good price than dirty equipment.

With the grime removed, buyers can see the worth of the piece. Sellers should also refurbish vital parts and fix any damage if the equipment has been extensively used. In the used machinery market, a small investment will help increase the price of any piece. Of course, buyers understand that the equipment is sold as is, but if you want to get the full value from a piece of machinery, give it some TLC.

Categorize Equipment 

If you want to auction off a large fleet of equipment, begin by categorizing the items according to how they can be sold. A prospective buyer might require two pieces of equipment to complete their regular business operations.

Pick the Right Selling Method

There are several ways used equipment can be sold online. You can visit websites, get an online broker, or sell via an online auction. Some types of equipment sell better through one approach than another. 

Highly sought after items, for instance, can spark a bidding war between buyers, which suggests that an auction is the best way to maximize returns. To get the best return, consider which approach is best for each item.

Manage Paperwork

If you’re not as organized as you should be in managing the paperwork related to your equipment, then you should get organized now. Meticulous upkeep and track records will illustrate the technical capacity of the equipment. This openness on your part will give prospective bidders a higher level of confidence in buying from you.

Provide Details About Your Machine

Online shoppers make important buying decisions based on the details (images, technical specifications, etc.) the seller gives. Make sure that you lay out all the details when you list your used machinery with an auctioneer. You should provide detailed photographs, videos, technical details, warranties, a service history, and any usable spare parts, consumables, or equipment.

Vet Buyers

Save yourself a lot of stress and dissatisfaction by making sure the website you sell on vets its customers before allowing them to transact on the site. By confirming purchasers’ legitimacy, a reputable marketplace eliminates liability for used industrial equipment dealers, resulting in fewer incomplete transactions and disputes. 
 

If you sell equipment in an auction format, always take the time to screen bidders before letting them participate.

Avoid Scams

Be wary of fraudulent customers if you are selling on a generic or public forum, such as Craigslist or eBay. Look out for these red flags:

• The buyer who wants to overpay

• Third parties working on the buyer's behalf

• The buyer who wants to pay you to arrange the shipping on their behalf

• The buyer who wants to use a personal check

• The customer who appears to know nothing about the item or doesn’t seem to care about what you sell

These are a few signs that may indicate that something is amiss.

Turn to Professional Dealers

If the work involved in planning an industrial equipment auction seems daunting, leave it to professional auctioneers. They are fully able to streamline the process of preparing for an auction. They will prepare a proposal for how to optimize the recovery value of your equipment assets.

Conclusion

When you have several pieces of used equipment to sell, an auction is one of the most popular ways to do it. Auctioneers are qualified individuals or businesses who bring together buyers and sellers through a lot of hard work, proper setup, and extensive publicity. The highest bidder gets to walk away with the used equipment.