Lumber Auctions and Riggers?

[Craig D Peltier]

Has anyone here purchased from a online lumber auction and used a rigging company to get it off premise to a shipper? If so since im totally green on this could anyone with knowledge of this chime in.
i.e. experience , cost, where to get bids from on shipping, should let riggers ship etc., would you do it again etc.

[Nathan Allen]

Never done a lumber auction to ship, but dealt with shipments, riggers and common carriers

Questions that may save money:
Can the wood be Palletized
Can a lift gate be used
Is there a dock available
Can it be covered on a flatbed or does it need enclosed
What are the conditions at the delivery location; again a dock or lift gate, forklift onsite?

How much lumber are we talking about?
- Maximum length
- Total weight
- Condition it is in right now (ex. at mill, in a warehouse, in a shed)

[Henry Ambrose]

Don't you want to see the wood you're buying?
You'd have to try real hard to convince me to do this unless its just a bunch of commodity wood like 2x4 studs.

[Van Huskey]

Don't you want to see the wood you're buying?
You'd have to try real hard to convince me to do this unless its just a bunch of commodity wood like 2x4 studs. Even then you're likely to get crap.


I have bought wood several times at auction site unseen and the first key is I never pay remotely "going rate" for the wood otherwise I wouldn't bother with an auction to begin with. I have yet to be disappointed and almost always pleasantly surprised. The auctions I have won have been production facilities going out of business etc and the people involved don't care too much about what the auction makes, they don't even dust off the machines. Most of the lumber is still palletized and is exactly what the chalk marks on it says it is. A millwork facility for instance isn't going to suffer a poor supplier long at all. This isn't to say I (or others) will never get burned but over time I feel confident I will come out ahead.

To the OP, I am sorry I have never dealt with riggers before. I have never bid out of driving distance before BUT I would be interested in you posting your feedback once it is over since I wouldn't mind being able to broaden my horizons so to speak.

[Scott T Smith]

Has anyone here purchased from a online lumber auction and used a rigging company to get it off premise to a shipper? If so since im totally green on this could anyone with knowledge of this chime in.
i.e. experience , cost, where to get bids from on shipping, should let riggers ship etc., would you do it again etc.

I've dealt with rigging companies to load equipment or lumber that I bought at auction onto my trailers. I don't understand the logic of having the rigging company move the lumber off-premise though. Why not just have them load it onto the shippers truck at the premise, and save the intermediate moving costs?

Usually the auction company will have 3 or 4 riggers that are pre-approved (insurance, bonding, etc) to work on premise, and you have to use one of them. You also usually need to make an appointment a few days in advance in order to get a loading slot.

Re having riggers arrange the shipping, only if it is some type of specialized machinery. For lumber, you're better off working with a company such as freightquote.com, Central Freight, etc.

[Van Huskey]

Usually the auction company will have 3 or 4 riggers that are pre-approved (insurance, bonding, etc) to work on premise, and you have to use one of them. .


Hmmm that is illuminating, I have not tried to bid in several auctions due to the fact insurance etc was required to pick up the items from the site, never thought about being able to avoid that problem with riggers. This thread may open a lot more autions to me! Thanks!

[Damon Stathatos]

I outfitted practically my complete shop buying machinery from furniture manufacturers and cabinet shops from either the midwest or the east coast and I'm in the Los Angeles area. I also purchased some lumber as well, all of it sight unseen (with the exception of website pictures and descriptions). For the most part, I made off like a bandit. There were instances however that I got totally stung. Make sure to keep in mind that the winning bid price is only a percentage of what your total cost will be. In my case, because of the nature of the machinery and the cross-country distances, I used to assume that my successful purchase prices were only half of what the total cost would end up to be (just to be on the safe side). In your case, it will all depend upon trucking distances. Also, just because you can possibly buy a $10,000 truckload of lumber for, say $1000, the trucking rate will still be the same as normal (they don't care that your cargo was such a good deal).

The key to it is to talk to the auction representative, then the factory foreman, and then the prospective riggers BEFORE you bid. Don't beat around the bush, ask them specific questions and don't settle for anything less than specific answers. It doesn't mean you need to be pushy but don't settle for a 'stonewalling.'

The auction representative should give you a contact at the company being auctioned and he should also give you his assessment as to the condition of the lots you're interested in. If that contact is the foreman, you're most likely to get the best information. If that contact is the owner or a principal of the company, you could still get reliable information as to the condition of the lots you're interested in, but you must read into those conversations. If you get allusive answers or answers to a different question than you are asking, then assume that they are either not good at communicating (lower odds) or hiding something (higher odds). I can say though, for the most part, you can get fairly honest info as long as you ask specific questions.

After determining what you think the condition of the lots you're interested in, the auction rep or the factory rep should be able to give you the riggers assigned or approved to work the after auction rigging. THE MORE RIGGERS, THE BETTER. I bought a few lots from auctions that only one rigger was 'assigned' and unless I got an 'estimated' quote before the auction, they knew that they had you 'by the short hairs.' I actually abandoned a few lots that I bought based solely on the rigger's attitude/quote after the auction. These were not big purchases but could have been great deals if the riggers hadn't been quoting more to rig the stuff than I could replace it new, in L.A., and that's what some of them did. Not to scare you off, and again, for the most part, riggers (the professional ones), eventually deal you straight, however, if you get to where there are just one or two (they'll gang up on you, both quote you high), then you could have a problem. Lastly, it is not a rule, written in stone, that you MUST use their riggers. I actually appealed to a few of the foremen and even factory owners after unreasonable quotes, and they offered to rig it themselves for me, for a reasonable sum.

The nature of the rigging business is for them to 'sell themselves' to you on your first call to them. After they quote you (or even before), don't be shy to let them know that you're going to get quotes from other riggers...the price WILL come down, and down, and down. If you do this enough, they begin to remember you or start to know you and then you'll get the straight quotes pretty much right from the beginning. One important point...to 'rig' lumber is pretty much the easiest (consequently cheapest) propositions out there. It should already be strapped/palletized. All it's probably going to require is for them to pick it up on a fork lift, drive it to the truck, and load it. Machinery is different in that they need to disconnect it, sometimes break some of it down, account for it, palletize it, and on and on. With lumber, you're 'extra' expense probably will be the need for a flatbed truck because unless it's very short pieces, it'll need to be side loaded on a flatbed.

Sorry to be so long-winded, however, it was a new experience for me and I went completely through the learning curve, learning from mistakes and honing skills as it went along. Outside of a few blatant lies from primarily owners or principals, most of the frustrating negotiations came from riggers who knew that they held the upper hand.

Now, take every negotiating tactic I have just attempted to impart on you, and, for the final step, apply it to YOUR final step, the freight companies. Shop as many as you can find, don't be in a hurry for your freight, and you'll eventually find a much better deal than your first few calls.

Best of luck to you and enjoy your new lumber.

[Van Huskey]

Thanks Damon that was VERY informative!

[Tom Rick]

On shipping.

Find a agent with one of the shipping brokerage companies. They can get you rates which are a small part of the quote you will get from shippers if you have to go directly to them.

Case in point- first machine I tried to get ship half way across country: quotes ran $1000- $1200 from shippers. The agent I ended up with shipped it for $185

I use-

Traci Hardesty
LTL Agent
England Logistics
(712) 427-9157
TraciHardesty@aol.com

She is fast, professional and deals with shippers she has experience with to get your deal done.