what is the purpose of equipment auctions?

[andrew whicker]

I think it's hard to find deals on things people are familiar with: hand tools, power hand tools and 110v / 220v single phase stuff. If you go outside the realm of the comfortable, the deals are there. I see a lot of stuff coming from schools. Schools seem to have good 3 phase access and they spend money on nice tools. The price / quality ratio might still be worth it vs the price / quality you get with a plug and play single phase machine (if you don't have 3 ph power). 3 phase equip seems to always have higher quality per dollar spent than single phase.

And there are most definitely re-sellers in the industrial tool arena, but at this level you are either a very high end hobbyist or running a business. Example: https://www.advanced-machinery.com/o...nery-c33343931

[Carroll Courtney]

Travis just north of you out here by Humble Tx is one of the largest equipment auctions I think on planet. This place is huge and also auction off huge equipment and as small as portable air compressor and they have financing if you see something you really need. Usually you don't have to worry about missing out on just that one machine cause there may be 100 of them. Really, there is an over pass right next to the place so I like to do a drive by which and I have seen cranes as tall as over pass,they bring in equipment from all over the world and everything sells. But its all on line cause I never see crowd there just few people. I don't know how this place works,never been there but dang its huge.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Travis just north of you out here by Humble Tx is one of the largest equipment auctions I think on planet. This place is huge and also auction off huge equipment and as small as portable air compressor and they have financing if you see something you really need. Usually you don't have to worry about missing out on just that one machine cause there may be 100 of them. Really, there is an over pass right next to the place so I like to do a drive by which and I have seen cranes as tall as over pass,they bring in equipment from all over the world and everything sells. But its all on line cause I never see crowd there just few people. I don't know how this place works,never been there but dang its huge.

I think Richie Bros is the biggest one there is, locations worldwide.

[Neil Gaskin]

I've had mixed success with buying used equipment sight unseen. Most of the equipment i bought has arrived in working order but you have to know what you are buying and be willing to put some time in. Depending on cost it can make sense to me to buy something that needs a little fixing. Make sure to factor in the auction's cut which usually is not included in the bid price, it seems most of the auctions I've bought from add 10%.

As to why not sell to a dealer, if it is a liquidation and the bank is selling the items they do not want to mess with it, an auction company comes in and does all the work. The same can apply to a business going through an upgrade of a lot of equipment.

[Dave Lehnert]

Had a family member who passed with no kids. Sure we could have got more $$$ if we took the time to sell every piece of the estate. But we chose to sell everything to an auction house. (we did not have the auction) In one day EVERYTHING was sold and gone. Not having the stress of taking months selling things off individually was worth it 10 fold.