What happens to unsold lots
Not every lot sells. Some fail to reach their reserve. Some attract no bids at all, usually because they are worth less than the cost of taking them away. Sellers worry about this more than they need to.
There is a set process for unsold lots and, one way or another, the site still ends up clear. Here is what happens and what your options are.
Why lots go unsold
The commonest reason is a reserve set above what the market will pay. The second is that the lot has a negative value: it costs more to remove than it is worth. The third is that the lot was described in a way that put buyers off, or was not accessible for viewing. We can usually tell you which of these applied.
An unsold lot is not a lost cause. The bidding record tells us who was interested and at what level, and that is useful information.
Offer it by private treaty after the sale
The first thing we do with an unsold lot is go back to the underbidders and to anyone who enquired about it during the sale. Often a buyer who stopped bidding just below the reserve will agree a price a little above their last bid once they know the lot is available. This happens in the days straight after the auction closes, while the buyers are still engaged.
The lot is sold on the same terms as the auction, with the buyer's premium and VAT applied in the same way, and collected on the same collection days where possible.
Reduce the reserve or sell without one
If the private treaty approach does not find a buyer, the next question is the reserve. You can lower it, or remove it altogether, and we re-offer the lot in the next available sale. A lot offered unreserved will sell. The only question is the price.
Be realistic about the second attempt. The buyers who saw the lot the first time have already decided what it is worth to them. A small reduction rarely changes anything. If the lot failed at a reserve that was well above the top bid, the reserve was the problem and it needs to come down to meet the market.
Re-offer in a later sale
Some lots are worth holding back. If a specialist machine failed to sell because the right buyer was not looking that week, it may do better in a collective sale alongside similar equipment, where the buyers for that category are already paying attention. We can move a lot into a later sale, either from your site or from our own premises if the site needs to be cleared quickly.
Moving a lot has a cost, in transport and in storage. Weigh that against the likely uplift before deciding.
Scrap and recycling
For lots with no market, scrap is the answer. Ferrous and non ferrous metal has a value by weight, and a scrap merchant will often collect at no cost or pay a small sum, depending on the weight and the grade. Machinery that is scrapped in place needs to be broken down and removed, and that work is either done by the scrap merchant or charged to you.
Electrical and electronic equipment cannot go in a skip. It falls under the WEEE regulations and must be collected by a licensed waste carrier and processed at an approved facility. You should receive a waste transfer note for it.
The same applies to fluorescent tubes, batteries, refrigerants in chillers and cold rooms, and waste oil. Keep the paperwork, because the landlord or a future buyer of the business may ask for it.
Disposal costs
Disposal is a cost, not an income, and it comes off your proceeds. Skips, waste carriers, labour to strip out and any hazardous waste charges add up on a large site. The best way to keep that cost down is to sell as much as possible in the first place, which is why we will push you towards realistic reserves and unreserved lots for general kit.
Where disposal is unavoidable, we arrange it, document it and net the cost against the sale proceeds in your final statement, so you have one account for the whole clearance.
If you have a sale coming up and are worried about what will be left over, ask us to mark up the schedule before the sale. We will tell you which lots we expect to struggle and what we would do with each of them.