Britannia AuctionsCollective auctions and single item consignments in Aberdeen
An oil and gas contract ends and the kit does not. Service companies at Altens and Tullos, subsea firms at Westhill and the drilling and equipment yards at Dyce all work on projects, and every project leaves something in the yard. A calibrated inspection set, a workshop lathe bought for one client, a pressure test unit, a container full of tooling that will not be needed until the next award. Fish processors near the harbour add the odd filleting or packing machine.
These are single lots and small consignments, and they belong in a collective auction. We enter them into a shared online sale with lots from other vendors, identified by lot number only, so a test pump from a Tullos yard sits in the same catalogue as a whole yard clearance.
Tell us what the kit is, what it was rated for, and whether the certificates are current.
Rated equipment and the paperwork that goes with it
Offshore kit is judged on its documents as much as on its condition. A pressure test unit, a set of torque tools, lifting gear and a workshop machine are all described from the file that comes with them: certificates, calibration records, test dates and service history.
So the first thing we ask for is that file. Certificates, manuals, inspection reports and the original specification go with the lot, and we describe what is current and what has lapsed. A lapsed certificate does not stop a sale, but it changes who is interested and what they are prepared to bid.
Containers are a lot in their own right here. A twenty foot box with a fitted workshop inside it, or a container of sorted tooling, can be catalogued as one lot, and we split the contents where the parts look worth more apart than together.
Fabrication yards send welding sets, plasma cutters, positioners and rolls. Construction firms send small plant.
Selling from Altens to the whole UK and beyond
The Altens and Tullos yards have hard standing and their own cranes, and the Western Peripheral Route gives a lorry a way to Dyce or Altens without crossing the city. None of that settles what one lot needs, so we check the site: the approach and the turning room, the loading facilities on hand, door dimensions and the removal work each lot involves. What we find goes in the catalogue, so buyers know before they bid.
Bidding is online and open to the whole of the UK. Fabricators in Portlethen, Stonehaven, Inverurie and Kintore, and the food firms near the harbour, are an easy drive from a viewing day. Specialist subsea and inspection equipment interests a narrower trade wherever that work is done, at home or overseas, and a catalogue with a set closing date gives them one date to work to.
A lot can sell where it stands, or be collected and sold from our premises where that is agreed. Which we propose depends on the lot, the premises and your timetable.
What these sales can include
- Single machine tools
- Individual vans and pickups
- Compressors and generators
- Welding equipment
- Woodworking machines
- Hand tools and power tools
- Office furniture and IT equipment
- Catering equipment from a single kitchen
- Small plant and attachments
- Garden and grounds machinery
- Trailers
- Workshop consumables and stock
How a collective sale works
A collective auction is a regular online timed sale made up of lots from many vendors. Each vendor's lots are identified in the catalogue by lot number only. Buyers see one catalogue and bid across it, so a small consignment sits in the same sale as the larger ones.
Your lots are photographed and listed alongside the others. Bidding runs online, with lots closing in sequence on the sale date. Each lot is offered as seen under the auction terms, with buyers expected to inspect before bidding. The buyer pays the hammer price plus a buyer's premium, with VAT charged where it applies and shown separately.
After the sale, buyers pay and collect within the collection window. We account to you from cleared funds once it has closed and the sale is reconciled, less the agreed commission and any agreed costs.
The collective auctions and single item consignments page covers minimum viable value, at our premises or at yours, what to bring and what to tell us, timescales and unsold lots.
Questions about selling in Aberdeen
- Our kit at Dyce is offshore rated and specialist. Will buyers in a mixed sale understand what it is?
A collective sale is mixed, but the online catalogue is searched by item, so a pressure test unit or a set of subsea connectors can be found wherever it sits in the list. We describe the specification, the rating and the certificate status in full, from the documents you give us, so a specialist has what they need to judge the lot. Where the description is thin, so is the interest, which is why we ask for the file first.
- Can we sell a container with its contents as one lot?
Yes, and for a fitted workshop container it is usually the right choice. We photograph the outside, the inside and the main items, list the contents in the catalogue, and sell the box and everything in it under one lot number. Where the contents are worth more separately, for example a container that holds one valuable machine and a lot of consumables, we split them. Tell us what is inside and we will advise.
More questions about single items and small lots
Related services
Guides
- How a commercial asset auction works
A stage by stage account of an online timed auction for business assets. It covers the asset schedule, cataloguing, viewing days, how bidding closes, buyer's premium and VAT, collection and how you get paid.
- What happens to unsold lots
Not every lot sells, but the site still has to be cleared. This guide covers why lots go unsold, private treaty after the sale, lowering or removing the reserve, a later sale, scrap and WEEE recycling, and what disposal costs.