Britannia AuctionsCollective auctions and single item consignments in Derby
Subcontract machining and fabrication shops around Derby replace machines one at a time. A shop on Ascot Drive or at Sinfin buys a new machining centre for an aerospace contract and the old one, still running, still accurate, goes to the back wall. Six months later it is in the way. It is worth selling, and it does not need a sale of its own.
That single machine is a typical entry in our collective auctions. It goes into an online sale with lots from other vendors, identified by lot number only. Bidding is not limited to the area, and the precision engineering trade in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire is able to get to a viewing day without a long trip. The same goes for measuring equipment, a compressor, a welding set or a van from the same shop.
What a machine makes depends on its specification, its condition, the age of the control and what comes with it. Tell us what you have and we will give you a view before you commit.
One machine out of a working shop
The difficulty with a single machine tool is that the shop around it is still working. You cannot open the doors to thirty buyers on a Tuesday, and you do not want a stranger's rigger on the floor next to a machine that is in cycle.
There are two ways round that. Where the machine can be moved without a specialist lift, it can be collected and sold from our premises where that is agreed, with a viewing day and handling equipment on hand. Where it is a large machining centre or a press, we catalogue it in place with photographs and a video of it running, and the buyer arranges the lift and collects once after the sale. Either way there is no viewing day at your shop.
The southern estates, Sinfin Commercial Park and Raynesway among them, were laid out for lorries, but we still check the approach, the yard, the door and the floor before booking anything.
Reserves, finance and the value of a good machine
A machine that has done aerospace or rail work often comes with a maintenance record, and where that is so we say it in the catalogue and put the record with the lot. Records, hours, the age of the control and any known faults are what a buyer weighs, along with the cost of getting the machine out. The sale is online and open to bidders well beyond the area, and the trade in Burton upon Trent, Nottingham, Ilkeston and Chesterfield is near enough to view in person.
Because the value can be real, a reserve is sensible on the main lot. We agree it with you before the sale opens. Small items from the same shop, such as tooling, vices, gauges and hand tools, sell without reserve in grouped lots.
A machine on hire purchase or lease belongs to the funder until it is settled, and precision kit is often financed. Ask for the settlement figure when you first contact us, so the paperwork is done before the lot is catalogued rather than after.
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 Derby
- Can a machine be sold while it is still bolted down and running in our shop?
Yes. We photograph it under power and catalogue it in place, then run the sale online. A machine that can be run safely stays connected for the viewing day so your staff can demonstrate it, and it is isolated by a competent person before collection. The buyer arranges the lift and collects in the agreed window, and we agree the order with you so the machine next to it keeps running.
- How quickly can one surplus machine from Derby go into a sale?
Collective sales run on a cycle, so a single machine can be catalogued for the next one once we have the photographs and any funder consent. How soon that closes depends on the number of lots, the cataloguing and the bidding period, which is normally a week or two. Where the machine is coming to us, transport can be booked around your production so the floor is clear when the new machine arrives. You are paid after the sale is reconciled from cleared funds.
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.