Britannia AuctionsCollective auctions and single item consignments in Edinburgh
Edinburgh has less heavy industry than the west, and the single lots we see from the city reflect that. They are site kit from construction contractors at Sighthill and Loanhead, mowers and grounds machinery from the firms that maintain the city's parks and golf courses, vans from delivery and trade fleets, and the odd print or packaging machine from a works in Seafield. Small, movable items with a broad trade behind them.
That last point matters. A collective auction is a shared online sale of lots from many vendors, and it suits items that plenty of trades still use. A compactor plate, a breaker, a ride on mower or a van is in that class, and bidding is open to bidders well beyond the area with Livingston and Dunfermline within reach of a viewing day.
Tell us what you have, and we will say whether it goes into the next collective sale and how it gets there.
Site kit, mowers and the turn of the season
Construction and plant hire produce the bulk of the lots. Breakers, compactor plates, generators, lighting towers, dumpers, site boxes and attachments come off contracts one at a time, and the yards south of the bypass at Loanhead and Straiton and the estates at Sighthill and Newbridge send them in ones and twos. Builders in Dalkeith, Musselburgh, Penicuik and Bathgate are close enough to view in person.
Grounds machinery is the seasonal strand. Ride on mowers, chippers, aerators and utility vehicles are bought by contractors equipping for a season, so the date a mower goes into a sale is worth discussing rather than assuming. Tell us when it comes off the fleet and we will give you a view on likely interest and on the timing before you commit.
Printing and food producers send the occasional machine, and the vehicle trade sends vans. All of it goes in the same catalogue under separate lot numbers.
Photographs first, then the right vehicle
What leaves a site easily and what does not is decided by the site, not by the estate it sits on. The western estates at Sighthill and Newbridge were laid out for large vehicles, Loanhead and Straiton much the same, and the older units at Seafield and around Leith are tighter, with a city centre basement meaning a carry. In every case we ask for photographs and check the approach, the turning space, the door dimensions, the floor levels and the route out before anything is booked.
Small plant, mowers and vans can be collected and sold from our premises where that is agreed, which gives the lot a set viewing day. A heavy machine that would cost more to move twice is catalogued in place and collected once by the buyer after the sale.
Buyers pay us and collect in an agreed window. You are paid after the sale is reconciled from cleared funds, with a lot by lot statement. A person deals with you from the first call to settlement.
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 Edinburgh
- Our grounds business at Loanhead has mowers we will not use next year. When should they go in?
Timing is worth discussing rather than assuming. Contractors equip for a season and wind down after it, so a mower offered when every fleet is selling meets more competition than one offered before the season starts. Tell us when yours is free and we will propose a sale and give you our opinion on likely interest before you commit. Storage can be arranged where agreed. Send the hours and the service history.
- We have a small print machine in a city centre basement. Can it come out and is it worth it?
Send photographs of the machine, the stairs and the street door, and tell us the weight if the plate shows it. What removal takes depends on the weight, the dimensions and the route out, and on whether the machine splits into sections, so we work that out for the actual machine. Where specialist handling is needed we get a cost, and that is set against what the machine might make. You decide from there.
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.