Britannia AuctionsCollective auctions and single item consignments in Leeds
Many of the lots in a collective sale come from businesses that are not closing at all. A builder in Stourton replaces a trailer. A print firm in Hunslet swaps a guillotine and has the old one in the way. A food producer in Cross Green has a spare compressor. A trade counter changes its van. Each of them has one item to sell and no reason to run a sale of their own.
The southern belt of the city produces a lot of this. Light manufacturing, metal processing, food production and distribution are packed along the M621 between Hunslet and Cross Green, and every one of those units has something surplus in a corner. We put the single item in a shared online sale with lots from other vendors. Bidding is open to bidders anywhere in the UK, and the trade in Bradford, Wakefield, Castleford and Huddersfield is a manageable drive from the viewing day.
Use the form to tell us what it is. We will say whether it belongs in the next sale.
Vans, trailers, diggers and small plant from the southern belt
Anything with wheels makes a straightforward single lot. A van, a pickup, a plant trailer or a mini digger photographs clearly and can usually be driven or towed rather than lifted, which keeps the cost of moving it down. Construction and trade businesses across the city turn these over constantly.
For vehicles we need the V5C and the keys, plus the service record where it exists, and we ask whether there is finance outstanding. A van on a finance agreement is the funder's until the agreement is settled, and it can only be catalogued once they agree in writing.
Small plant goes in the same sale. Breakers, compactor plates, mixers, generators and attachments from a plant yard in Stourton suit the same trades as the trailer they came in on. Garden and grounds machinery from a contractor in Harrogate or York is another regular entry, lotted so that each item is described on its own.
Working back from a regular sale date
Collective sales run on a cycle, which is the main reason they suit a business that is still trading. You do not have to wait for enough items to build up. If you have one machine now, it can go in the next sale. If another turns up in two months, it goes in the sale after.
The southern estates are close to the M621, so delivery to us is a short run. Items can be accepted before a sale is catalogued and stored at our premises where that is agreed. Bidding then runs online, normally for a week or two depending on the sale, buyers collect in an agreed window, and you are paid once the sale is reconciled from cleared funds.
For a printing or packaging firm the useful angle is that the old machine can be gone before the new one is installed. The floor is clear and nobody has to show a buyer round a working press room.
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 Leeds
- Is one van from a trade counter in Hunslet worth entering on its own?
Yes. A single van is one of the simplest lots we handle. It can be driven to our premises, it photographs clearly, and bidding on vehicles is open across the country as well as to the trade in West Yorkshire. The buyer pays a buyer's premium on top of the hammer price. Your charge is a separate commission with any agreed costs, agreed in writing before the sale and deducted from the proceeds. Finance has to be settled with the funder's agreement.
- We have a dozen items but they are all small. Can they go in as one lot?
Some can. We group items that a buyer would want together, such as a box of power tools or a set of office desks. We keep apart anything that is better described on its own. The floor for a lot is set by the cost of cataloguing it, so a single hand drill is grouped and a single generator is not. Send a list with photographs and we will tell you how we would lot it.
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.