Britannia AuctionsCollective auctions and single item consignments in London
Industrial London is short of space, and that produces a steady flow of single lots. A food producer at Park Royal takes out a rack oven to fit a bigger one and has nowhere to keep it. A printer swaps a guillotine. A vehicle workshop in Croydon replaces a lift. A recycling firm at Dagenham Dock has an attachment it stopped using. A delivery business in Enfield has a van that no longer suits its routes.
Each of these is a lot, and each is too small for a sale of its own. Our collective auctions put single items from many vendors into one online sale, so your oven or your van sits in a catalogue with a hundred other lots, in front of the same audience as a large dispersal.
Rents in the capital argue for speed. A machine that sits in a unit you pay for by the square foot is costing you money every month.
Vans that no longer suit the capital and kit from the food units
Vans and light commercials are the most common single lot from the outer boroughs. Fleets across the city turn over vehicles as emissions rules and delivery contracts change, and a van that no longer suits the capital may suit a trade buyer outside it. Online bidding opens the sale to the rest of the country, and the trade in Watford, Dartford, Romford and Slough is near enough to attend the viewing day. Send the V5, the service history and the mileage. A vehicle on finance remains the funder's property until it is settled and needs their agreement before it is listed.
Food production and printing at Park Royal produce the second strand. Mixers, ovens, provers, fryers, guillotines, folders and laminators are replaced one at a time as lines change, and stainless steel catering kit is used by producers of every size.
Construction, waste and engineering firms in Barking, Erith, Hayes and Charlton add small plant, attachments, welding sets and workshop tools. All of it goes in the same catalogue.
Collection when the lorry cannot get near the door
Moving one item out of a London unit is mostly a question of the vehicle. Large lorries must meet the Low Emission Zone and Direct Vision Standard rules, and many of the older estates were never laid out for them. So for a single lot we look at the site first: the approach and turning space, the loading bay if there is one, door dimensions, floor levels and any height or time restrictions, and we send the smallest vehicle that suits the job. What the removal involves goes in the catalogue.
A single lot can be collected and sold from our premises where that is agreed, which fixes the viewing day and keeps buyers out of a working kitchen or a busy yard. A heavier machine can instead be catalogued in place and collected by the buyer after the sale.
Tell us about loading bays, time restrictions, height limits and parking before collection day. A wasted visit in London costs more than a wasted visit anywhere else.
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 London
- Our kitchen unit at Park Royal has a mixer and two ovens to go. Do we need a sale of our own?
No. Three items from one kitchen are a small consignment and can go straight into the next collective sale as three lots. Collection in one visit can be arranged, or you deliver, and they sell from our premises with a viewing day before the close. Clean them down, keep the bowls, hooks, trays and guards together, and tell us about faults. When the sale closes depends on the cataloguing and the bidding period, and we will propose a timetable.
- Will a van collection work in a yard where lorries cannot turn?
Usually. That is why we look at the yard before choosing a vehicle for a single lot in London. A long wheelbase van with a tail lift suits many yards where a lorry cannot turn, and a pallet truck brings the item out to it. Where even a van cannot get close, the options are a carry to the kerb or a crane truck on the road with a permit, and we tell you what each involves and costs before anything is booked.
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.