Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in Edinburgh
Most of the vehicles we sell around Edinburgh were bought for a building programme. The city and the towns around it have a large base of construction contractors and plant hire yards, and a contractor who finishes a housing scheme in Midlothian or a fit out in the centre is left with crew cab tippers, panel vans, a welfare unit and a pickup that the next job does not need. Distribution firms at Newbridge and food producers at Sighthill add ordinary van fleets to that.
An online timed auction puts a date on the fleet. We catalogue at your yard, run bidding for a week or two with a viewing day, and buyers pay us before collecting in an agreed window. Bidding is not limited to the area, and the trade in Livingston, Dalkeith, Musselburgh and Bathgate, and over the Queensferry Crossing in Dunfermline, is within reach of a viewing day.
Site vans and tippers when the programme finishes
Construction fleets come off a job in a batch, and the batch is what suits auction. Six panel vans with racking, two crew cab tippers, a 4x4 with a tow bar and a welfare unit is a common list. Sold to one dealer it fetches a single price, discounted for the vans he does not want. Sold as separate lots each one is priced on its own condition and paperwork, and a welfare unit goes in front of contractors anywhere in the UK rather than only the local trade.
Site vehicles are honest about their miles. We describe the dents, the state of the load bed and the MOT date, and buyers price for it. A van that has been jet washed and had the sacks of plaster taken out of the back photographs better than one that has not, and that is the only preparation we ask for.
Livery removal is the other. Vinyl comes off in a day.
Choosing where to hold the sale
Edinburgh has two kinds of site, and which one you have decides how the sale runs. On the first visit we check vehicle access and the turning circle, the yard surface, the gateway, whether a transporter can stand and how the vehicles get out, and the findings go in the catalogue so buyers know what to send. The western estates at Sighthill and Newbridge sit beside the bypass and the M8. The older units at Seafield and Leith are reached through narrower streets.
From that we offer two routes. Buyers collect by appointment, one or two at a time, over a few days. Or the fleet is moved to our own premises before the sale and buyers view and collect there. Which suits depends on how many vehicles run, how soon you need the yard and whether the landlord minds.
Loanhead and Straiton, south of the bypass, we judge on the day like anywhere else.
What these sales can include
- Panel vans
- Long wheelbase vans
- Luton box vans with tail lifts
- Tippers and dropside trucks
- Refrigerated vans
- Rigid lorries
- Tractor units
- Curtainside trailers
- Flatbed and skeletal trailers
- Minibuses and welfare vehicles
- Pickups and 4x4s
- Car derived vans
- Plant trailers
- Vehicle mounted equipment
How the sale runs
We photograph and describe each vehicle, record the mileage and note known faults. The vehicles are listed in an online timed auction and the catalogue is marketed to trade buyers, hauliers, owner drivers and export buyers. Bidders can inspect on a viewing day, usually at your yard or ours, and lots close in sequence on the sale date.
Lots are offered as seen under the auction terms, and buyers are 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 on the buyer's invoice. Your charge is a separate commission, with any costs agreed in advance, deducted from the proceeds.
Reserves can be set on individual vehicles where there is a clear reason, such as a finance settlement figure.
The commercial vehicle and fleet auctions page covers when auction suits a fleet, paperwork that affects the price, livery and fleet kit, after the hammer.
Questions about selling in Edinburgh
- Our plant hire yard at Newbridge is being sold with the vehicles still on it. Do the vehicles go first or with the yard?
Usually first, and separately. A buyer of the yard wants the ground, not a fleet of tippers and beavertails at a price he did not choose, and the vehicles reach a wider market in their own auction. We catalogue the lorries, the vans and the plant trailers, run the sale to close before the yard completes, and set collection so the site is clear for the handover. If the plant is going too, it can be in the same catalogue as separate lots.
- Our vans are at a unit in Leith with no room for a viewing day. What do you suggest?
Send us the address and a photograph of the yard, and we will say which of two routes suits. If the vans all run and you are in no hurry for the space, buyers collect by appointment and the viewing is done in pairs over a couple of days. If some do not run, or the lease is ending, we collect the fleet and sell from our own premises, where buyers can view and load freely. The sale itself is the same online auction either way.
More questions about vehicles and fleets
Related services
Guides
- Selling a commercial vehicle fleet
Fleet sales turn on paperwork as much as on price. This guide covers the V5C, MOT and plating documents, clearing finance before listing, keys and livery, recording mileage and tachograph data, and how to defleet in batches while still trading.