Do you need the machine's paperwork?

It helps. The serial number and hour reading are essential and we can take those from the machine. Service records, inspection certificates and the original invoice add value and help settle any finance questions. A machine with no history can still be catalogued, but there is less to tell buyers about it and that is part of what they price.

What if a machine is still on finance?

Tell us before it is listed. The machine belongs to the funder until it is settled, so we contact them for a settlement figure and their agreement, and where they agree the settlement is paid from the proceeds before you receive the balance. If the settlement figure looks higher than the machine is likely to make, we tell you, because it may be better to hand the machine back.

Can you sell plant from a live site?

Yes, provided the site can host a viewing day and a collection window safely. Buyers and hauliers must be able to get in and out, and the site manager has to agree the dates. Where that is not practical, the plant is moved to your yard or a compound and sold from there.

Who moves the plant after the sale?

The buyer arranges and pays for removal, with their own haulier or one arranged on their behalf where agreed. Tracked machines and heavy plant leave on a low loader. Wheeled plant with road registration can be driven away. We supervise loading, check each machine out against the invoice and do not release anything until it has been paid for.

Is there a market for old or high hour machines?

Yes. Older machines and those with high hours are catalogued in the same way as anything else, and what they make depends on condition, specification and the cost of moving them. Where a machine is only worth its scrap value, we say so before it is catalogued.

Sell plant and site equipment at auction

A yellow excavator sitting on top of a pile of dirt

Plant that is parked up is losing value. An excavator that finished its last job six months ago, or a fleet of generators from a contract that has ended, costs money to insure and store while it stands.

We sell plant and construction equipment by online timed auction to contractors, hire companies and exporters. The sale can run from your yard or from the site where the plant stands. Use the contact form to tell us what you have and where it is.

What these sales can include

Excavators and mini diggers
Dumpers and site dumpers
Telehandlers
Generators and lighting towers
Compressors and breakers
Rollers and compaction equipment
Site cabins and welfare units
Scaffolding and access equipment
Concrete mixers and pumps
Buckets, quick hitches and attachments
Plant trailers
Surveying equipment and small tools
Fuel bowsers and tanks

What buyers want to know

Plant buyers price on hours, age and condition. Have the hour meter reading for each machine, the year of manufacture and the serial number from the plate. A machine with a service history and a current inspection certificate (LOLER for lifting equipment, for example) can be described with more certainty, and that is what buyers are pricing.

CE or UKCA plates should be present and legible. Buyers exporting plant need them, and a machine without a plate can be held at the port. Keys, spare buckets, quick hitches and other attachments should be listed with the machine or lotted separately, whichever will make more.

We photograph each machine from every side, with the hour meter, the plate and any damage shown, because buyers bidding online rely on the images.

Finance and ownership checks

Plant is often bought on finance, and an item on finance, hire purchase or lease belongs to the funder until it is settled. Before we list a machine we check for outstanding finance and ask for the settlement figure. It can only be sold with the funder's agreement, and where they agree the settlement figure is usually paid from the proceeds.

Unregistered plant is checked against the industry registers for finance and theft. Hired plant belongs to the hire company and cannot be sold. If you are unsure whether a machine is owned outright, on hire purchase or on operating lease, send us the agreement and we will tell you.

Buyers ask about this, and a clear answer before the sale avoids a problem at collection.

Where the sale runs from

Plant can be sold from your yard, from the site where it stands or from a central compound. Selling in place saves transport and lets buyers see the machine in its working environment. It suits a site that is winding down with a compound that will stay open for another few weeks.

Bringing plant to one compound suits a fleet spread across several sites, and it puts the machines in a single catalogue with one viewing day. Transport is by low loader for tracked machines and heavy plant. Haulage can be arranged and, where agreed, offset against the proceeds.

Whichever route you take, the sale runs online. Buyers bid from anywhere, and a viewing day is held so those who want to start the machine and check it over can do so.

How the auction works

Each machine is a lot with a full description, photographs and the hour reading. Bidding runs online for a set period, usually one to two weeks, and lots close in sequence. A bid in the last minutes extends the close for that lot.

Plant is 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 invoice. Payment is required before removal.

Buyers arrange and pay for the removal of their lots within the agreed window. What that takes depends on the machine: wheeled plant with road registration can be driven away, and tracked or heavy machines go on a low loader. Nothing leaves the site until it is paid for and signed out.

Reserves and the market

What a machine makes depends on its hours, age, condition and specification, on the cost of moving it, and on how many buyers want that model at the time. We give an estimate for each machine on that basis, and we agree reserves with you before the sale opens.

Reserves on plant are worth setting on the high value machines and leaving off the rest. A reserve above the market leaves you with a machine to transport home and sell again. Generators, compressors, site cabins and small tools usually sell without reserve, because the cost of holding them is more than the risk.

Proceeds are paid once the sale account is reconciled and the collection window has closed, from cleared funds, less the agreed commission and any haulage agreed in advance.

Alternatives

A single machine in good condition may sell for more by private treaty to a dealer or a hire company, without the buyer's premium and the sale timetable. Where we think that is the case we will say so.

A machine that is only worth its weight is better sold for scrap than catalogued. Plant that is still earning on hire should stay on hire until the contract ends.

Auction is the right route for a fleet or a mixed compound, for a site that has to be clear by a date, and for plant that has stopped earning and needs to leave. Tell us what you have and we will tell you which route we would take.

Questions people ask

Do you need the machine's paperwork?: It helps. The serial number and hour reading are essential and we can take those from the machine. Service records, inspection certificates and the original invoice add value and help settle any finance questions. A machine with no history can still be catalogued, but there is less to tell buyers about it and that is part of what they price.
What if a machine is still on finance?: Tell us before it is listed. The machine belongs to the funder until it is settled, so we contact them for a settlement figure and their agreement, and where they agree the settlement is paid from the proceeds before you receive the balance. If the settlement figure looks higher than the machine is likely to make, we tell you, because it may be better to hand the machine back.
Can you sell plant from a live site?: Yes, provided the site can host a viewing day and a collection window safely. Buyers and hauliers must be able to get in and out, and the site manager has to agree the dates. Where that is not practical, the plant is moved to your yard or a compound and sold from there.
Who moves the plant after the sale?: The buyer arranges and pays for removal, with their own haulier or one arranged on their behalf where agreed. Tracked machines and heavy plant leave on a low loader. Wheeled plant with road registration can be driven away. We supervise loading, check each machine out against the invoice and do not release anything until it has been paid for.
Is there a market for old or high hour machines?: Yes. Older machines and those with high hours are catalogued in the same way as anything else, and what they make depends on condition, specification and the cost of moving them. Where a machine is only worth its scrap value, we say so before it is catalogued.

All questions people ask

Related services

Guides

How used machinery is valued
Buyers pay for what a machine will do for them, less what it costs to get it out and running. This guide explains how make, hours, tooling, demand and removal cost feed a guide price, and why that price is not book value.
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.