Britannia AuctionsPrivate treaty sales in Swansea
Plant hire yards on the Enterprise Park and at Fforestfach carry single machines worth more than everything else in the yard put together. A large mobile crane, a long reach excavator, a crusher, a late model telehandler fleet bought for one contract. When the contract ends or the yard consolidates, that one machine is a private treaty sale on its own. The likely buyers are other hire firms and contractors, who follow this market closely, and low hours with a full service history are what they price from.
The metals firms out towards Neath and Port Talbot add a different kind of asset, from coil processing lines to plate profiling and heavy fabrication plant. We market both kinds the same way, quietly and directly, and put every offer to you in writing before you decide. Our fee is agreed in writing before marketing starts.
One big machine from a hire yard
Late model plant has a wide market. A crane, an excavator or a crusher with a few thousand hours on it can suit a buyer anywhere in the UK, and export interest is possible, though how long it takes depends on the specification, the hours and the price.
We inspect the machine, gather the service history, the last thorough examination report, the inspection certificates and the finance position, and approach the firms and dealers who trade in that type of machine, including any we know of who are looking. For a mobile crane that means hire firms and contractors across South Wales and the west of England and the dealers who export. For an excavator it means a larger pool, and a sealed bid round often makes sense.
The Enterprise Park and Swansea West sit next to the M4, at junctions 44 and 45 for the Enterprise Park and 47 for Fforestfach, which gives a route in and out without the town centre. Neath, Llanelli, Port Talbot and Bridgend are close enough for a viewing.
Coil and plate plant from the metals corridor
The steel and metal processing firms between Swansea and Port Talbot run lines that were built for a particular product and a particular building. Coil slitting and cut to length lines, plate profiling tables, press brakes and rolls of a size the general market rarely sees, and the overhead cranes that serve them. The buyer pool is small, and export interest is possible. Every buyer wants the drawings and the electrical schematics before they will travel.
We prepare the description with the line's specification, the coil weights or plate sizes it handles, the drives and controls fitted and the foundation details, and approach processors and dealers directly. A line that can be shown running under power is far easier to sell than one already stripped, so we advise marketing while it is still installed.
Removal from these sites usually needs a crane and a low loader. We check the vehicle access, the turning space, the ground at the crane position and the route out, and the description states what the buyer's rigger will face.
What these sales can include
- CNC machining centres and lathes
- Printing presses
- Injection moulding machines
- Packaging lines
- Large generators and switchgear
- Cranes and heavy lifting equipment
- Specialist process plant
- Laboratory and test equipment
- Complete production cells
- Late model plant and vehicles
- Marine and rail equipment
- High value catering and bakery lines
How we market the asset
We inspect the asset, or have it inspected, and prepare a description with photographs, specification, condition and any service history. We then approach buyers directly: dealers who trade in that type of machine, and end users the asset suits. The asset can be advertised openly or offered only to selected parties. How open we are depends on how much confidentiality you need.
Interested buyers inspect by appointment. We attend or arrange access, answer questions and take offers. You are kept informed at each stage but do not have to deal with the buyers yourself.
There is no fixed end date. A private treaty sale takes as long as it takes to find the right buyer at the right price, which is one of its advantages and one of its costs.
The private treaty sales page covers when private treaty beats auction, how offers are handled, fees and what you receive, what to prepare.
Questions about selling in Swansea
- What if the crane is on hire purchase with a finance company?
Then the funder's consent is needed before it can be sold, and we ask for that first. The crane belongs to them until the agreement is settled, and where they agree the settlement figure is usually paid from the proceeds. We obtain that figure, agree the timing with them, and pay them from the buyer's cleared funds before accounting to you for the balance less our fee and any agreed costs. If the settlement is higher than the likely price, we say so before marketing.
- Is a late model excavator better sold quickly or held for a stronger price?
Usually the sooner the better. A machine of that age carries its hours and its year, and both move against it while it stands in the yard. Presented properly, with the hours and the service history, and marketed to contractors and hire firms, it is at its most saleable now rather than later. Holding it for a season is a bet on a market nobody can see, and a buyer knows the age and the hours as well as you do.
More questions about private treaty
Related services
Guides
- Auction or private treaty: which route to choose
Auction gives you a fixed date and an open market. Private treaty gives you a negotiated price and privacy. This guide sets out when each route suits, what you give up with each, and why many sales use both.
- 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.