Britannia AuctionsStock clearance auctions in Birmingham
The end of a vehicle programme leaves the supply chain holding stock. Pressings made to a drawing nobody now orders, fasteners bought in bulk against a forecast, finished components that were rejected on a date rather than a fault, and the packaging that came with all of it. Across the estates at Tyseley, Witton and Saltley that is a familiar situation, and the stock sits on racking that the next contract needs.
We sell it by online auction in lots sized for the buyers who want it. Some of it goes to other component makers who use the same parts. Some goes to the metal trade by weight. Fixings, packaging and consumables go to the general engineering and construction firms that buy on price.
The same sale suits the food manufacturers and printers in the city, where discontinued packaging and overruns are the usual problem. Use the form to tell us what is on the racks.
Component stock after a contract ends
Component stock is worth more as parts than as scrap, but only if the right buyers see it. We list each line with the part description, quantity and condition, and photograph a sample so a buyer in the same trade can tell what it is. Lots are built by part number where the quantity justifies it and by pallet where it does not.
Scrap value is the floor, not the target, and what a line makes above it depends on condition, quantity, whether the part is still in use and how the lots are built. Unused fasteners and standard hardware sell to distributors. Pressings to a customer drawing are harder, because only that customer's other suppliers can use them, so we approach those firms directly before the sale opens.
Anything that was made under a customer's tooling or carries their part marking needs checking before it is listed. Some contracts restrict resale. We ask the question early so the sale is not held up later.
Getting pallets out of tight inner city units
The older estates in Aston, Saltley and Witton were laid out for a different generation of lorry, so the first visit checks vehicle access and the turning circle, the yard, the door dimensions and whether the loading door is shared. What we find goes in the catalogue. A stock clearance has many buyers collecting small quantities, so collection runs on booked slots with one buyer per bay at a time.
Heavier pallets of pressings or coil offcuts are loaded by forklift where the site has one, or lifting can be arranged for the collection days by agreement. Where the unit cannot take the traffic, the stock can be moved to our own premises and the viewing and collection run there.
West Bromwich, Walsall, Dudley and Redditch are close enough to attend a viewing day, and the M6 and M42 make that a short run for a van. Bidding runs online and is open to buyers from every part of the UK, so a specialist line is not limited to what is nearby.
What these sales can include
- Discontinued product lines
- Overordered components and parts
- Customer returns and graded stock
- Seasonal goods
- Ex display and showroom items
- Packaging and consumables
- Raw materials and fabrics
- Bulk trade stock on pallets
- Tools and hardware
- Homeware and furniture stock
- Clothing and footwear
- Building products and fixings
Running the sale
A stock clearance runs as an online timed auction, open for a week to ten days in most cases. There is a viewing day at your premises, or at the location where the stock has been gathered. Bidders inspect the lots, then bid online until each lot closes.
After the sale, buyers collect within a window agreed with you, usually a few days. Collection is the point where a stock sale needs organising. Buyers arrive with vans and lorries, lots have to be handed to the right person and the paperwork has to match. Our staff manage the door and sign each lot out.
If you cannot host viewing and collection, the stock can be moved to our premises or a third party warehouse where that is agreed. That adds transport cost but keeps the process away from your trading site.
The stock clearance auctions page covers when an auction is the right route, lotting the stock, offered as seen and the buyer's position, alternatives to auction.
Questions about selling in Birmingham
- Our customer owns the tooling but we own the parts. Can they be sold?
Usually yes, but it depends on the supply agreement. The parts are your stock if you paid for the material and the labour and have not been paid for them. The customer may still have a right to be offered them first, or a restriction on selling parts with their marking. Send us the agreement, or the relevant clause, and we will tell you what can be listed openly and what needs consent or delabelling first.
- Does surplus food packaging sell, or is it better to bin it?
Printed packaging for a discontinued line has a narrow market, but plain cartons, trays, film, labels and pallets of unprinted board sell to other food manufacturers and packers in the city. We lot plain stock by type and quantity. Printed stock is worth listing if the quantity is large, because a buyer may use it for a different purpose, but we would rather give you a straight view on the likely interest than catalogue it and disappoint you.
More questions about stock clearance
Related services
Guides
- What insolvency practitioners need from an auctioneer
For office holders realising physical assets. Covers the instruction letter, the asset schedule and valuation basis, retention of title, finance checks, site security, health and safety during the sale, and the reconciliation you need for the file.
- 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.