Britannia AuctionsStock clearance auctions in Warrington
A warehouse at the crossing of the M6 and the M62 exists to move stock, and when stock stops moving it stands out quickly. The big sheds at Omega, Gemini and Winwick Quay hold overstock for national retailers and parcel customers, and some of it ends up written off. A line is delisted. A customer goes under and leaves pallets unpaid for. A range changes and the old packaging is stranded. A promotion ends and the printed cases cannot go back to the general pick. That stock can still be catalogued for the trade, just not for the customer who ordered it.
The vehicle and trailer trade adds another kind. Workshops at Appleton Thorn and Woolston Grange hold tyres, brake parts, lighting and consumables for fleets they no longer service.
We sell both by online timed auction, in lots sized for the wholesaler with an artic and the reseller with a van. The bidding runs a week to ten days. Collection follows in a fixed window and the bay is back in use.
Overstock that a delisting or a failed customer leaves behind
Distribution overstock is usually new, boxed and countable, which makes it straightforward to catalogue. We list by line, count the cases on the racking rather than off the system, and photograph a sample of each. Wholesalers bid on full pallets. Discount resellers, market traders, exporters and online sellers bid on the case lots. Both kinds of buyer are needed to clear a shed, so we lot for both.
Stock held for a customer who has stopped paying can only be sold where your contract gives a lien and the notice in it has run. We check the contract and the notices before anything is listed.
Retailer branded or promotional stock needs the brand owner's agreement. Where that is refused, the stock is either delabelled at your cost or left out. We would rather tell you that during our first visit than have a lot pulled from a live sale.
Tyres, trailer parts and the workshop shelf
Fleet workshops keep a lot of stock for vehicles they no longer look after. Tyres in sizes the fleet has moved on from, brake parts for a trailer type that has been sold off, lamps, mudguards, couplings and air fittings. This is lotted for other workshops, for hauliers who do their own maintenance, for the parts trade and for exporters. Widnes, Runcorn, St Helens and Wigan are each a short drive, and the M6 and the M62 meet nearby.
We lot tyres by size and count, parts by type and part number, and consumables by the box. Anything with a hire company's mark or a customer's fleet number is checked before it is listed.
Collection is planned from whwhen we walk the site finds: the yard and turning space, the dock or door, and whether there is a forklift on site. Where the answer is a tail lift and a pallet truck, the lots are smaller and the window is longer.
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 Warrington
- Some of our surplus is chemical stock from a customer at Bank Quay. Can that go in a general sale?
Sometimes, and sometimes not. Sealed drums and containers of common industrial chemicals with the safety data sheet and labelling intact can be sold to trade buyers who are set up to handle them, and we make that a condition of the lot. Anything unlabelled, part used, out of date or subject to licensing is not sold at auction and we will say so on the first visit. Where a line is borderline we ask the producer before we list it.
- We have pallets for four different customers who have all defaulted. Can it be one sale?
Yes, and it usually makes sense to run it as one sale rather than four. Each customer's stock is kept as its own group of lots so the proceeds can be accounted for separately, which matters if any of them or their administrators come back to ask. The lien position and the notice period are checked for each account before we list. Collection is run as one window from one dock, so the disruption to the live operation happens once.
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.