Britannia AuctionsSurplus equipment sales in Edinburgh
Construction dominates the surplus we see around Edinburgh, and construction surplus has its own rhythm. A contract finishes and leaves site cabins, generators, small plant and welfare units in a yard at Newbridge with nothing to do until the next job starts. A plant hire fleet is renewed and the older machines come off hire. A groundworks firm changes the size of excavator it runs. A scaffolder merges two depots into one. None of that needs the business to stop trading, and none of it should sit for a year costing rent and insurance.
We catalogue the kit in the yard where it stands and sell it by online timed auction over a week or two. Buyers view by appointment and collect in booked slots. Contractors and hirers from Livingston, Dalkeith, Dunfermline and beyond come to the viewing, and the rest of the country bids online. Send us a list and we will tell you what is worth selling and what is not.
Plant that has come off hire and the buyers who want it
Off hire plant is judged on hours, age, service history and appearance. Mini excavators, dumpers, telehandlers, rollers and compaction kit are the types in widest use, and the builders and hire firms across the Lothians are an easy drive from a viewing day. Machines with a recent service and clean panels present far better than the same machine left muddy, and a jet wash is the cheapest preparation a seller can make before we photograph.
Site accommodation suits builders, farmers, event firms and sports clubs as well as contractors. A cabin with a working heater and intact windows is worth describing in detail, because buyers cannot always visit.
Vehicle workshop and engineering kit from Sighthill and Seafield, lifts, compressors, welding sets and machine tools, goes to the same trade across the central belt.
Yards in the west, older streets at Leith
Access decides the collection plan, so it is the first thing we look at. Newbridge and Sighthill sit near the M8 and the bypass, which helps a buyer sending a transporter, but the yard itself is what we check: the gate, the turning space, the ground and the loading arrangements. How each lot leaves depends on its weight and dimensions and on the route out. Slots are then booked so that two lorries are not in the yard at once.
Seafield and the units around Leith are older and tighter, and the roads in are city streets. For those sites we look at what will fit before the sale, and the catalogue tells buyers what size of vehicle and what lifting they will need. Where a lot needs a crane or a specialist mover we say so, and the buyer arranges it, or it can be arranged and charged on where that is agreed.
Buyers pay before they collect. Our staff attend to release lots once their invoices are paid, and the auction terms set out what happens if a buyer does not pay or collect.
What these sales can include
- Machine tools and CNC equipment
- Forklifts and access platforms
- Pallet racking and shelving
- Compressors and air tools
- Welders and fabrication kit
- Vehicles and trailers
- Test and measurement equipment
- Site accommodation and containers
- Packaging and labelling machines
- Obsolete stock and components
- Office furniture and IT
- Catering and canteen equipment
Selling from a live site
Most surplus sales happen inside a business that is still trading. That changes how we work. Cataloguing is done around your shifts. Viewing is by appointment or on a single day, with visitors signed in and escorted. Collection is booked in slots so that nobody is moving a machine through the middle of a production run.
Items that are still bolted down, plumbed in or connected to services are isolated by a competent person before collection, with electrical and gas disconnection done by qualified people. Buyers arrange and pay for the removal of their lots, and they do not disconnect services themselves.
Tell us about anything that affects access: weight limits on floors, door heights, crane availability, restricted hours. It all goes in the catalogue so buyers plan the removal properly.
The surplus equipment sales page covers what counts as surplus, one sale or a standing arrangement, pricing, reserves and the buyer's premium, after the sale.
Questions about selling in Edinburgh
- Our yard is at Loanhead and the plant is spread across two compounds. Is that a problem for viewing?
No. We tag and photograph every lot so buyers know exactly what is in the sale, and the catalogue states which compound each item is in. Viewing is by appointment with our staff walking visitors round, so nobody wanders. Collection slots are set per compound so that only one lorry is loading at a time. If the second compound is small, moving its lots to the main yard before the sale can make viewing simpler, and we will say if that is worth doing.
- When in the year does construction plant sell best?
Demand for plant follows the site season, so a closing date in late winter or early spring sits ahead of the spring start, and that is worth weighing when the timetable is set. It is not the only factor. Condition, hours, specification, reserves and how easily a machine can be moved all count for as much as the month. A machine standing idle also costs money every month it waits. If the plant is surplus now, we would look at selling it now, with sensible reserves on the main items.
More questions about surplus equipment
Related services
Guides
- Preparing machinery and equipment for sale
What to do before viewing day. Keep the machines that can be run safely available to demonstrate, isolate the rest, clean but do not repaint, find the tooling and manuals, and sort out access for removal.
- 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.