Staying attentive during a machinery auction gives you the best shot at acquiring the equipment you need for your warehousing, construction or metalworking team. The following FAQs describe what you need to know about purchasing machinery at auction with Bid Equip LLC.
1. What Should You Not Do at an Auction?
Rather than trying to learn as you go, it's important to familiarize yourself with the auctioning process ahead of time. The last thing you want is to lose out to someone who figured out how much they were willing to spend, developed a bidding strategy and planned for delivery.
To make sure you're prepared for a Bid Equip auction, create an account on the bidding platform and sign up to bid before it starts. Adding a payment method to your account will make it easier to act quickly. Most services will automatically bid on your behalf up to the maximum amount you enter, so be sure to go into the auction knowing how much you're willing to spend.
2. Is It Better to Bid Early or Late to an Auction?
Monitoring the machinery you want is a significant part of winning an auction. While you can place a bid as early as you want, waiting minutes or even seconds before the auction is over to place your maximum bid is an effective strategy.
Following this process enables you to evaluate other offers and budget accordingly. Placing a bid later in an auction also saves you from frequently checking back to see if the bid you made earlier is still the leading offer, and it lets you see the outcome of the sale quickly. However, you want to develop a bidding strategy that works for your availability — if the machine is critical to your operation, it's better to bid early than to miss it entirely.
3. How Do Equipment Auctions Work?
Equipment auctions through Bid Equip take place online. You'll create an account with us to participate and place offers as you find the equipment you like. At Bid Equip, we ask that you register for each specific auction so we have a count of how many people are joining. Forgetting to register for an auction will result in you being unable to view equipment for purchase.
The individuals in charge of the auction will review your application and check that you are a legitimate candidate for the online event. When the auction starts, you'll notice time-bound windows on items. The person with the highest bid at the time of closing will win the sale. The person holding the auction will reach out to the winner through email to follow up with payment instructions.
It's essential you have a delivery method in mind before bidding. Bid Equip's sister company, Equip Trucking and Warehousing, LLC, performs equipment deliveries. As long as your delivery location is within three hours of our Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, headquarters, we can take care of freight for you.
4. What Happens If You're Unable to Pay at an Auction?
Bid Equip completes a registration process to verify everyone in the auction is financially sound. There is a legal obligation to pay for the items you win, and it's best to pay for machines quickly to prevent any late fees.
If you're unable to pay for the equipment upfront, Bid Equip offers financing options so you can complete the purchase in a way that makes sense for you. We ask all auction winners to be transparent with us and make financial arrangements prior to bidding so we can help you decide on the right solution.
5. What Happens If You Don't Pick up Your Auction Items?
It's recommended you make pickup arrangements with an auctioneer early. Bid Equip gives you the option to pick up equipment after the auction at our location in Lester, Pennsylvania — a 20-minute drive from Philadelphia.
We understand you may not have the means to pick up heavy machines, so Bid Equip completes deliveries for auction winners who live within a three-hour range of our headquarters. Tell us more about where you operate and we can deliver equipment to your workplace.
In situations where the buyer is unresponsive after a sale, the item is returned to the seller and placed in a future auction.
6. What Is a Machinery Auction?
Machinery auctions are events focusing on the resale of used equipment. The goal of auctions is to connect professionals to forklifts, metalworking machines, skid steers and related technology for fair prices. These events take place online and allow business owners and decision-makers to see machines from the industry's top manufacturers at prices lower than you'd see through an official dealer.
Bid Equip machinery auctions take place monthly. Our company uses a free online app, BidSpotter, to let users view details about equipment and place offers. All bids stay live on the app until the conclusion of the event. The person with the highest bid on a machine will pick up the equipment locally or have us deliver it.
All of the equipment in our auctions is inspected by trained professionals, and we provide numerous up-close images of the machines up for auction. We also invite potential buyers to visit our headquarters near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to see the lots firsthand.
Machinery auctions have been growing popular in recent years, as they let professionals from all over the country buy and sell equipment with a quick turnaround.
7. How Do I Register for an Auction?
Registering for an auction with Bid Equip can be done from your home. Visit our site to learn more about any upcoming events we have on the calendar.
We use BidSpotter to list different equipment as well as host auctions. Make an account with BidSpotter and explore the site to get familiar with its capabilities. You can also contact us online or speak to one of our experts by dialing 484-494-6846 for more on how the process works.
Bid Equip can send auction reminders to your phone upon request.
8. How Can I Place a Bid?
Bidding for machines can be done from your computer or smart device — just log in to your BidSpotter account to stay up to date with the latest offerings. All of our auction listings are timed. We keep a list of all upcoming events on our site for convenience.
The BidSpotter app gives you the option to register for the event you'd like to participate in. Fill out the application form and our experts will verify your identity. You may preload any payment information for the event at this time.
We'll look over your application and will let you know if you are cleared to participate within one or two days. Then, you just wait for the auction to begin and bid on the items you want. Winners will receive an email with details about the payment process.
9. How Do I Sell My Items at Auction?
Our professionals work with a variety of machines and offer numerous services to make clearing out your workplace simple. Connect with us so we can learn more about your offerings — the more information you provide, the better. Tell the full story of your equipment by gathering photos, inspection documents, repair reports and warranty details.
We partner with sellers nationwide to help you determine your item's optimal reserve price, or the lowest bid you'll accept. Whether you own industrial machinery, lifts or heavy equipment, we provide you the flexibility to sell specialized technology to experts in your field.
Make your equipment for sale look as pleasing as you can prior to the auction. Cleaning equipment surfaces and completing necessary maintenance tasks before listing can go a long way. You'll know the final sale price of the item once the auction concludes. Choosing Bid Equip to sell used equipment allows you to sell to qualified professionals without negotiating.
10. Are There Any Costs to Selling Items at Auction?
There are few costs with selling equipment through an auction. It's free to make an account with BidSpotter, which is where the online events occur. Registering for an event with Bid Equip is also free.
Our team partners with you to sell equipment under a specific time frame. Let us know the lowest offer you're willing to take, and at the end of the auction, we'll help you finalize payment. Bid Equip takes a small percentage of the final sale. We'll let you know the exact percentage during the sign-up process.
11. What Types of Auctions Are There?
Bid Equip organizes equipment auctions based on category. There is an auction scheduled every month of the year so businesses can continue updating their fleets as needed. Our professionals are constantly accepting pre-owned equipment to make each auction something you won't want to miss.
The details below describe our four types of auctions:
- Online forklift auctions: These auctions focus on giving you a fantastic selection of low-hour forklifts for warehousing. All forklifts sold at auction are kept safe in our temperature-controlled warehouse. Discover options from several manufacturers at prices lower than the retail cost.
- Online skid steer auctions: Access everything from cranes, backhoes and boom lifts to wheel loaders and excavators. We connect you to skid steer-type equipment to save you hours of manual labor.
- Metalworking machinery auctions: Bid Equip enables you to shop for metalworking equipment under a timed event. Our auctioning company sells all types of equipment available for your industry, including mills, saws, shears, lathes, tooling and fabrication equipment.
- Heavy equipment auctions: See equipment for a broad range of jobs. These auctions are perfect for finding construction machines and tools for earthmoving, dumping and trenching operations.
12. What Are Common Auction Terms to Know at Equipment Auctions?
The terms below are useful to know for selling or buying equipment at auction:
- Absentee bid: Offers placed by a party other than the person trying to buy the equipment. These types of bids usually come in when someone is unable to attend or log into an account at the time of the event.
- Absolute auction: An auction where the sale goes through no matter how low the minimum bid is.
- Appraisal: A professional evaluation of what your equipment is worth based on market trends.
- As is: This term describes the condition of pre-owned equipment so buyers know what they are getting.
- Auction house: The party responsible for organizing the auction event and overseeing transactions.
- Bid: The amount of money a potential buyer is willing to spend for an item at the given time.
- Reserve price: The minimum amount of money a seller will take for an item. This information is usually hidden from potential buyers, but the sale will not go through unless this value is reached.
- Terms and conditions: A group of rules a buyer and seller agree to in order to participate in the auction.
13. How Can I Inspect Equipment Before I Buy It?
Items that will go to auction are temporarily stored in our Lester, Pennsylvania, facility. Prospective buyers can drop by our location to see items in person, but this may not be practical for you when you live far away. We commonly meet with professionals working in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and the surrounding states. However, Bid Equip auctions are open to individuals nationwide.
We perform detailed inspections before anything is listed for auction so you can feel confident making an offer on equipment online. The descriptions on our listings inform you about logged hours, the overall condition of a machine, the manufacturer name and model, and other things you'd want to know before purchasing.
Inspections save you from unwanted downtime. Know the machines you purchase through Bid Equip will be reliable when you need them most.
Participate in an Equipment Auction With Bid Equip
Bid Equip is a heavy equipment auction house that looks out for buyers and sellers. We've been serving professionals throughout the tri-state area since 2001, which means we know which equipment models and brands you're looking for. Thanks to our 100,000-square-foot warehouse, we're able to organize online auction events with plenty of inventory to help you secure the technology you need to stay efficient on the job.
For more information about registering for an upcoming auction, call Bid Equip at 484-494-6846 or connect with our team online today.
