How to Sell Your Surplus Electrical Equipment in Just 3 Super Easy Steps

Every piece of industrial equipment has a lifecycle. However, in many cases, these machines are removed from production before their full value is utilized. This equipment then becomes surplus to your business and costs your business money to retain and maintain it.

If this surplus asset does not have a use in your production, it is recommended to sell the surplus equipment to recover value, reduce holding costs and recover valuable storage space in your warehouse.  

Let’s look at three simple steps that can help you sell your surplus assets online and for the best recovery rates. You will also learn certain handy tips along the way to help you understand how to better manage your surplus electrical equipment.

How to Sell Electrical Equipment in Just 3 Super Easy Steps

The process to sell used electrical equipment begins with identifying your surplus assets. The second step constitutes assessing the suitability of the identified equipment for sale, while the third step involves selecting the right sales channel.

Let’s elaborate on each one and understand its nuances.

Step 1: Identify Your Surplus Assets

You can identify your surplus electrical equipment by conducting proper asset audits at a full scale across all your facilities.

You could use the traditional method of creating an asset ledger and keeping records manually, or you could use software that helps you perform your asset audit.

Your audit records would contain information like the name of your electrical equipment, its type and current condition, the date of the audit, the location of your asset, maintenance schedules, and more.

The purpose of this information is to help you see which assets your business is not utilizing very well. This is the best way to identify surplus assets and avoid selling equipment that may be useful to you.

Once the audit is complete, you can print out a list of identified electrical surplus assets that need to be sold.

It is beneficial to leverage an asset management software to help you regularly keep track of your assets. This way, you would always have information on your assets handy when looking to optimize resource use and planning a sale of surplus equipment.

Step 2: Assess Your Assets for Sale-Worthiness

Your audit report will highlight all the industrial electrical equipment that are surplus to ongoing operations. However, there are certain concerns with the list of identified machinery:

• Some equipment may have already hit end-of-life
• Some may have missing maintenance records
• Some machinery may be dented or damaged
• Some surplus assets may be in good condition
• Not all equipment on your asset recovery list may belong to the same category

To sell used electrical equipment efficiently, it needs to be presented well. The second step to sell electrical equipment is thus to create a catalog of your assets.

To make the buying process more interesting for your buyers, you can catalog your assets using the following methods:

• Grouping similar assets together
• Categorizing your surplus assets based on properties like age, condition, price, negotiability, make, years in service, etc. This would allow the electrical surplus buyers to apply filters while they browse your catalog and find what they are looking for quickly and easily
• Adding “Owner’s Comments” to the catalog for each equipment. You can use this method to deliver more information about the equipment to make it more interesting. For example, mentioning that certain equipment was used only for a few months despite the age reflected in the catalog would help significantly to sell electrical surplus relatively quicker.

Preparing lists and catalogs to sell used electrical equipment also means including the following information transparently:

• The schedule according to which the machinery has been maintained (regular, irregular, occasional, or no maintenance)
• The list of paperwork and official documentation available for the asset displayed
• High-quality pictures of your asset, taken from every angle. You can also attach 360-views of the equipment
• Information pertaining to any damages, loans, operational troubles, or missing parts that could potentially be a factor of concern
• The model and make of the equipment, year of manufacture, equipment throughput, and efficiency (if this data is available)
• Any other information that would interest the buyers and help you sell your machine

It is best to look at your own equipment catalog from the perspective of electrical surplus buyers.

All the information and browsing conveniences that you would expect give you a fair idea of how your surplus assets catalog needs to be prepared. It also helps you set the right expectations for the buyers, eliminating the possibility of any disagreements in the future if a deal is secured.

Step 3: Selecting the Best Way to Sell Industrial Equipment 

There are many channels you can explore to sell your electrical surplus. The most popular selling methods are the following

• Auctioneers
• Consignment Sales
• Private treaty
• Online Industrial Marketplaces

Using an auctioneer to sell electrical surplus is one of the quickest ways to sell  your surplus equipment. However this option might not be right for your business. Auctioneers often require a significant amount of assets to conduct a sale. If you are looking to sell equipment to ongoing operations an auctioneer might not be an option. On top of requiring a large amount of equipment Auctioneers typically charge you a seller’s premium or take proceeds from the recovery value resulting in a lower recovery rate for your assets. 

Consignment sales offer you a solution to quickly recover storage space by allowing you to ship your equipment to a 3rd party who will store and attempt to sell your equipment on your behalf. This method of selling does not offer a quick solution to your surplus, as you only receive payment on the equipment when the seller makes a sale.  

Private treaty sales can be used when your equipment is too specialized to interest a large group of buyers. You would then need to get in touch with an interested buyer individually and secure a direct sale. It would help to foster a network of buyers who have a need for equipment similar to yours so a direct sale can be arranged more readily and without needing much marketing.

When it comes to selling used industrial equipment online marketplaces trump every other method of sale. There are quite a few benefits that come when you sell used industrial equipment at online marketplaces:

• Your catalog gets noticed across a pool of verified buyers with a genuine interest in the products listed
• When conducted through a reliable marketplace like Aucto, all the arrangements and transactions are trustworthy and dependable
• Online marketplaces also help you save expenses you would incur in trying to find buyers by yourself, marketing, and arranging for visits
• You can significantly reduce the lead time by selling your surplus equipment on online marketplaces. Online marketplaces like Aucto are global platforms, allowing your equipment to be seen by buyers from multiple countries, regions, and states. A greater number of interested buyers reduces the time invested in closing a deal successfully
• Reliable online marketplaces usually have a stringent verification process for both owners and buyers. You can be sure of the authenticity of a buyer when contacted for a quote or negotiation.
• You usually get access to a dashboard with online marketplaces that allows you to control your selling and buying activity from a single interface. You can create a buyer community, schedule online auctions, browse for equipment you need, upload and update your sale catalogs, market and advertise your equipment, and so much more with just a simple registration.

Sell Electrical Equipment Easily with Aucto

Selling industrial surplus assets can seem like a daunting task in the beginning. However, with the right information and sales channels, you can receive the best price possible from the sale of your surplus assets.

All you need to do is establish certain practices at your facility that would help you later with identifying surplus equipment and streamlining the downstream sales process. Alternatively, the easier, simpler method is to sign up on a reliable marketplace like Aucto.

Aucto is an online marketplace dedicated to helping you sell industrial assets that you don’t need anymore. The platform aims to establish a circular economy for industrial assets and hopes to reduce the environmental burden on the planet in this way while connecting interested buyers with owners ready to sell.

Ready to learn more about selling industrial equipment on Aucto? Click here to talk with one our asset recovery specialists