Maybe you’ve attended commercial restaurant equipment auctions, or are considering placing your equipment up for auction. Either way, here are a few points in understanding how the auction system works.
To begin with, there are usually 3 key reasons surrounding the decision to put restaurant equipment up for auction:
A restaurant fails: When the doors shut, owners are generally looking liquidate to raise cash. It’s common practice to put up kitchen equipment and apparatus—and most everything else related to the restaurant—for auction.
Replacing equipment: The life cycle of equipment determines when to replace pieces of equipment; usually, the units are just too outdated to be traded in for newer equipment. Consequently, they are assigned to an auction house.
‘Dead Inventory:’ This applies to dealers of equipment who earmarked certain pieces as not “selling well” in particular parts of the country; or, the equipment’s repair parts are hard to find, and too expensive to repair.
Tips on buying equipment at an auction.
How long was the restaurant in business?
This single fact will tell you how long the equipment has been in service. Obviously, the shorter amount of time the business was open, the fewer chances for immediate equipment failures.
Remember, ‘sold as is’ is the way it is.
For the most part, count on any items at auction to be sold and hauled away ‘as is.’ Keep that in mind when bidding. Don’t bid on equipment that will require untold amounts of money to fix it up.
Health and sanitary codes?
Double-check on your local codes and confirm that the equipment you intend to bid on is up to your area’s standards: UL and NSF labels, for example.
Our family-run business understands the needs of businesses faced with the tough decisions, like liquidating to raise cash. Contact us. Our team of professionals are ready to handle all aspects of your sale.
