Selling business equipment yourself or using an auctioneer

Take the proposed consignment and list the work it creates. Put a person's name beside each task. If nobody can take it on, mark it unassigned rather than assuming the owner will somehow fit it in.

For each activity, record:

1. The task and the item or group it concerns.
2. The person with the information or authority to complete it.
3. An estimate of the time needed, including follow-up.
4. The latest useful date for completing it.
5. What the business will postpone while that person does the work.

Include finding documents, preparing photographs, answering questions, arranging visits, checking offers, confirming sale instructions and coordinating release. Add an allowance for enquiries that produce no sale. You do not need a perfect forecast; the diary is there to expose work that would otherwise be invisible.

Imagine you receive a buyer's question about an unfamiliar control fault during the busiest part of the working day. Who can provide a reliable answer? If the answer is the only operator currently running production, agree a response window instead of letting every enquiry interrupt the line.

The same exercise applies to viewings and collection. An owner who is available to negotiate by telephone may not be available to supervise visitors on site. Read the buyer enquiry guide for a way to collect questions rather than repeatedly starting from scratch.

Avoid assigning safety-critical work to whoever happens to be free. HSE's guidance on using contractors explains the need to define and coordinate outside work. A commercial sale plan should identify competent help where needed, not presume that the buyer's driver will solve an unplanned site problem.

Give the auctioneer your task list. Ask which activities it will perform, which require your approval and which still need your staff or another contractor. This is more informative than asking only for the commission rate.

Check how the arrangement handles technical questions, changed descriptions, uncollected items and unsettled payments. The written scope may reduce your workload considerably, but do not assume it removes every decision from you. The provider selection guide helps test those answers.

If collection is likely to dominate the work, settle the seller, buyer and contractor responsibilities early. Time spent agreeing that scope can prevent a large gap between what each party expects on the day.

Compare the direct-sale diary with the managed proposal. Include cash costs and staff time separately; an internal hour is not automatically an avoidable cash cost. Choose the arrangement that your business can support through to completion.

UK Auction Group can discuss a managed sale against your list of tasks. Bring the unassigned jobs as well as the equipment list. Those gaps are often the clearest reason to seek help.

Explore the selling assets guides.