Checking other sites before selling surplus equipment
- Reading time
- 2 minutes
- Last reviewed
On this page
Offer surplus equipment to other sites through a short, consistent notice with a response date. Ask interested locations to confirm a real use, suitability and responsibility for the next steps. A casual 'we might take that' should not hold an asset indefinitely.
Check ownership and authority first. Where separate legal entities are involved, the appropriate advisers need to confirm the transfer arrangements; an internal notice does not resolve those questions.
Send an availability notice
Asset: [ID, model and configuration].
Current location and condition evidence: [site, records and known limitations].
Included items: [identified accessories and documents].
Earliest release: [date or condition, marked provisional if necessary].
Response needed by: [date that fits the disposal or relocation plan].
Please confirm: the intended job, receiving manager, site-fit checks, budget owner and proposed timing for a decision.
Open questions: [ownership, technical assessment or other matters to resolve].
Supply enough detail for a meaningful response. A photograph with the message 'anyone want this?' tends to produce interest without the information needed for acceptance.
Separate interest from acceptance
Use three stages: enquiry received, assessment under way and transfer approved. At each stage, record a named person and next date.
An acceptance record should identify the receiving location, intended use, responsible manager, confirmed fit or remaining conditions, approved costs and agreed transfer instruction. It should also show who updates the asset records after arrival.
Use the keep, redeploy or sell comparison to assess the request. A transfer has transport, readiness and space implications even if no sale price changes hands within the same organisation.
Resolve competing requests openly
If two sites want the asset, compare their confirmed needs and feasible plans through the business's approval route. Avoid deciding simply by which manager replied first unless that is the agreed policy.
For duplicate equipment after consolidation, the merger comparison sheet helps identify which specific machine best fits the retained operation. Keep asset IDs distinct during the discussion.
Close the process
At the response deadline, record the outcome: approved transfer, justified short extension or release for sale assessment. A lack of response is not itself authority to sell; the business decision-maker still needs to approve the next route.
Use the relocation register for completed movements and the disposal-policy guide to make this process repeatable. Clear deadlines help, but they should fit the actual complexity of the asset rather than an arbitrary universal period.
Send assets approved for external disposal to UK Auction Group. The internal review record explains why they are available and avoids a late branch request arriving after sale commitments have been made.
Explore the surplus and relocation guides.
Sources
This guide gives general information. Equipment-specific, legal, tax and safety decisions may need a qualified adviser or competent specialist. The guides do not promise sale prices, fees or results.