Excavator owner-operator Kevin Huntley of Bloomington, Ind., bid on three units during a recent Ironplanet auction and purchased one. He says online auctions save time. You don't have to take a day out to go to the auction. The delivered machine's condition matched its inspection report. Huntley fits the small to mid-size contractor profile typical of most online auction buyers.
Sites are also popular with brokers.
Equipment sellers include rental houses, dealers and large contractors. Sellers are beginning to trust that units will sell at a fair auction market price, says Hanna. We had some very high minimums. Now, Hanna says, negotiations are less frequent. And online auction officials say they are seeing bid results that match offline auction prices.