Business Liquidations
We assist our clients in restoring liquidity to their operations through the sale of their manufacturing, operating, and service equipment.
The principle advantage of an auction sale, over an asset-by-asset liquidation, or bulk sale of your equipment, is time. A properly prepared and advertised auction sale creates excitement within the industry, and is an event drawing wide attention. An auction provides a forum, for you, the seller, to market your assets to a diverse group of buyers, in a competitive arena. This environment realizes the maximum return on your assets, within a very short period of time.
Preparing a group of assets, or an entire facility, for an auction sale is a complicated process. Our goal is to take our clients through this multi-tiered process as smoothly as possible. Stanley J. Paine Auctioneers utilizes a systematic, five-point process.
Preliminary Preparations
Our first step is to create a program that encompasses all phases of the physical preparation, as well as the advertising and sale procedures most suitable to the specifics of our client’s situation. We will discuss with you and your staff all sale preparations and procedures to ensure that everyone knows what their responsibilities are and to make all preparations run smoothly.
We start by preparing detailed descriptions and taking photographs of the machinery and equipment as soon as the machinery has been cleaned; then, we begin the preparation of the advertising and promotion of the auction.
Cleaning and repairs to machines should be done before your labor force is depleted. If no one is available, the use of casual labor will be required. Gathering and placement of parts, tooling, and supplies will be determined after a sale plan has been established and as the various departments have ceased operations.
Marketing
We will prepare all aspects of the advertising for the auction sale. This includes a camera-ready design and layout of the full-color brochure, newspaper, and trade publication ads, online advertising, and email blasts. We believe absolute advertising control is a key ingredient to a successful auction sale. This assures us that every brochure is mailed in advance, reaching the buyer in time to make appropriate financial plans and travel arrangements.
We will prepare a detailed inventory of all items to be sold. The descriptions will include the name of the manufacturer, the model, capacity, function, serial number, special features, horsepower of motors and any other applicable information.
We will photograph all items of interest, major machines, as well as lesser items, as all items are important in displaying a complete inventory to a large and interested buyer attendance. All photographs and descriptions will be categorized and displayed in a brochure, so as to create an informative and attractive direct mail brochure.
The brochure will be mailed first-class to all related and interested companies, saturating the region within a few hundred miles of the facility, and selectively mailing to major buyers throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, or overseas, if applicable.
Potential buyers are selected to receive a brochure through consideration of many factors, including auction attendance, Standard Industrial Classification Code (SIC), and number of employees.
In addition to a brochure, we supplement the direct mail program with advertisements in selected newspapers and trade publications. We prepare the ads and send camera-ready artwork to the selected publications. Timing is important regarding when the advertisement appears before the public. The advertisements complement the direct mail program by reaching those individuals within the same company who might not be the immediate recipient of the brochure. Newspaper ads also reach those few business people not on our list, as well as the general public, whose interest would be in vehicles, small tools, shop, and office equipment. We allow sufficient time for a potential buyer to inquire about details of the sale and receive a brochure by return mail. All advertising directs the buyer to our website www.paineauctioneers.com for catalog, images and additional auction information.
Personnel
We will supply the necessary supervisor who will oversee the auction sale program from the inception through the sale. Our supervisor will be on the premises for the time necessary to assure the desired results. The auctioneer in-charge will also review the progress of the sale preparation and be available to you, before, during, and after the auction.
Our supervisor will oversee the tagging, lotting, and cataloging of all items and arrange them in the order in which they will be sold. Preparation of the information to be incorporated into an auction catalog will be handed out to prospective buyers, upon entering the plant for equipment inspection. Catering and security detail for the day of the auction sale will also be arranged by the supervisor.
We will also supply the clerks, bookkeepers, deposit takers, lot callers, and auctioneers for the day of the sale. Our sales are fully computerized and our bookkeepers use the computers to maintain complete sales records, invoices, and current sales totals (even while the auction sale is in progress).
Financial Oversight & Finalization
We will be responsible for the collection of deposits and for the final payments from all buyers as detailed in our agreement.
You will receive full payment approximately 10 working days after the sale, along with a full and detailed report of sale. This report will include a complete accounting of the auction sale, as well as a detailed breakdown of expenses incurred and copies of invoices paid. This report will also include a copy of the auctioneer’s original sale catalog, detailing all items sold with their respective prices.
Internet Bidding
Timing and distance are sometimes too great an obstacle for some potential buyers to overcome. We offer internet bidding as an additional service that allows a potential buyer to bid during an auction sale, via the Internet, in real-time, from the comfort of their own office. This is a fully interactive bidding system. Internet buyers make bids, get outbid, and bid again, in full competition with the buyers in attendance at the auction sale.
We will assist you in evaluating the potential, positive impact that Internet bidding might have on your auction sale.