Best Places to Sell Used Machinery

While 2022 was a big year for the used equipment market, 2023 shows no signs of slowing down. Whether you have one industrial equipment piece or you’re shutting down an entire machine shop due to retirement (or any other reason), there’s no better time than now to quickly offload your machines and secure a fair price on the used equipment market.

From industrial auction platforms and online marketplaces to selling locally, the number of places to sell used industrial equipment has steadily increased over the years, making it hard to know where to go to find buyers who will pay top dollar for your used machinery.

On top of finding a reputable industrial liquidation company that’s easy to work with, getting your used equipment sold and sold quickly is just as important. While you can post your used equipment locally on Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Groups, or Craigslist, there are plenty of downsides including receiving no offers, receiving offers that are too low, or worse yet, receiving scams. This can leave your used industrial machines sitting idle for weeks or months and cause you unnecessary hassle.

Below, we’ll go through a variety of online used industrial equipment marketplaces that can get your equipment listed, advertised to an audience who’s looking to purchase used equipment like yours, and get it sold quickly, giving you a fair price and taking idle equipment off your hands.

Used Equipment Dealers

Used equipment dealers specialize in buying and selling new and used CNC, fabrication, and process equipment from a variety of industries. Whether you have an entire machine shop, lab, factory, or warehouse full of equipment you’re looking to sell or have an individual machine you want to get rid of, used equipment dealers not only have years of experience in both valuing and selling used equipment to get you the best price, but also have a large network of contacts in order to reach serious buyers quickly.

Used machinery dealers don’t offer a one size fits all approach. Instead, you’ll find they offer multiple options when it comes to selling your equipment from different advertising options like social media ads, email marketing, and reputable online marketplaces such as eBay to cast a wide net to different selling options such as purchasing the equipment directly from you, consignment, and asset liquidation or industrial auctions. By working with a used equipment liquidation company, your used machinery can be 5 to 6 times more likely to sell than listing it on your own due to the expanded customer outreach efforts they implement on multiple online platforms.

Trusted used equipment brokers will handle the marketing, negotiations, and logistics of the sale of your used machinery pieces so you can focus your time on your core business operations. Besides saving you time and effort, used machinery experts will also travel to your shop to not only view the used equipment you’re interested in selling, but to discuss the best way to sell your machinery. When it comes to selling your equipment, factors such as machine type, age, condition, demand, and other factors will help to determine the price of the equipment.

Not sure if used equipment dealers will accept equipment from your industry? Just a few of the industries used equipment dealers except machinery from include adhesive and sealant, cannabis, chemical, cosmetic, food and beverage, laboratory, packaging, pharmaceutical, plastics, power generation, recycling, and more. While you may not see your industry listed on a used equipment broker’s website, it’s always best to call as dealers will accept used machinery from most industries. If you’re looking to sell used equipment quickly for cash while ensuring it’s marketed to a wide audience with little work from your end, working with a used equipment dealer may be the best route to take.

Used Machinery Auctions

When you have multiple pieces of equipment or have a shop, warehouse, factory, lab, or any other facility that’s closing whether it’s from retirement, layoffs or from a division shutting down, used equipment auctions are a viable option. There are a number of well known auction houses in the used equipment industry, but you can also find smaller local auction houses that may be a more cost-effective option. In addition to buying and selling new and used machinery, industrial equipment dealers are also experienced in asset liquidation auctions. It’s important to work with an industrial equipment auctioneer who specializes in the CNC, fabrication, process, packaging or plastics equipment you’re looking to sell.

When researching equipment auction companies, look for past auctions they’ve held to ensure they’ve got the knowledge and experience to handle the type and amount of equipment you’re looking to get rid of. Look for customer testimonials and reach out to see what equipment auction services they offer and the costs associated with them. Used machinery auctioneers should have the staff to not only answer all of your questions and keep you updated throughout the process, but the resources to send experts out for a site visit in order to give you a valuation.

eBay Online Marketplace

eBay is a great DIY option for selling your used industrial equipment, but can have its drawbacks if you’re limited on time or are new to the online marketplace. eBay offers a Business & Industrial section where you can buy and sell equipment. Within this section, you can share the used equipment you have to offer in a number of categories including CNC, Metalworking & Manufacturing, Healthcare, Lab & Dental, Heavy Equipment, Parts & Attachments, Restaurant & Food Service and more.

Besides setting up an account to sell your used equipment, you’ll also want to become familiar with listing the actual pieces, selling fees, completing a sale, shipping, returns and refunds, seller performance details, and additional tips. eBay offers a seller help section that addresses all of these areas. In addition to creating listings with photos, videos, machine specifications, and other details to showcase your listing, you can also pay to have your listings promoted, helping it to stand out and increasing the likelihood of a sale.

Unlike selling your used equipment to a dealer or through an auction, with eBay, you do need to keep refunds in mind as customers have up to 45 days to request a refund. Seller reputation is something that eBay takes very seriously, ensuring buyers can not only trust the website as a whole, but the individual sellers as well. If you’ve never sold on eBay before, your reputation is non-existent until purchases are made and feedback is sent by the buyers. This could lead to your used equipment being listed much longer as buyers tend to purchase from sellers with good feedback. While there can be some drawbacks, if you’re not in a rush to sell your used equipment and have the time to set up an account and manage your listings, eBay could be a good option.

Conclusion

These are just some of the top online marketplaces you can sell used industrial equipment with. We’ll continue to share resources on how to sell your used equipment from tips to prepare your used equipment for the best results, how to know if an auction makes sense for you and more. If you’re looking to sell your machine for cash or in an auction, reach out to the equipment experts at Revelation Machinery today!