The company currently has 915,000 registered users – with another 4,000-a-month said to be signing up for access to its regular online auctions.
Each seller is said to consign their equipment to an IronPlanet auction for low commission and cost. The seller then makes the equipment available for inspection by an IronPlanet-dispatched inspector. The company publishes the inspection report on IronPlanet.com and markets the equipment to targeted prospective buyers across the globe.
After reviewing inspection reports, buyers can place priority bids before auction day. Iron Planet ‘ringmen’ [phone callers] solicit bids from interested bidders during the weeks before auction day and on the auction day itself. Each prospective buyer places bids online. On auction day, the highest bidder wins the auction.
“We get a commission from the seller of between 8-14% of the sale value [of each equipment item] and there’s an inspection fee of between €175 and €525, depending on the kind of equipment,” explained Matt Bousky, IronPlanet’s vice president business development for cranes and mining markets.
“Our highest individual auction item sale was a [US]$3 million dragline sold in January 2012. It’s fascinating to see where people are buying and selling.”
Tending to last 4-6 hours a time, after each auction IronPlanet connects buyers with transport and finance companies. The buyer pays into a secure account. IronPlanet confirms payment and the seller releases the equipment to the buyer’s transport firm. The buyer accepts delivery of the equipment while the seller receives payment.
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