How to Run an Online Farm Machinery Auction
Retirement and dispersal sales, dealers clearing trade-ins and contractors renewing their fleet all sell farm machinery by timed online auction to buyers across the region and beyond. This guide takes you from walking the yard to the last trailer leaving.
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Walk the yard and make the list
A farm sale is usually hundreds of lots: tractors and combines, then implements, trailers, workshop tools, spares and the odd lot of fencing. Walk the yard with a notebook or a spreadsheet and list everything that will be sold, and everything that will not. Decide what is sold singly and what is grouped.
Record what buyers ask for
- Make, model, year and serial number.
- Hours for tractors and self-propelled machines; working width and specification for implements.
- Tyres, service history and known faults.
- Whether it is road-registered and has its documents.
Check that everything is free of finance before it is catalogued.
Photograph machinery properly
Photograph each machine from all sides, the cab, the hour meter, the serial plate, the tyres and any damage, ideally on a dry day with the machine washed. A short video of a tractor starting and moving, linked from the lot, answers most of the phone calls you would otherwise get.
Pick the timing
Avoid the busiest weeks of the farming year, when buyers are in the field. Open bidding a week or so before the close, hold a viewing day on the farm, and close lots in staggered batches on an evening. Soft close keeps the last minutes fair: a late bid extends the clock.
Reserves and who can bid
Put reserves on the main machines and let the smaller lots sell without one; low starts on tools and spares bring bidders in. Require bidders to register, and on the big lots consider requiring a card on file before bidding. Letting buyers leave a maximum bid in advance means a farmer who is drilling at closing time still competes.
Terms, tax and payment
State any buyer’s premium, how VAT or sales tax applies to the sale, the payment deadline and the removal window in the terms bidders accept. Tax on farm sales can depend on the seller’s registration, so check with the farm’s accountant. Take payment — usually by bank transfer for the big machines — before anything leaves the yard.
Removal day
Give buyers a removal window, say whether a loader or telehandler is available for loading, and check each lot out against payment. Lots that miss their reserve can be offered to the underbidder or re-run in a later sale.
Frequently asked questions
What is a farm dispersal sale?
A sale of a farm’s machinery, equipment and sometimes livestock, usually on retirement or when the farm changes hands. Today many run as timed online auctions with a viewing day on the farm.
When is the best time to hold a farm machinery auction?
Outside the busiest weeks of the farming year, when buyers have time to view and bid. Close on an evening, in staggered batches, so buyers can follow the lots they want.
Should farm machinery have reserves?
The main machines usually do. Implements, tools and spares often sell better without a reserve and with a low start.
How is farm machinery paid for and collected?
Usually by bank transfer for large items and card for smaller lots, with payment due before removal. Buyers collect within a stated removal window, and the terms say what loading help is available.