The online auction feature from Krank allows companies to host commission-free machinery sales and build a powerful lead generator at the same time.
Whoever heard of holding a machinery auction without an auctioneer? Well that’s the disruptive premise of an all-new offering from industrial networking platform Krank. Its new auction feature allows companies to host their own auctions and sell equipment online. The system is secure, with users creating their own private marketplaces, choosing who can participate in the auction and agreeing terms – all with no commission or fees for buyer or seller.
Covering everything from inspection to compliance, documentation and payment and delivery terms, the B2B auction feature from Krank puts the seller in control of the sale and provides transparency, security and unfettered access between buyer and seller, with no intermediary (like an auction house) capturing the sale data.
Disrupting the auction business model
Unlike other online auction sites – such as Ebay – Krank does not get involved in the deal flow and payments do not flow through the platform. Bidders must first request to connect with the seller’s network (similar to a connection request in LinkedIn) and be accepted, before being able to participate in the auction. (Sellers might not want to sell to a competitor.) With both seller and bidder known to each other, both parties can go forward with the auction with confidence.
With the seller capturing all the bidder details – not just the winning bid contact – the seller is creating new private, company-to-company networks of interested potential customers for future machine disposals.
“The new B2B Auction feature puts the seller in complete control of the auction process,” says Emma Willis, Krank’s COO and veteran in technology start-ups based at the company’s headquarters in London. “Sellers know their buyers and the process is transparent and secure – and all this with no commission or fees. But perhaps the biggest benefit is not the lack of commissions but rather the future lead generation aspect of knowing all the bidders. This helps solve one of the biggest headaches in equipment disposals – ‘Where is my next lead coming from?’.”
Tailor make your own auction
To host an auction, users upgrade from the basic free account on the Krank networking platform (by desktop or via the app), create a 30-day sale or rent listing for the machine (or attachment, part or anything else), convert it to an auction listing by using the intuitive auction wizard to select a reserve or no reserve auction, determine the opening bid price, start date and time etc.
In the absence of a third-party auctioneer involved in the deal, Krank-powered owner auctions provides the necessary seller declaration and purchase contract templates. These can be edited to suit individual company requirements and clearly establish sellers’ authority to sell, and the terms on which the sale is being made. Both documents are electronically signed by the seller and by each bidder before they can place a bid.
The UK-headquartered technology firm is initially targeting the crane market, earthmoving construction and aerial work platform sectors, and the North American and UK markets in beta trials, with a global roll out of the Auctions feature later this year.
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