Online auction platforms offer unique opportunities for selling and purchasing used farm equipment. A widely-used, online platform notes increased business during the global pandemic.
BigIron Auctions fully transitioned to timed, online auctions in 2009. Mark Stock, founder of BigIron Auctions, says the new offering ?took off fast,? with a vested interest among retiring farmers.
?Last year, 182 retirement sales were utilizing our platform. We?re over 120, and have over 3,900 sellers using BigIron.com this year,” Stock says. “They?re liking it because our platform has several different things that we bring to buyers and sellers.”
BigIron Auctions helps farmers plan for large auctions, such as retirement sales. Staff members compile item descriptions, photographs and videos, and seller information.
?We?ll take care of all the advertising,” Stock says. “We use different media: Paper, digital, social media, TV, radio, (and) sale brochures. We do all those things for the seller, and we?ll even send in our cleanup crew to help cleanup the equipment and get it ready to sell prior to picture day, so it all looks its Sunday best.?
Stock admits, “Online sales are similar to open outcry sales.” Buyers may conduct business virtually, instead of in-person, with increased transparency.
“We’re transparent,” Stock says. “We always publish the owner’s name, and that gets the buyer comfortable with the process. We publish bidder history, so you can see the different bid numbers on the people that are bidding against and the states they are bidding from. We don’t allow the seller to bid on any of their equipment, and don’t allow them to have an alias to bid on their equipment.”
