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Finning on track to boost used equipment sales

Finning is on track to grow its used equipment sales in the UK and Ireland this year after introducing a range of ways for customers to buy and sell pre-loved machines. The used equipment market in the UK and Ireland is booming and is expected to grow to £505 million by 2028.

"We’ve specifically upgraded our used equipment model to be adaptable and able to cater to our customer’s needs, whether that’s through sourcing and providing the option to buy a used machine, or if they’re looking to sell their own equipment to us,” explained Adam Smith, Head of Used Equipment at Finning. “We work with such a variety of companies, from nationwide plant hire firms who buy a number of different machines throughout the year, to owner operators who will buy just one machine every five to ten years.”

Finning has devised three ways its customers can buy or sell used machines and equipment. The first is through a traditional trade-in. Customers can trade-in their existing machines at selected branches across the UK and Ireland when they’re looking to buy a new one – and they can continue to use their machine until the new one arrives – to keep them operational.

Finning will also buy used machines as a direct purchase without the need for the customer to purchase a new, or used, machine. The third option is based around a consignment model which sees Finning sell the equipment on their behalf for an agreed fee. While this process goes on, the customer can again continue to use the machine, and decide to accept or reject any offers.

Adam continued, “As the world’s largest Cat dealer, we’ve got access to a global network that our customers can leverage to gain the best value for their equipment if they choose to consign their machine with us. We’re happy to deal in all types of equipment, particularly for trade-ins. If the customer is considering a Cat machine, they may have another manufacturer’s machine to trade in – which is something we can also do.

“Compared with this time last year, we’ve seen a 150% increase in revenue from our used machine sales,” Adam added. “In part, this rise is a reflection on the market, which is seeing an increase in used equipment sales overall. However, the increase in Finning used equipment sales boils down to the way we’ve designed the offering to suit a variety of customer’s needs, and is a more reliable, and much less risky option than buying at auction.

“Selling a used machine at auction is dependent on what the hammer price for the day is on that machine, and there is a risk that the sales price won’t be what is expected,” Adam said. “Buyers [and sellers] are also required to pay a percentage fee to the auction house, based on that hammer price. It’s therefore difficult to know the price a machine will sell for until it’s sold.

“We’ve designed our process to be fully transparent for our customers. Finning will, after inspecting a machine, provide a valuation which we will stand by – this will be a number that we commit to ‘pay and take it away’ today. As such, access to the capital in the machine is realised quickly. If customers wish to keep the machine for an additional period before selling, we will project what the hours will be for that future period and adjust our price accordingly, so customers get to know all the details before they accept or reject an offer. This gives the customer total control of what they are realising,” Adam concluded.

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