As time goes on, you may decide to start pursuing other opportunities in your professional career, so some of your current equipment may no longer be needed. Even if you decide to stay in the same industry, it’s natural for a business to expand and delve into bigger and better projects, which unavoidably calls for acquiring some new equipment that’s better suited for the job.
Naturally, this means you’re going to have to sell the old one to make room for your new acquisitions. Besides, leaving it unattended for years serves nothing more than occupying your space for no reason, all while its value is slowly sinking due to development of new technology and rust – not a scenario you’re fond of seeing if you care about managing your finances.
So how can you set the right prices for whatever left over equipment you might have lying around? How can you find buyers for it? And, more importantly, how to convince them to buy from you and not your competition? Find out below!
6 Tips to Sell your Equipment and Increase Investment Funds
1. Consider selling your equipment part by part
This may not always be the same, but in certain cases (like when selling computers), you can actually get more money by putting your equipment apart and selling the inner parts piece by piece. Setting the right prices, however, is a tricky endeavor, since they tend to change all the time.
A good way to get a rough estimate of how much to list them for is to visit an auction platform – specifically, the used parts section – and looking at the past listings in order to determine what your wares are worth. You can also learn more about how to set suitable pricing by visiting EquifyLLC.com and asking for a professional evaluation.
2. List everything you have
Grab a laptop or a piece of paper and simply go through everything that’s lying around. Without this, it’s impossible to know where you stand in terms of the inventory you have available.
While you’re at it, it’s a good idea to list everything that might be wrong with the equipment you’re trying to sell, even if it’s just a scratch or two.
It’s important that you do this if you’re planning to have a detailed online listing, otherwise you risk getting negative customer feedback due to being too vague or dishonest when describing the state of the item you’re selling. And speaking of how to write a good listing…
3. Auction it off like a breeze by coming up with detailed descriptions
Apart from mentioning the equipment’s shortcomings like we mentioned above, it’s important to shoot quality photos of it, so potential customers will be able to take a look at it from various different angles. Besides, a listing is a great opportunity to utilize your marketing skills and list all the benefits a buyer can expect to get when buying from you.
You can also motivate them by going over what type of business they can start by buying the exact type of equipment you’re selling.
Moreover, don’t forget to state that you’ve always been a responsible owner by servicing it regularly, storing it in good conditions, etc. You can also promise them to ship it promptly or offer an alternative way of picking it up.
4. Enhance your listing with quality photos and videos
Have you noticed how people are much more willing to buy something from you if you can provide quality photos of it, snapped from all different angles? That way, they can make sure that you’re a legitimate seller and that whatever faults, dings, or scratches your wares may have are truly as minor as you described them to be.
If the situation calls for it, you can also make your listing more convincing by shooting a short video that demonstrates the equipment is in working state. What better way to accomplish this than by filming someone use it? Also, make sure to clean it up properly before taking any kind of footage.
5. Go after targeted Facebook groups and forums
There’s no reason to stick to online auction platforms exclusively when trying to sell your old stuff. Instead, you should utilize as many different marketing channels as possible.
Did you know there are several Facebook groups and forums dedicated to buying and selling used equipment? It simply boils down to finding the ones that are relevant to your niche and contacting the right people.
A word of advice; you can post to general used equipment buying and selling boards, and if it doesn’t take more than a minute or two, that’s fine (especially if a lot of people frequent the one you’ve set your eyes on). But generally speaking, it’s much better to go after the ones where targeted buyers can be found. For example, if you’re selling used farming equipment, check out some dedicated forums for farmers and not some generic classified ad websites.
6. Know your options if you can’t seem to make a successful sale
If you can afford to wait around a little bit for the right buyer to come around, by all means, do so. As they say, patience is a virtue. It could very well be that you need to wait just another couple of days before a qualified and serious buyer comes around knocking on your door.
However, if you need to raise some funds as quickly as possible, waiting around for too long for the item to sell might be a luxury you simply cannot afford, and thus, be completely out of the question. If that is the case, you can resort to selling your stuff to pawn shops.
The upside is that you’ll often be able to make a sale very quickly, efficiently, and with no hassle, but the downside is that you’ll likely only be getting a fraction of what the item is really worth (you see, the pawn shops need to make their profit somewhere).
In the end, you are the only one who knows the unique circumstances of your business operations, so no one can make a better call than you can.
Conclusion
To summarize, you’ve learned where to search for qualified buyers, how to set the right prices, what constitutes a great listing, and what to do if your equipment fails to sell despite your best marketing efforts. So what are you waiting for? Grab the knowledge you’ve gained, go out there, and use it to make your business goals a reality!
Author: Sophia Williams
