WH auctions R57m in workhorses
LAST week was a particularly successful one for WH Auctioneers, hosting three large auctions over three days (February 28 to March 2).
Maximising their expertise in sourcing near-new machinery, they offered a range of workhorses to a variety of businesses and buyers, bringing in over R57-million in total revenue, and delighting sellers and buyers alike.
“We are very pleased with our start to the year,” says partner Shannon Winterstein.
“We believe the market is strengthening; however, buyers are undoubtedly still hunting value for money. We invest in that belief by ensuring that we have an exciting, fresh range of machines on offer that we are able to sell at heavily discounted pricing.
“Buyers are smart at sifting out great-value opportunities and we are happy that we are achieving such high sales values, taking this into account.
“At WH Auctioneers, we pride ourselves on our unrivalled industry expertise and dedicate our efforts to bringing together unique categories of product.
“Although we specialise in yellow equipment — mid-range construction and earth-moving — we move a large volume of trucks, forklifts and related equipment, as buyers find affordable solutions to their business needs.
“We are focused on the customer experience, so we take the decision on the products we offer on auction very seriously, ensuring that these are presented within the context of our buyers’ end-to-end requirements,” says Winterstein.
“We lay out our merchandise so that buyers can make side-by-side comparisons, more closely allied to that of a new, branded retail showroom than the traditional auctioneer.”
Kicking off the big week on February 28 was the monthly event at the company’s auction showroom in Midrand, Gauteng.
This was a massive event, showcasing almost 200 units on the day, ranging from almost-new passenger vehicles to top-end cranes.
“We managed to fetch a price of R6.75-million on the highest-ticket item on the day,” says Winterstein.
Another exciting opportunity came in the form of the disposal of the vehicle stock of a new car dealership’s cancelled floor plan, where 18 new and used vehicles were scooped up by smart buyers, including car dealers.
Some went away smiling with their savings of up to 50% on retail prices.
Brand-new New Holland TLB vehicles were another welcome addition.
Winterstein says many of the units had hardly been used, offering a serious option of “alternative to new”.
On March 1, surplus equipment was on the auction block at an onsite auction in Aveng, Boksburg.
Late-model Caterpillar excavators, graders and wheel loaders found new homes. A 400-ton Demag crawler crane that was knocked down for R1.5-million was the deal of the day.
With many light-duty vehicles, trucks and trailers on offer along with 177 containers the bidding was lively and the results exceeded expectations.
March 2 entailed an onsite liquidation auction at Superlift’s Boksburg premises.
“Savvy buyers from across the crane industry picked up well-priced machines, with plenty of useful life in them,” says Winterstein.
“As per the liquidator’s instructions, we sold every crane the business held, as well as certain other items — including fully equipped in-container offices and operational vehicles.
“Across the three auctions we moved a total of 16 cranes at an average price of R1.13-million.
Winterstein invites those who are in the market for mid-range equipment for their businesses to visit the company’s website, or its facility in Midrand.
Webcast facilitation is simultaneously enabled for remote participation at live auctions on auction day.
Online-only auctions are also held, mostly for remote locations.
“It’s all about the customer for us. We want to make it as convenient and as simple as possible to partake in the auction. Try us, you can only win yourself a great deal,” says Winterstein.
Visit www.whauctions.com or call 011 5745700 for information on upcoming auctions.