Advantages Of Cardinal Selling Services versus Live Local Auctions

When most people think of an auction their first thought is a scene where there are groups of people gathered around tables of items or large assets on display. The auctioneer describes items in a few words often leaving out important details or features. Bidding is fast and furious and moves from one item to the next quickly. The type of auction might be effective for selling the beautifully restored vintage cars in the photo above and get passionate collectors to flex their financial muscles and acquire a vehicle they have always desired. This type of emotion and psychology is not attached to sales when companies are selling office furniture or a family is selling the contents of a house of a deceased loved one. 

For the usual, everyday auctions that take place buyers are looking for the best deals possible. An auction is the place where buyers go to scoop up assets for pennies on the dollar of their actual value. Recently we sold a band saw for a client through our sales channels for $800. This was a solid deal for all parties involved considering a similar band saw new today can cost $6500. The buyer got a great deal and the customer was able to recapture a solid amount of the money relative to the many years they used the saw. A few weeks later we noticed the exact same band saw sell at an auction for $12. Yes, $12!

An auction can move an asset very quickly, but your run a substantial risk of trading value for time. Under the Cardinal Selling Services model we have found that 45-60 days is an ideal amount of time for us to work our magic and get top dollar on behalf of our clients. This allows us to properly research and set the valuation and determine the proper market placement to make sure the right potential buyers will be reached. Because we work on a commission, we are incentivized to maximize the ultimate sales price.  

That being said, because of our expertise in eCommerce and social media channels, we often sell entire lots of products in less than 7 days.  We have seen this happen with restaurant equipment, surplus office furniture, as well as the entire contents of rooms of household items.  By placing these items for sale in the proper channels at the right prices we can keep the process moving more quickly while still getting maximum value for our client.  

Our model is an eCommerce machine that works on behalf of our clients 24/7/365. We do get some rest after busy days in our office, but our system never sleeps.  Local auctions with a live auctioneer only take place within a few hours on one day for most sales. People have busy lives as it is. Attending a live auction also has the potential to conflict with many other obligations potential buyers might have. If your live auction happens to take place on a day where a nasty storm rolls through town you may also see a huge drop-off in attendance.

Local auctions also have a very limited geographical reach.  How far is someone willing to drive? It depends on how many and what type of items you are selling. Local auctions generally advertise in local newspapers and other traditional, low-tech, out-of-date means. Cardinal Selling Services liquidation model puts local items in front of a global audience of buyers. If you live in a relatively small community how large is the pool of buyers for a D-10 bulldozer? You probably have the only one in town. If one of your neighbors wanted to buy it then it would already be sold. We expand the potential pool of buyers to anyone, anywhere who finds your item on our site through one of our numerous eCommerce channels.   

In many cases the items that we sell have been sitting in storage for quite some time, were about to be potentially auctioned or maybe even just tossed out and end up in a landfill somewhere. Cardinal Selling Services bridges the gap between the options of trying to dispose of an item yourself and surrendering to an auction outcome. You really have nothing to lose by giving us a call. We will be happy to give you a no-obligation consultation to describe for you the specific strategy we will utilize to get you maximum value for your assets in a timely fashion.