Successful Vehicle Procurement Specialists Buy Through Auctions Online, Leaving Auction Halls Behind
Auction Halls are great fun: The atmosphere, the smell of history, meeting of good mates, sometimes foes, the anticipation, the excitement, is all there for any specialist buyer of used vehicles. You leave with perhaps a bargain or two, have a drink or some grub with an old friend and go home exhausted, yet satisfied.
The trouble with physical auctions is that they are largely inefficient, and the risk of leaving an auction with nothing after travelling most of the day is too high.
Ultimately, successful professional buyers must continually find the fastest, most cost-efficient, effective and therefore successful manner to do their job – that of buying then selling used vehicles. These buyers cannot afford to take risks, nor waste time, so they must search far and wide, across multiple channels, to find the stock they are looking for. The most efficient channel is the online auction. Today, business is bigger, quicker, with more demands by end-customers, not just more information required, but all of it available on line, with a multiple of communication channels to have dialogue. Money changes hands faster these days, margins are tighter, and with more opportunity comes more competition, and the paradox is that when it is easier for you to make a dollar, it is also easier for your competitors to infiltrate your market and take that buck from you. Therefore, to maximise success, as a trade buyer of used commercial vehicles, the online auction is the best way to make constant revenue and profit over the longer term.
Old, physical auctions – one place, with a few vehicles - cannot cut the mustard for the specialist buyers anymore, who need thousands of units, rather than tens or hundreds. Companies in this industry used to be local, then regional, then national. Now they are international, scouring the earth for high quality and well-priced motors that maintain their value, and can be sold quickly at a good profit. This can only be done in front of a computer screen, through online auctions.
There are lots of upsides to the online auction. The days of paperwork, and auction brochures have been replaced by efficient, updatable, deeper online data. Communications channels are now multiple, and speed is of the essence. For example, a quarter of the world’s population now use WhatsApp, and it is increasingly being used as the prime channel for business communication, too. It allows for a more than just chat, it can also provide business to business interaction, and the transfer all vehicle details, and can be automated by efficient online auctions, with responses that are relevant and fast, 24/7.
All of the above are very good reasons why professional buyers will be scouring online auctions for used commercial vehicles.
There are some trust issues with some online auctions. To gain trust, a buyer needs to know the auctioneer personally. There needs to be a real, long-term relationship with them. Theis requires a trade buyer to be in touch with them, to ensure they see the world in the same way. Online auctioneers, therefore, needs multiple communication channels open to the buyer: phone and e-mail are natural, but feedback form loops, Teams/Zoom, and WhatsApp are fundamental today to keep in touch in the right way and at the right time. A buyer would talk to auctioneer at a physical auction; online auctioneers must offer the same service through different communication channels.
Once trust is built, bidding buyers will have faith in the documentation provided by online auction houses. Also, great photography is needed, so that buyers become bidders, then become purchasers. Only the very highest revolution photography is acceptable these days. So many online auctions are guilty of having the equivalent of a criminal mug shot for their commercial vehicles. It just won’t wash! So, verified listings, warranties, and transparent bidding, do the trade buyer knows that they are at a bone fide online auction. The moral of the story is, don’t buy from an online auction until you completely trust the company behind the online platform.
Although, there is a new work model for commercial trade buyers today, in an industry teeming with tech innovation, there are ideas which day has not yet come, and may not arrive. I’m taking about AI and Virtual Reality have been spoken about for years as being helpful to bidders at online auctions. We are going to go out on a limb here. We don’t yet see a future for AI and VR in vehicle auctions. You see, the critical part of an online auction, versus a physical one, is the lack of touchy/feely-ness of the motor itself. Therefore, online has to present the vehicle truthfully, factually, precisely. The problem with AI and VR is they are virtual, not real, and give the wrong representation of the vehicles for sale. This is why the wonderful of acronym of WYSIWIG – What You See Is What You Get – is paramount in the world of digital auctions. WYSIWIG demands very high resolution, real images, so bidders trust the pictures in front of them, onscreen, rather than in the flesh.
Hudson Kapel sell used vans from the UK’s and Europe’s biggest buyer of new vans - Enterprise. Hudson Kapel are known to be highly capable because they inspect, validate, grade (using NAMA) all vans and offer warranties to minimise any risks. They also have very high resolution cameras called BrightPix that show vehicles from every angle in a crystal clear presentation. Nothing can be hidden, so professional trade buyers know that WYSIWYG…What you see is what you get.
Hudson Kapel’s customer service team are all trade experts and are available the way you like to chat: Either by phone, e-mail, feedback form, in person or by WhatsApp. And dealing with the team is always a pleasure, as Hudson Kapel delivers customer service with a smile.
With weekly auctions, and hundreds of used vans with detail available at the Hudson Kapel live auction website up to 7 days before the live auction, professional trade buyers have time to decide what they are keen to bid for and buy. Once a deal is struck, the buyers new vehicle can be delivered to them within 48 hours. It’s quick simple, clear, honest. So, if you are a trade buyer, looking for good used vans through an auctioneer you can trust, then hop along to the Hudson Kapel auction website – www.hkr.co.uk. Register quickly and easily and take a look at all the vans you can buy in the next weekly auction.
Validation backed by independent third party, QSR. Validation measured using independent NAMA grading.