Posts Tagged ‘buy at auction’
Buy Business Equipment at Bankrutptcy Sales and Auctions at Less Than Half Price
As you begin your small business and as it grows, you will need office furniture, business equipment, computers, telephone systems, and other expensive assets, even for a business run out of your home. You can buy them all at less than half price. Because so many big businesses file bankruptcy these days, there are sales and auctions of business furniture, assets, and equipment going on continually in almost every area of the country. Instead of shopping at the office supply or office furniture store and paying top retail dollar, shop the auctions and buy the same or even better furniture and equipment at a fraction of the cost.
Few business owners use this strategy, so sales and auctions often have surprisingly few bidders. Advertising for bankruptcy sales is severely limited and often written in difficult-to-decipher legal jargon, so few people are aware that the auctions are being held.
Begin your search by continually checking the legal notices in the classifieds of your daily newspaper. Most cities of any size also have a legal-notices paper, published weekly or daily. Check your phone book under Newspapers and visit the publishing office for a copy. Some magazine stands also sell the legal-notice paper. On pages 346-347 you will find a typical ad for a bankruptcy sale of office equipment. Some U.S. district bankruptcy courts will put you on a mailing list. Give your district court a call.
Auctions are either oral bid or sealed bid. With an oral bid, each item or group of items is auctioned off with all bidders bidding out loud and against each other. The high bidder wins. Don’t get carried away with your bid—there is always another sale another day.
Sealed-bid auctions require that you place your bid in a “sealed” envelope, often with a check for 10% to 50% of your bid, which is returnable if you lose. All bids are opened at one time, often publicly. High bid wins.