Online auction value of ex-fleet stock beats physical auctions

Online auction sales value of ex-fleet stock beat physical auctions by an average of one per cent or £220 per vehicle in 2016, according to new figures compiled by 1link Disposal Network.

The statistics are taken from tens of thousands of vehicles sold through 1link Disposal Network. The company’s e-commerce platform is used to manage online and offline sales.

Tim Meadows, commercial director at epyx, said: “We see very similar stock sold through both our online channels and also through traditional auctions. As such, we are in a very good position to make direct comparisons about how they are performing.

“Our overall figures last year were 97.5% of the trade guides for online and 96.5% for offline. This may sound like quite a small difference but it adds up to around £220 per car. When taken across a whole fleet, that becomes quite a significant amount.”

Online auctions provide a more effective way to reach buyers

Tim explained that much of the difference in values attained was because online provided a more effective way of reaching buyers who are interested in the cars and vans being sold.

“We are able to create communities of buyers such as franchise dealers and first tier independents for different vehicles. We can target them very specifically, which helps to maximise values.

“Over the last year, we have even become much more proficient at learning about the condition expectations of each dealer. With the rising popularity of ready-to-retail stock, we’ve introduced new procedures for reconditioning to the required standard.

“The same degree of control is simply not possible through physical auction channels. Although, we do see them very much as an essential part of the overall disposal mix.”

Tim added that increasing pressure on values will likely continue to develop in the future. He expects the divergence between auction and online channels to probably continue to increase.

“Volumes of used vehicles in the market will rise this year and the poorest quality vehicles will increasingly struggle. Vendors who carefully targeting their stock at the right buyers and ensuring it is in the right condition will achieve the best results.”