For managers looking for convenience and optimal value for their used equipment, an innovative new auction service has become available. Purple Wave Auction is an online-only auction service focused on agriculture, construction, and fleet equipment.
“At Purple Wave, we combine high-reputation traditional auction services with the expansive outreach of the Internet to bring sellers optimal return for equipment without the inconvenience and effort of selling it themselves,” explains CEO Jerrod Westfahl.
Purple Wave, headquartered in Manhattan, KS, was founded in 2001. Today, the service has an active online bidder pool of 48,000 individuals and averages more than 300,000 visitors to the company’s site each month.
The Purple Wave team delivers turn-key service as an agent of the seller. This includes visiting the seller’s location to photograph equipment for detailed online asset listings to advertising the event, qualifying buyers, and orchestrating the online bidding process. Once the sale closes, the company handles invoicing, collections, sales tax, and title transfers. Items are sold “as is, where is,” so sellers avoid the hassle and expense of transporting equipment to a central auction facility.
“Online-only” means the highest bid online when the bidding closes on a particular item will be the winning bid for that item. Assets are pictured and listed at www.purplewave.com for a pre-determined period — typically three weeks. Bidding occurs throughout the period and will begin to close one item per minute at 10:00 a.m. CST on the closing auction date.
Busy Traffic
During November 2009, 18 auctions were held for 187 sellers offering 1,977 items to 48,258 bidders. The auctions averaged 11 bids per item from six bidders per item, and sellers averaged $25,023 in sales. Through November, more than 18,000 unique bidders have bid in 234 auctions this year involving 42,780 items. The Web site PurpleWave.com draws visitors from all 50 states and as many as 130 countries.
Service and speed were benefits of Purple Wave when Berry Companies, Inc., of Wichita, KS, faced the economic downturn and a 25% drop in demand for rental equipment across its network of Bobcat dealerships. Though the company has its own sales force, it needed to market inventory of late-model rental equipment faster than could be done on-site. Berry Companies’ two auctions saw bidders from 24 states, a significant outreach beyond its five-state trade area. An added bonus was the traffic and resulting sales on non-auction items that Purple Wave exposure brought to its dealer locations.
Unlike some equipment auction services, Purple Wave is a no-reserve auction, which creates reservations among both first-time sellers and buyers. However, transparency and accurate representation are hallmarks of the Purple Wave service, says the company. Each listing provides a thorough description of the item’s condition and extensive photos including close-ups of the hour meter or odometer, tires, and even video of the item in use. Seller phone numbers and item locations are provided for each listing and potential bidders are encouraged to call with questions or personally view the item before the sale, in contrast to some other auction services.
For more information, visit www.purplewave.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866.608.9283.
