Many companies have turned to reverse auctions to help them save money on their procurement expenses, but fewer firms realize that traditional auctions can also be a benefit to their organization. With the right auction software, businesses can create auction events that will allow them to sell their machinery, goods, and other items for more than they would otherwise hope to earn, thus helping boost investment recovery and consequently profits.
Traditionally, businesses would either sell old machinery, vehicles, or similar goods either for a fixed price or through in-person auctions. Both of these methods had drawbacks. With fixed prices, businesses could never make as much back on the goods as they would like. With in-person auctions, they were costly to put together and resulted in less than exciting revenue.
Auctions are an alternative to this method can can work quite simply. The seller creates a listing for the product he or she is putting out for bid. Generally, the listing includes all of the information a potential buyer would want to know. In most cases, a picture is also added to the listing. The seller establishes an opening price for the product, then sits back and waits. Individuals who visit the site, read the listing, and can place bids on the item. The high bid is shown and usually bidders who are outbid are notified so that they can stay in the running. At a time specified by the seller, the auction closes and the highest bidder at that time is deemed the winner.
With auction software, businesses can go online and create their own auction site. For any decision-maker who has ever visited popular third-party auction sites, the benefits of this approach should be obvious. First, auctions generally will always generate a higher price than a fixed price approach simply because people are naturally competitive. On these sites, people often get so carried away with their desire to beat the other bidders that they may pay more than what the item is even worth. Second, online auctions allow people from all around the world to bid which means the business has the potential of reaching millions more individuals than they could otherwise with a traditional in-person auction. Often, more bidders equals higher revenue.
Plus, some types of auction software lets people post their listings and expose them to a lot of different buyers. The benefits of this approach to holding auctions should also be clear to anyone familiar with Internet auctions. The listing will have the potential to be exposed to even more people than if the company chose to sell the item on their own site at a fixed price. This increased exposure again means a chance to get more revenue.
Epiq offers auction software that allows businesses to create their own auction events. Their software allows companies to streamline and automate the auction process so that, once set up, the auction literally will run itself and the business can recoup a larger portion of their initial investment without increased personnel or administrative costs. With this software, companies can dispose of assets at a higher price and less of that revenue goes to cover the costs of disposal.
Auctions can benefit a number of types of organizations. Manufacturers who have equipment and machinery that needs to be sold to make room for newer models can use auctions to sell these products. Any firm or organization that has company cars, office computers, or other items that are frequently replaced can get a much higher price by disposing of the older models via an online auction than by using traditional in-person auction methods or by selling the goods at a fixed price to employees and/or the public.
Companies often don't think they can actually boost their revenue simply by selling off old equipment. However, many companies have effectively used Epiq's software to sell their products and to boost revenues.