"Sometimes it is more lucrative to auction through Troostwijk than to ‘just’ sell it"

Seller Roy Huibers (left) with next to him Floris Bakels, Account Manager Construction at Troostwijk Auctions.

Roy Huibers (pictured left) of timber trade and woodworking company Huibers Hout auctions wood and machinery through Troostwijk Auctions five times a year. "Auctioning is a great way for me to sell surplus material for a good price. And I also regularly buy through Troostwijk myself!"

"It often happens that we have a specific order from a customer, but we produce too much," says Roy Huibers, owner of Huibers Hout. He gives an example. "The other day we had to make 1000 m2 of floorboards for a customer. We never make exactly 1000 m2 then, but it becomes, say, 1032 m2. Those surplus 32 m2 floorboards are so specific that finding a suitable customer in our own network is difficult. We then auction these surplus materials through Troostwijk Auctions. Troostwijk's wide audience ensures that we can almost always sell our items for a good price."

"It also sometimes happens that a customer cancels, or partially cancels, his order," he continues. "All that excess material we photograph, we make descriptions to it and we set it aside. That way we save it and five times a year we auction these batches of wood at Troostwijk. And if we have machines that we no longer need for whatever reason, those also come up for auction."

Not too specific
Yet Huibers does not only auction materials that are left over. "If we have a very nice piece of wood, I know it will yield the most if we auction it through Troostwijk. So then we immediately put that aside with the materials we are going to auction."

Huibers does always take into account that the items he auctions are conventional. "It should not be too specific, but rather a bit common. Then more people will bid on it. For instance, we recently had very thick poles. If we offered those in an auction, it wouldn't bring in much. Because most people want average poles. So then we process the poles to an average size before we auction them.

Satisfied at Troostwijk
For several years now, Huibers has been auctioning his materials at Troostwijk Auctions. "Before that, we did sometimes try to sell the remaining materials via Marktplaats [a Dutch marketplace]. But there it was difficult to keep up the momentum. At Troostwijk, everything goes very smoothly. We have good contact with our account manager Floris Bakels (pictured right) and we are very satisfied."

Huibers himself also sometimes buys in an auction at Troostwijk Auctions. "At the moment I'm looking at machines. I have my eye on a special robot, which I can then connect to one of our machines. I hope I win that auction!"

‘You can set a minimum price’
To entrepreneurs who are unsure whether they would also like to auction something at Troostwijk, Huibers wants to give the advice that they can always give it a try. "You can follow similar lots on the platform to get an idea of what your own materials will fetch. Moreover, you can set a minimum price for the machines and materials you auction. That way, you can be sure you won't sell it for less than you have in mind. And maybe even more."

Still, Huibers cautions that every auction is different, and so are the proceeds. "At one auction, I had at least a thousand euros in mind for a certain lot of wood. That didn't work out then. When I put in the same lot again at the next auction, it suddenly brought in 5,400 euros."

‘Immerse yourself in the lots’
To buyers, Huibers would advise them to study the lots carefully before bidding. "You can go to a viewing day, I really recommend that. Then you can see if something is complete and if it works. Before I buy something in an auction myself, I also always find out what it would cost if I just bought it in a store. Because, of course, an auction is the most fun if you can buy something for a better price than in the shop."

To Saint Martin
When buyers pick up the lots at Huibers Hout, a forklift with driver is ready to help them. "If a buyer has bought several lots, we put them together in advance. That way the collection day runs smoothly. Nevertheless, we also experience the craziest things and it is always a spectacle to see what kind of means of transport people use to pick up their stuff. It sometimes happens that someone arrives with a tiny trailer to collect a whole pile of wood. Then I do wonder: does that fit?’ Huibers laughs.

"We once sold something during an auction to someone from the island of St Martin. During collection day, this man arrived with a full sea container, whether we wanted to put the wood in there. And he asked if he could wait a little longer for another delivery, which also had to go in his container. Then the container was shipped to St Martin. Funny isn't it?"