Get FinancingPre-AuctionTime Provides A Nothing-To-Lose, Everything-To-Gain Approach To Auctions
Selling at auction always comes with a little bit of risk. Your items could sell for more than you hoped, or they could sell for less than you want. Adding Pre-AuctionTime to assets listed on AuctionTime.com gives sellers more control. Pre-AuctionTime lets sellers advertise assets at retail and wholesale ahead of the scheduled auction date and evaluate offers from interested buyers as they roll in. In the event the asset doesn’t sell, it transitions to AuctionTime as planned.
How Pre-AuctionTime Works
When you check the Pre-AuctionTime box while adding an asset to AuctionTime, the asset is then advertised to Sandhills Global’s exclusive network of wholesale buyers and to retail buyers on the relevant trade site, such as MachineryTrader.com, TractorHouse.com, or TruckPaper.com, at no additional cost.
Premium Exposure
Assets listed with Pre-AuctionTime appear on AuctionTime.com as usual, as well as on Sandhills’ exclusive wholesale network, Fast Track Iron. Dealers in the network receive two email blasts: one that announces the asset when it is added, and a “last chance” email before the auction date to create a sense of urgency. Each email includes a link to the listing, asset details, the auction date, and options to Buy It Now or Add To Watchlist to encourage buyers to take action.
The exposure doesn’t stop there. Pre-AuctionTime also puts your asset in front of a massive global audience of retail buyers using Sandhills trade sites, where it becomes a featured listing, appearing near the top of users’ search results. Retail buyers won’t see that the item is set to be auctioned, so you can price it aggressively to boost the odds of a quick sale.
Unmatched Results
“Our Pre-AT process is delivering proven results in 2026,” says Sales Manager Mitch Helman. “Roughly 50% of equipment is selling before auction, averaging just 26 days to transact and along with an average of 28% more than projected auction value. Being able to presell units slated to roll to auction in a timely manner allows you to cost average up the higher returns, all while mitigating the risk of the auction process.”
Pre-AuctionTime Success Stories
Pre-AuctionTime gives sellers a chance to sell on their own terms at retail or wholesale before the auction. Around 50% of items listed on Pre-AuctionTime sell before auction, and those that do make it to auction often sell for higher prices due to the extra exposure they receive throughout the process.
6 Machines Sold In Weeks
A landscaping contractor in Manitoba, Canada, listed six machines through Pre-AuctionTime. Within just a few weeks, five of the machines had sold. The sixth, a 2012 Deere 329D skid steer with under 5,000 hours, proceeded to AuctionTime and sold for more than its wholesale value on the next sale day.
Bobcat Sold For $26K Over Auction Value
A Bobcat dealership in California listed a 2024 Bobcat E88R2 crawler excavator on Pre-AuctionTime. The 730-hour E88R2 garnered nearly 80,000 listing impressions and 615 detail page views over the course of 30 days before selling for $84,900, which was just $3,156 below its estimated market value and well above its projected auction value of $58,871 and wholesale value of $74,972.
3 Komatsu Dozers Bring Over $419K
A seller in South Carolina listed three Komatsu D61PXI-24 dozers (two 2022 models and one 2023) on Pre-AuctionTime. The machines averaged more than 8,000 impressions per week, and each sold before the auction for an average of 10% to 20% over auction value. The 2023 dozer sold for $149,495, and the 2022 dozers sold for $134,995 each.
Magni Telehandler Sold For $40K Above Auction Value
A seller in Idaho added Pre-AuctionTime when listing this 2023 Magni RTH6.25 on AuctionTime. The 136-horsepower (101-kilowatt) telehandler with an 82-foot (25-meter) lift height and a lift capacity of 13,200 pounds (6,000 kilograms) sold in two and a half months to a retail buyer in New York for $160,000—nearly $40,000 above its auction value at the time.
A version of this article first appeared in Sandhills Magazine. You can find current and back issues in the Sandhills Magazine Archive.