If you're looking to sell surplus or used Allen Bradley machines and parts, you know that you have valuable equipment on your hands. Unfortunately, getting value for that equipment in a timely manner can be difficult in the secondary market.

This quick guide will provide you with essential information and tips to ensure you get the best value for your surplus or used Allen Bradley equipment. Whether you have surplus Allen Bradley parts or used equipment still in good condition, understanding the market and the best practices for selling can make a significant difference.

Why is Allen Bradley surplus valuable?

Allen Bradley is a renowned brand under Rockwell Automation specializing in industrial automation and information technology. Known for its high-quality programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), sensors, and other automation components, Allen Bradley’s manufacturing machines are widely used in high-quality plants.

Their products hold their value well due to a variety of reinforcing factors. First, their products are designed and manufactured to withstand rigorous industrial environments, ensuring long-term performance and minimal downtime. This reliability makes Allen Bradley equipment highly sought after, even in the used and surplus markets. 

On top of that, Allen Bradley designs many of its products with backward compatibility in mind, ensuring that new components can work with older systems. This long-term support and integration capability extend the useful life of their products, making them valuable on the secondary market. 

Finally, Rockwell has a strong reputation for aftermarket support, so procurement professionals that buy older machinery from the company still have confidence that they’ll be able to troubleshoot with the manufacturer when things go wrong.

Why it’s difficult to sell Allen Bradley

Despite the products’ value, it can be difficult to get fair value for them on secondary markets and at liquidation.

First, there’s an information gap between sellers and buyers. The fact is that not all used and surplus equipment is valuable, and due to a lack of public pricing information, distinctions between items are generally opaque to sellers. Since you don’t have clarity on what’s valuable and what’s not valuable, liquidators and other buyers can and will exploit that to submit low buyout bids. They then turn around and resell the items for as much as 10x their acquisition price.

On top of that, trying to sell directly to end users without using an intermediary like a liquidator or an equipment dealer is time consuming, frustrating, and often ends up costing supply chain teams more than they make back. eBay is a popular end market for Allen Bradley machinery, so companies with surplus logically conclude that they can maximize their revenue return by setting up an eBay shop and selling the items themselves. 

They’re not wrong – you’ll likely get the most revenue by selling used industrial equipment slowly on eBay. The costs you’ll incur, though, are high. It takes time to set up a shop, and eBay and other marketplaces are strict with new sellers to the point where many become frustrated and give up. New stores aren’t seen as trustworthy by buyers, so sales come extremely slowly. All the while, you’re racking up inventory carrying costs and eating up valuable employee time. At the end of the day, you’ll end up frustrated and with less profit.

Options to sell Allen Bradley parts

If you’re not going to sell the equipment directly to end users, you should know the ins-and-outs of different secondary sales channels. 

1. Industrial Auction Houses

Auction houses specialize in selling industrial equipment, including Allen Bradley products. These can be physical auctions or online.

• Pros: Quick sales process, exposure to a large audience.
• Cons: Auction fees, unpredictable final sale prices.

How to do it:

• Provide detailed information: Ensure the equipment is clean, functional, and well-documented to increase trust from buyers.
• Set reserves: You can set a minimum price (reserve) to ensure you don’t sell below a certain value.

2. Selling Through Liquidators

Industrial liquidators purchase surplus equipment in bulk. This is a quick way to offload large quantities of equipment.

• Pros: Fast transaction, bulk sales.
• Cons: Typically lower prices than selling directly. Can be difficult to find a reputable liquidator.

How to do it:

• Negotiate terms: Be clear about the condition of your equipment and negotiate terms that reflect its value. You should sell “as is” to transfer risk to the liquidator.
• Welcome site visits: Many liquidators will visit your plant to see all of the surplus that you have available. It’s a great way to avoid having to commit your own labor to sorting and cataloging the surplus.

3. Brokerage Services

Brokers specialize in finding buyers for industrial equipment. They handle the sales process for a commission.

• Pros: Less effort for the seller, brokers have extensive networks.
• Cons: Commission fees, longer time to sale, less control over the final sale price. 

How to do it:

• Get the commission structure right: Clearly outline the commission structure and any additional fees. Many brokers assess all of their expenses to their clients before they split the commission proceeds, giving you an unequal deal. Look for brokers that share expenses evenly to align their incentives with yours.
• Be patient and flexible: Brokers need time to find the right buyer, as they’ll generally look to sell it directly to an end user to maximize recovery. This can take time.

Amplio: a better way to sell Allen Bradley

At Amplio, we specialize in making the complex world of industrial liquidation simple for our clients. Just send us the details of your used equipment along with your business needs, and we’ll do the heavy lifting for you.

Need a quick buyout? We’ll canvas our network of over 50 specialized liquidators to surface the best offers and get you more for your equipment, fast. Want to maximize recovery? We’ll work with the right partner to take the time needed for more money. All the while, we will be your single, trusted point of contact.

What makes us unique? It’s our software and our network. 

Our software collects and analyzes daily transaction data from leading marketplaces to adjust and determine the best reselling strategy. We can tell you what items you should scrap to immediately free up warehouse space, and which you should sell slowly to maximize recovery. 

Then we execute the liquidation on your behalf, using our extensive network to ensure you get the most competitive offers for your inventory.