Bankruptcy sales?

[Blaize110]

I wasnt sure if this was "Lighting" "Office" or "General" so I decided here is probably the safest bet,

 

I was just wondering if, with the up and coming economic downturn, anyone knows of any sale or hire companies that have gone under and are selling off lighting kit at cheaper prices?

[Andrew C]

Moderation: Please be very careful not to speculate here in anyway that could jeopardise restructuring of recently demised companies.

[Guest lightnix]

Hmmm... the vultures are circling already :unsure:

 

When a company goes down, their kit is often bought as a job lot, usually by a competitor. A price is agreed with the Official Receiver, a truck is sent by the buyer, loaded up and the kit taken to its new home.

 

Alternatively: some, less scrupulous company directors - having seen the writing on the wall - may have already sold all the kit for a quid or two; to a new company (coincidentally "owned" by their wives or other members of their families) so that business can continue as usual, when the failing enterprise finally collapses - an empty shell of its former self. It's a type of asset-stripping and is technically (if not actually) illegal - not that The Law stops it from happening :D

 

What DOESN'T usually happen, is that an open day is held, for spotty schoolkids to come and rummage through the kit; then stagger to the waiting boots of their parents' Range Rovers, grinning smugly, under the weight of braces of shiny new parcans and movers, purchased for pocket money prices. Sorry.

 

It's also worth bearing in mind, that bankruptcy is usually the final chapter in the long, slow decline of a company; which is downright PAINFUL for those involved in running and working for it - hence my distaste for "this kind" of thread.

 

Also: if a company has been on the slide for a while, it's quite possible that the maintenance budget will have been cut back and that the kit will not be in tip-top condition.

 

So... unless you're willing to fork out a five figure sum, for a warehouse full of kit of unknown and variable quality; which will need to be thoroughly sorted, tested and then repaired / junked... FORGET IT !!! :D

[Light Console]

Whilst it wasn't a hire company, I have been on both sides of the coin at the same time.

When the Gantry in Southampton lost its building to conrete cancer, a mobile lighting rig was set up, and events held in various venues across the south. This ended up in my then empty bedroom when all of the external events finished. A few months later, I rang up the admin number just to see if there was anybody there. There was, a liquidator, who wanted to see me!

I was asked to come in to dismantle the stuff inside the venue so that it could be sold off. I was allowed first dibs on anything inside, and the stuff I had in my room was agreed to be my fee. This meant that I got a stupid ammount of kit for virtually nothing, whilst still selling lots.

It was a very sad time for me at the time, but most of the kit is still working today, and I have left the old Gantry labels on as a reminder of the happy times I had working there.

[bruce]

As Nick says, usually a deal (legit or otherwise) is done "behind the scenes". Often a bid for the entire stock will be invited.

 

In some cases, it will go to public auction (SKL was a recent example). However, there often won't be "small lots" - it'll be squarely aimed at trade purchasers.

 

Having said that, you can often pick up bargains at general non-specific auctions. I've acquired lots of kit there - power amps, speakers, mics, parcans, and other lighting odds and ends - mostly as-new (one power amp was still boxed, with receipts!), and most of which had come from hotels and clubs that had gone under. There are sometimes bargains here, as it's a "general sale" - this sort of kit is being auctioned alongside the kitchen fittings, tables, chairs etc, so the specialist buyers aren't there.

[musht]

Some of the companies may end up being liquidated by auction, if they dont phoenix via an `unrelated` offer from a friend of the liquidator.

 

People like Dovebid and Sweeney Kincaid are the big names in industrial liquidation auctions, what is left in the building when they arrive will get a lot number stuck on it and sold to the highest bidder ,without reserve,to recover cash for the creditors , sounds like it should be bargain mungous.....

 

With traps for the unwary, as Lightnix has said a company that has been in difficulties for some time may have given up on maintenance some time ago, some of the gear may not be in great condition, auction sales are as seen and final, there is no taking it back.

 

The writing may have been on the wall for long enough for LWB Sprinters to leave in the dead of night with some of the choicer items before the liquidators arrived, can think of one place that had some high end audio desks at liquidation but only low end mics.....

 

People get carried away at auctions, they`re there to get a bargain and are quite prepared to pay too much for it.

 

Large companies can get such large discounts on new equipment that it needs to be really cheap to make buying s/h worthwhile, used equipment dealers need to be able to make a margin on what they pay, inexperienced auction bidders are looking at list price and figuring anything less is cheap.

 

Hammer price is not the price you pay, typically hammer price will be plus 10-15% Buyers Premium plus 17.5% vat on total of goods and premium, figure that in to what your prepared to pay.

 

You have to pick your purchases up, usually within a narrow time frame, from a place that makes a jumble sale look organised, you can be sure that if you don`t pick it up someone else will.

 

It is recycling , it is unfortunate that the last owner of the equipment was unable to make it pay its way, trick is not to follow by paying too much.

 

Take a flask , bankrupt warehouse units in middle of winter can be bleak places, best example of turning situation around was sales manager of distributor that went down last recession, he hired a hot snack wagon and sold tea and coffee at the warehouse liquidation auction.

[Stuart91]

In some cases, it will go to public auction (SKL was a recent example). However, there often won't be "small lots" - it'll be squarely aimed at trade purchasers.

 

The SKL auction was a "sale by tender", the main difference from a standard auction was that bids had to be submitted for all the lots in the auction ahead of a closing deadline. It was only afterwards that you found out what you had or hadn't won. This led to lots of confusion later on - people winning flightcases but not the lights that go in them, radio mic receivers without the transmitters etc. It adds another layer of hassle and complexity to process. Whilst everyone I dealt with from the auctioneers was trying to be helpful, they're relative novices when dealing with sound and lighting equipment, so it's not easy for them to get things lotted together in a manner that would seem logical to us.

 

As Bruce says, there are often bargains to be had within "general" sales, but a major bankruptcy sale can be a risky proposition if you're not very sure of what you're doing.

[ian@prl]

After this week-end there will be a fair bit of video kit on Ebay..Panasonic projectors,lenses,Extron swithchers,D.As.etc.

[ian@prl]

Kit availble here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=110311477741.

more to be listed

[Rich_dv]

I wasnt sure if this was "Lighting" "Office" or "General" so I decided here is probably the safest bet,

 

I was just wondering if, with the up and coming economic downturn, anyone knows of any sale or hire companies that have gone under and are selling off lighting kit at cheaper prices?

 

 

We have been looking at this and in most cases it seems that the assets are being sold straight back to the same people or parties connected with the company, who are then carrrying on trading with a new limited company. We were discussing this yesterday in the Concert Systems thread in "the office", and can think of at least 3 examples in our industry where, from speaking to the administrators, this seems to have applied .

 

Still cant get my head around why this is allowed as it seems to be a very good way for companies to purchase loads of new hire stock and then not pay fully for it before starting a new company with no debts but all the benefits of the advertising / phone lines / stock etc paid for the previous company.

 

Anyway, as I said yesterday perhaps I am mis-understanding the situation .....

[michel-laws]

Which are the other online websites to buy the kit other then ebay

[tommulliner]

Try the FAQs section for lighting. Please use the search function as well.

[WiLL]

In some cases, it will go to public auction (SKL was a recent example). However, there often won't be "small lots" - it'll be squarely aimed at trade purchasers.

 

 

... sometimes. A few years ago I attended an auction selling off a load of stock from I think Northern Light? Those lots were reasonable sizes. Par 64's in bunches of 4, single SL profiles etc...

[musht]

In some cases, it will go to public auction (SKL was a recent example). However, there often won't be "small lots" - it'll be squarely aimed at trade purchasers.

 

 

... sometimes. A few years ago I attended an auction selling off a load of stock from I think Northern Light? Those lots were reasonable sizes. Par 64's in bunches of 4, single SL profiles etc...

 

Stage Electrics have done very well in the past with sales of their ex-hire gear, smaller lots and Saturday sales attract the `bargain hunters` some of whom don`t even seem to be aware of list price ;-)

[Ynot]

Stage Electrics have done very well in the past with sales of their ex-hire gear, smaller lots and Saturday sales attract the `bargain hunters` some of whom don`t even seem to be aware of list price ;-)

I was about to mention Stage LX. they also have started an Ebay shop for some 2nd hand/ex-display/new items.

 

I've had a fair few real bargains from them - it's just a case of catching them with what you want and bidding at the right price (for you!)