Advantages and disadvantages of auctions, advertising portals and transactional platforms when selling and buying commercial vehicles

In addition to the truck purchase dealer nearby, most owners of used trucks only think of mobile de. However, the opportunities to advertise used trucks online and free of charge have increased. Here is a brief description of the three options for selling the truck online.

Overview of advertising portals such as mobile de

The most well-known category for buying and selling vehicles is advertising portals. In Germany, there are, among others, mobile.de, truckscout24 and eBay classifieds. In principle, anyone who wants to sell their truck can advertise here. Advertising portals focus solely on advertising. This means that the vehicle is advertised with images and text, but the sale takes place offline. Everyone is familiar with the many inquiries via e-mail and telephone or even physical meetings. The number and variety of truck advertisements is huge. Vans to heavy loads, trailers and trailers. Accident vehicles are also part of the range. However, most portals, such as mobile.de, focus on the car segment. The many variants are not shown here (e.g. thermal insulation for dump trucks) - this means an extensive search for buyers and many do not bother.

Overview of truck auctions like Troostwijk

Another way to buy and sell commercial vehicles is the online auction. In most cases, however, only retailers can register here as buyers. Dealers must look at the vehicles on site before they place a bid. Because the rule is: bought as seen. A subsequent return of the vehicles or goodwill is excluded. And that is also reflected in more careful bidding. It is usually only possible to buy at auctions on the closing date or via Bidding Agent. Some of the well-known auction websites include Autobid, BCA, Troostwijk, Equippo, and Customs Auction. Here, too, the largest auction platforms focus primarily on car offers. The variety of commercial vehicles is partly limited to certain types of vehicles, such as vans.

Overview of truck sales platforms such as truckoo

The latest category is online sales platforms. This is where all sales, from advertising, evaluation, appraisal and sale to processing, take place online. No negotiation via email or telephone is required; the entire negotiation for both parties, seller and buyer is completely digital. The platform provider also serves as a contractual and contact person for both parties. truckoo is the only transactional platform on an international level for buying and selling trucks. As a truck owner, you can start the digital sales process of your vehicles directly on truckoo.com. As a registered dealer or registered workshop, you can buy trucks on truckoo.com and benefit from other services, such as organizing logistics and document handling.
If you want to buy a car, Truckoo is the wrong place. The focus is on the commercial vehicle sector. From vans to heavy loads, trailers and trailers, every type of vehicle, including damaged vehicles, can be found.

Checklist for selling trucks:

In addition to a “suitable selling price”, an entrepreneur who wants to sell his commercial vehicle wants at best no effort and secure payment and processing. The extent to which auctions, advertising portals and transactional platforms meet these requirements is analysed in more detail using 5 criteria.

Influence on selling price:
Entrepreneurs have the biggest influence on advertising portals and transactional platforms. With advertising portals, the negotiation takes place physically in person or over the telephone. The entrepreneur can therefore decide for himself which price offered he agrees to. With transactional platforms, such as truckoo, physical negotiation is brought into the digital world. Here, too, the seller is in the “driver's seat” and can agree to the price offered or not - just digitally at the push of a button. On the other hand, the impact on the final selling price at auctions is more limited. If the starting price is exceeded, the bidders finally decide on the final selling price.
Easy to integrate into everyday life
Transactional platforms, such as truckoo, score best when it comes to the question of “integrability in everyday life.” The sales process starts with a brief vehicle inspection, ideally as part of a service order, at the familiar truck repair shop nearby. Truckoo will advertise and promote the vehicle internationally. Sellers enter into just 1 negotiation per vehicle, but benefit from a large international group of buyers whose offers (always only the highest offer) are automatically transmitted to the seller by notification. Sellers can then sell their commercial vehicles on the go or make a counteroffer at any time — at the push of a button. In contrast, the costs of advertising portals lie largely with the seller himself. This includes advertising, answering questions from a variety of different interested parties via e-mail or telephone, physical negotiation on site and handover.
International reach of buyers
All three categories have an international reach of buyers. However, there is still a significant difference. While auctions and advertising portals often only offer the status description of the vehicles in one language (e.g. German), truckoo, as a transactional platform, translates every offer into at least 16 languages. The language barrier can therefore be overcome and international buyers who cannot speak German, for example, are not excluded from the negotiation.
Costs for sellers
Transactional platforms, such as truckoo, are the only category that offers sellers their infrastructure as a sales channel free of charge. Auctions usually charge an auction fee for participation, and advertising portals also charge just for posting vehicles. Depending on the number of vehicles to be sold, sellers should include costs in their decision-making process.
Secure processing and payment
Auctions and transactional platforms, such as truckoo, offer sellers a secure and guaranteed sales process when the offer is accepted. Most auctions offer processing and payment services. truckoo also guarantees the entire sales process and quick payment upon vehicle handover. If interested, sellers from truckoo can even order the vehicle deregistration service or upgrade the OBU. On advertising portals, buyers' offers are sometimes very non-binding. The supposedly secure offer of, for example, €30,000 net over the telephone is negotiated down again upon collection. As a seller, you also cannot be 100% sure that the vehicle will actually be bought and picked up in a contemporary setting. The risk lies with the seller.

Checklist for choosing the supplier when buying a truck:

From the perspective of a buyer who, at best, wants to buy inspected commercial vehicles, including a service package, without effort, auctions, advertising portals and transactional platforms also offer certain advantages and disadvantages, which are analysed in more detail on the basis of 3 criteria.

vehicle provider
While transactional platforms, such as truckoo, focus only on vehicles from companies, auctions and advertising portals offer both dealer and company vehicles. Mobile.de and Truckscout, for example, focus on vehicles that are currently owned by truck dealers.
Reliability and level of detail of displayed vehicle data
In auctions, the reliability of vehicle data is ensured by the auctions themselves or commissioned experts. However, the description of the condition is sometimes so general that buyers find it difficult to make purchase decisions based on the data provided. Auction platforms themselves often recommend an additional visit to the vehicles on site. Advertising portals leave the status description to the sellers themselves. Accordingly, the sellers themselves decide on the degree of truth and level of detail of the vehicle advertisements. Buyers are therefore always recommended to take on the time-consuming and costly physical inspection on site. Ensuring the correct status description is part of the business model of transactional platforms such as truckoo. All vehicles offered on truckoo go through a standardized inspection process, which is only carried out by truckoo partner workshops. Vehicle data, including the claim list, are presented 1:1 in the offer. Based on the data provided, buyers can make a purchase decision.
Easy to integrate into everyday life
As a buyer, the buying process via auctions and advertising portals is difficult to reconcile with the everyday life of an entrepreneur or retailer. Although the search for vehicles is carried out digitally, advertising portals such as mobile.de do not offer the truck-specific search function. An entrepreneur who is looking for a refrigerated box finds it difficult to limit the search to only relevant offers. The filter function, for example by case length 6 meters, is not possible. In addition, physical on-site inspection is always recommended for both auctions and advertising portals. In contrast, transactional platforms, such as truckoo, focus on making the purchase as easy as possible. From searching, bidding and negotiating with the seller to buying, everything takes place online via a platform that can of course also be reached via mobile phone. Automated notifications support the purchase process. Buyers can negotiate with sellers at any time while on the go. Bidding is always just a push of a button away. If the purchase is successful, buyers can even order additional logistics and document handling services.

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