The location of your sale can have a significant impact on your net proceeds. Choose it carefully based on what you're trying to sell. While construction equipment, cars, trucks, snowmobiles and lawnmowers can be moved and sold just about anywhere, other items should be sold in place. Restaurant equipment, for example, can drop as much as 50% in value if moved.
As a general rule, it is best to hold your sale on your business premises. From a marketing perspective, most items look best in the surroundings where they are used. Some, such as you'd find in a machine shop or a sawmill, have special voltage requirements. Your business site is wired to accommodate them; most storage warehouses aren't. Keep in mind that prospective buyers are unlikely to buy equipment they can't test - unless they get a large discount; and that moving and storage costs will reduce your net recovery.
Sometimes, a poor landlord-tenant relationship can prevent a business owner from obtaining permission to hold an on-site sale. If you find yourself in this situation, don't give up. Your auctioneer or attorney may be able to obtain your landlord's cooperation.
Finally, in exceptional circumstances, the best place for your sale may be somewhere other than where your assets are located. This is particularly true when they are impractical or impossible to move, such as a cruise ship or a mountaintop resort, and interest in purchasing them extends to other areas of the country. In these cases, you may be able to recover more by selling them in absentia. For example, a fish cannery located on a small island in the Aleutians could be sold in Seattle utilizing a video presentation. Bids could be taken in person in Seattle, at the cannery, over the telephone and via the Internet.
