How to Buy at an Equipment Auction: A Step-by-Step Guide for First-Timers

Your first equipment auction can feel like it is run in a language everyone else already speaks. Bidder numbers, increments, absentee bids, soft closes, “subject to” lots. None of it is complicated, but missing one detail can cost you the machine you came for, or leave you owning one you did not mean to buy.

This guide walks through how to buy at an equipment auction, step by step, from picking a sale to driving the machine home. It uses the terms Pennsylvania auctioneers actually publish, so you know what will be asked of you before sale day. If you want the background first (who runs auctions in the state, the formats, and what you pay on top of the hammer price), start with our guide to equipment auctions in PA. This one is the how-to.

How do equipment auctions work, in seven steps?

Every sale has its own rules, but the sequence a buyer goes through is the same almost everywhere:

1. Pick the sale and read its terms.
2. Register and get approved to bid.
3. Inspect the machine and set an all-in maximum.
4. Choose how you will bid: on site, online, timed, absentee or by phone.
5. Show up ready on sale day.
6. Bid to your number and stop there.
7. Pay, collect the paperwork and remove the machine before the deadlines.

Step 1: pick the sale and read its terms

Find a sale with the kind of machine you need and open its terms before you look at a single lot. The same auctioneer can change the rules from one event to the next, so read the terms for this sale, not the last one.

Find these six things and write them down:

• Buyer’s premium and online fee: what gets added to your winning bid. Our buyer’s premium guide lists real rates from PA auctioneers.
• Deposit or card hold: what you have to put up before they will approve you.
• Payment deadline and methods: when the money is due and which forms they accept.
• Removal deadline: when the machine has to leave the yard, and what storage costs after that.
• Reserve or absolute: whether every lot sells to the high bidder, or some need the seller’s approval.
• Bidding options: on site, online, absentee, phone.

These are the next sales on the calendar, each with a link to its catalog:

Step 2: register before sale day

You cannot bid without a bidder number. On site, that usually means stopping at the office with a photo ID to get a bidder card. Online, you open an account on the auctioneer’s platform and wait for approval, which may not be instant. Register a few days early.

Expect to put money up front, especially online:

• Shetron Auction & Equipment asks online bidders for a $1,500 deposit, applied to what you buy or refunded if you buy nothing.
• Hess Auctioneers requires a $2,500 credit card authorization for online bidding.

If you have a sales tax exemption, for example for equipment used in farming, have the form ready when you register. Pennsylvania sales tax goes on the invoice unless you hand the auctioneer a valid exemption certificate, such as the Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate (REV-1220). It is easier to sort out before the invoice is printed than after.

Step 3: inspect, then set an all-in number

Go to the preview if there is one. Start the engine, run the hydraulics, and look at the undercarriage, pins and bushings. Our auction guide has the full preview checklist. If you cannot get there, ask for a cold-start video.

Then set a maximum bid for each lot you care about, with every fee counted in. Check the machine against current dealer prices so you know the point where the auction stops being a deal. That point is lower than most first-timers think.

The way you bid changes the number. Say a skid steer is worth $30,000 to you at the hammer if you bid in person. Bid online at McGrew instead and a 3% online fee goes on top, which is $900 on that price. Your online ceiling for the same machine is about $29,100.

Write your numbers down, one per lot, and keep the list in your pocket or next to your screen. In the middle of a fast lot you will not remember them clearly.

Step 4: choose how you will bid

On site

You raise your bidder card or catch the eye of a ring man (a bid spotter), who shouts your bid to the auctioneer. On site you see the machine, the other bidders and the pace of the lot, and you pay no online fee. If you have never bought at auction before, we think a live sale in person is the best place to learn.

Online during a live sale

You bid in real time through the auctioneer’s own platform or a site such as EquipmentFacts or Proxibid, while the sale runs on the ground. Expect an online fee on top of the premium: McGrew adds 3%, and Hess adds 1% on HessBid or 2% on EquipmentFacts and Proxibid. Use the auctioneer’s own platform when you have the choice and the fee is lower.

Example:

❌ Wrong: “I’ll wait until the auctioneer says ‘going once’ and then click.”

✅ Right: “I’ll bid early in the lot. My bid can reach the ring a beat late, and the auctioneer will not wait for my connection.”

Timed online

There is no auctioneer calling. Each lot opens days ahead and closes at a set time. You can usually enter a maximum and let the system bid for you, one increment at a time, up to that amount. Many timed sales use a soft close: a bid in the final minutes extends the clock, so the old trick of sniping in the last second rarely works. Put in your real maximum and walk away.

Absentee

You leave a maximum bid with the auctioneer before the sale, and their staff bids for you on the day. Hess, for example, charges a 2% fee on absentee bids, with a $1,000 minimum bid. It suits buyers who cannot be there and do not want to watch a screen all morning.

By phone

Some auctioneers take phone bids: a staff member stays on the line with you and bids on your instruction as the lot sells. Kurtz Trading, for one, accepts onsite, online and phone bidding at its auctions. Set it up with the office before sale day.

Step 5: what to expect on sale day

Get there early, with time to check in, pick up your bidder card and walk the rows to find your lots. Big consignment sales move through the yard lot by lot, and some run more than one ring at once; Hess, for one, sells in several rings at the same time. Find out which ring your machine is in and roughly when it sells.

Bring:

• Photo ID and your bidder number, or your login if you also plan to watch online.
• Your list of lot numbers with a maximum next to each one.
• Your exemption form, if you have one and did not file it at registration.
• A phone number for your hauler.

Once the lot opens, listen for two numbers. The auctioneer’s chant mixes the bid already in hand with the next amount being asked for, and first-timers often confuse the two. If you lose track, ask the ring man. That is part of the job.

Every bid you make is a binding offer under your number. A nod or a raised card counts, so keep your card down while you are only watching.

Step 6: bid to your number, then stop

• Let the lot settle: the opening ask is often dropped until someone bites. Wait for that first real bid before you come in.
• Bid clearly: a half-raised card can be missed. Make eye contact with the ring man and hold your card up until he calls your bid.
• Know when to stop: when the ask passes your written number, put the card down. Another machine will come up at the next sale.
• Read “subject to” lots: if the lot needs the seller’s approval, your high bid may not become a sale. Ask the clerk when you will hear back.

The buyers who do well at auction are not the ones who bid hardest. They are the ones who are fine going home with nothing.

Step 7: pay, collect the paperwork and pick up

Winning starts a short clock. Here is how two Pennsylvania auctioneers set it, from their published terms as of November 2026 (McGrew, Hess):

	McGrew Auction Company	Hess Auctioneers
Payment due	Within 3 business days	The first Tuesday after the sale
How to pay	Cash, wire or certified funds	Cash, wire, ACH, cashier’s or company check; cards up to $5,000 plus a 3% fee
Late payment	18% a year after 3 business days	1% of the balance per day after a week
Removal	Within 14 days; storage of $20 per item per day after 30 days	By the second Friday after the sale; $50 a day after that

Cards are capped or not taken at all, so a $40,000 machine usually means a wire or certified funds. If you have never sent a wire from your business account, call your bank before the sale. And late fees add up: at Hess, 1% a day on a $40,000 balance is $400 for every day you are late.

Sales tax goes on the invoice unless your exemption form is on file. Titled units such as trucks and trailers come with title paperwork, which can take a while: Hess says titles go out within 10 business days but can take 30 or more. Keep the invoice and bill of sale; you will need them for insurance and when you sell.

Can you back out of a winning bid?

As a rule, no. When the auctioneer says “sold” to your number, you have agreed to buy at that price under the terms of sale. Not paying does not cancel the deal. It adds late fees under the terms, and it will not make you welcome at that auctioneer’s next sale.

The exception is a genuine mistake, such as the clerk recording the wrong bidder number or the wrong lot. If that happens, go to the clerk or the office right away, on sale day, while the people who saw it are still there. A week later is much harder.

Your first-auction checklist

• ☐ Read the terms of this specific sale.
• ☐ Register a few days early, with the deposit or card hold ready.
• ☐ File your exemption form if you have one.
• ☐ Inspect, or get a cold-start video.
• ☐ Write an all-in maximum for each lot, adjusted for how you will bid.
• ☐ Set up the wire or certified funds with your bank.
• ☐ Book transport, and know the payment and removal deadlines.

Common first-auction mistakes

1. Registering the morning of the sale

Online approval can take time, and the deposit has to clear. You may miss the lot you came for.

2. Bidding on the wrong lot number

Catalogs change, and lots get added or pulled. Check the lot number on the machine itself against your list before it sells.

3. Forgetting the online fee

A 3% online fee on a $40,000 excavator is $1,200 (our guide to used excavator prices shows what dealers ask for each size). If your maximum was set for bidding in person, lower it before you bid from your phone.

4. Treating the catalog as a guarantee

Hours, descriptions and photos come from the consignor, and most machines sell as-is. If something in the listing matters to your decision, check it yourself or ask before the lot sells.

How to buy at an equipment auction without overpaying

Most of how to buy at an equipment auction comes down to work you do before the lot opens. Read the terms of the sale in front of you, because deposits, fees and deadlines change from one auctioneer to the next. Write your maximum down, adjusted for the way you will bid. Have the money and the truck lined up before you raise your card. Then let the machines that go past your number go.

Auctions can be a good place to buy used equipment, and they are not the only one. If you would rather inspect at your own pace and know the price up front, buying from a dealer is the other route, with no buyer’s premium.