With businesses looking for new ways to take control of their finances in 2023 and increase cash flow to maintain resilience, a recent study by online asset disposal specialist, BPI Auctions, has identified February as one of the top three months to sell assets online.
The team of experts developed a top-five ranking based on the number of monthly searches for relevant industry keywords, revealing the most popular months to sell business assets.
According to the BPI Auctions ranking, the optimum months to sell commercial and industrial assets based on monthly search volumes are¹:
| Ranking | Month of the Year | Monthly Search Volume |
| 1. | January | 85,590 |
| 2. | September | 81,720 |
| 3. | February | 74,280 |
| 4. | March | 72,720 |
| 5. | November | 72,035 |
The study revealed February as the third most optimum month of the year to sell business assets, with cars and commercial vehicles (67,960) the most desired. The second month of the year is often a time for rapid business growth, as companies initiate work towards their New Year goals set out in January.
January came out on top, with the highest monthly search volume (85,590), of which cars and commercial vehicles (79,240) were the most searched terms, and September came second with 81,720 searches across the focused industry keywords such as ‘truck auctions’, ‘machinery auction’, ‘engineering machinery for sale’. Similar to January, interest in cars and commercial vehicles was the highest (75,870) in September.
The top months for selling assets fall in line with businesses’ significant times of the year. January is a time to reflect on the past year and set new goals for the year ahead, meaning that many business owners will think of ways to free up cash flow to invest in other areas.
September falls in line with the new school year and is the start of the run-up to the busy festive period. With this in mind, many business owners will be looking to invest in their stock and recycle redundant assets.
The research revealed that the optimum selling times for each category of commercial business assets were:
- Cars and commercial vehicles: January
- Catering: January
- Plant and machinery: January
- Engineering: January, February, March, May, November and December
- Woodworking: February
- Construction: April
- Manufacturing: June, July and August
- Consumer: November
Overall, cars and commercial vehicles, with 757,760 searches in 2022, are the most desired business assets, followed by catering equipment (36,020 searches annually). On the other hand, the least desired equipment year-round is consumer goods, including collectables, general sports memorabilia and paintings.
Speaking on the study, Henry Spencer, Chief Operating Officer, commented, “At BPI Auctions, we have seen first-hand the positive impact that selling assets can have on businesses and how quickly we can help free up capital within a company.
“With many businesses feeling the effect of the cost-of-living prices, inflation and rising energy costs, we want to empower businesses to take back control of their funds in 2023, whether this is through streamlining costs, saving space or increasing the bottom-line profits through cash injections.
“It is important to understand that the market for certain goods is constantly changing; however, looking at monthly trends in online interest is an extremely helpful guide as to when to consider selling unwanted assets”
