Kicked off in March 2003 under ADI, FleetTrade.com now stands on its own to connect equipment buyers to sellers in an easy-to-navigate online auction site. The Web site offers rental companies an alternative to other auctions because sellers can list equipment and determine exactly how much they want to sell it for, according to Sean McKenna, sales manager for ADI. And with more than 5,000 registered users, sellers have a targeted audience that will see their equipment and who receive e-mailed equipment updates.
“It's very similar to eBay in that you have the option to put a limit on the price and there's a ‘Buy it Now’ option as well,” McKenna says. “We have sold more equipment through FleetTrade since it's been up than through eBay.”
Registration is required to bid on or sell equipment, and users must register to gain full access to the site. Once signed up, a user can view photos and information on equipment up for auction.
The site is easy to navigate. The homepage brings up a gallery of featured items so the user can see at a glance 15 photos of equipment and their current prices, as well as how much time remains for bidding. A list of featured items appears on the homepage as well. Clicking on either the photos or the listed items brings up that item's information — photos, the item description and pricing information. A user can click on several icons to e-mail questions to the seller, e-mail the item to a friend, bid, or put the item on their personal watch list.
The homepage also includes a list of categories in the left-hand column. The number of items available in that category is in parentheses next to each listing. This prevents a user from wasting time clicking on an empty category and going to a page that contains no listings.
Clicking on Browse takes the user to a list of Featured Items and Gallery items, along with a comprehensive list of the category breakdowns. Categories are in bold, with a list of subcategories under each. The parentheses appear here too, which lets the user know at a glance the categories that currently feature items. If the user is only looking for a particular item, he can see immediately if any are available.
The search feature is very convenient for the person who needs to look for a particular item. Rather than browsing, the user can plug in “skid steer” for example, to bring up a list of available skid-steer loaders. The user can then sort them by skid steers that are currently up, new today, auctions that are ending today, etc. This search also allows the user to search by the user who posted the item, item number or title and description.
Once an item is found that the user wants to bid on, he or she can either click on the bid icon or scroll to the bottom of the page. Here the current price is indicated, as well as the bid increment and the minimum bid that can be made. When bidding on FleetTrade.com it helps to know a few key terms. A proxy bid is the maximum amount a user would be willing to pay for an item. As other users bid on an item, the auction will automatically bid for the bidder all the way up to the amount of the proxy bid. A seller may wish to put a reserve price on an item. This means the item will not sell until the current price equals or exceeds the reserve price amount.
When selling an item, the seller can choose different options to increase visibility on the Web site. A homepage-featured item is the highest visibility option. These items are pooled with other home-featured items and are selected randomly to be shown on the main page. A category features option moves items to the top of the list when a potential buyer is viewing items of the same category or search results. Items in the Gallery use the picture to entice potential buyers. The picture of the item is shown first, and the user can click on the picture for more information. A seller can also choose to highlight and bold his or her listing to draw more attention to an item. There is no fee to list equipment and the only charge is a 3.9-percent commission rate to the auction.
Feedback from other users about sellers is an important tool for potential buyers to use. Each seller is given a feedback rating based on the amount of positive and negative feedback received from other users. Sellers receive one point for positive feedback, lose one point for negative feedback and no points for neutral feedback. Potential buyers should check the feedback rating to see if a seller has a good reputation.
“[Site] feedback has been overwhelmingly good,” McKenna says. “We've always worked very hard to make sure customers are happy. We constantly follow up with registered users and people that buy and sell after a transaction takes place to make sure they're satisfied.”
To further help users the “My Auction” tab allows him to organize items of interest, or items he's bid on. It's a helpful tool to help manage an account.
“We've been in business a long time and we've got a lot of expertise,” McKenna says. “We're able to lend a helping hand and consult on the best way to buy and sell equipment. We understand their needs and what they're trying to accomplish.”
