Troostwijk Auctions Guide 2026: Fees, Registration and Collection

Troostwijk Auctions sells industrial assets by timed online auction from Amsterdam. Salomon Izaak Troostwijk registered the business in 1930; it now trades as TBAuctions Netherlands B.V. and describes itself as Europe’s largest B2B auction house. More than a million lots pass through the platform each year.

Most of what a first-time buyer needs to know is not about finding lots — the catalogue is easy enough to browse — but about the three things that decide whether a purchase makes sense: what gets added to your bid, when the auction really closes, and how the item gets off the seller’s floor. This guide covers those, and cites the platform’s terms and conditions for the rules quoted.

Where the stock comes from

Lots come from insolvency estates, business closures and restructurings, fleet renewals, and companies clearing surplus equipment. In-house valuers appraise the assets and sector specialists run the sale on the seller’s behalf. Past mandates include asset sales for Fokker, Imtech and Heerema.

In practice that means metalworking and woodworking machinery — CNC machining centres, lathes, presses, welding sets, saws — from closed workshops; construction and earthmoving plant; agricultural and food-processing lines; ex-fleet cars, vans, trucks and trailers; office and IT equipment; catering kit and shop fittings; and a tail of property, solar installations, boats, medical devices and collectibles.

Offices operate in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, the UK and Ireland, Scandinavia and Spain. Poland, Czechia, Romania and the Balkans are handled by sister company Surplex. The full inventory breakdown is on our Troostwijk Auctions directory entry, and the wider field is in industrial machinery and bankruptcy and insolvency.

The hammer price is not the price

This is the single most common misreading of an industrial auction listing, and it is worth being precise about.

On top of the hammer price you pay a buyer’s premium and VAT. Both are percentages, and both are set by the country the lot physically sits in — not by where you are, and not uniformly across the platform. VAT is calculated on the hammer price, the premium and any fixed service fee taken together, so it compounds rather than applying to the bid alone. Dutch vehicles can additionally carry outstanding BPM, the Netherlands’ registration tax.

The confirmation screen shows the full total before you commit. Read that screen rather than assuming a figure from another auction house, because premium rates differ per sale and per country.

Two situations change the VAT position:

• EU business buyers. A business account whose EU VAT number has been validated before the purchase is invoiced without VAT, and no export paperwork is needed for movement inside the EU. Validate the number in advance — after the fact is too late.
• Buyers outside the EU. You pay the full VAT and reclaim it afterwards by returning a completed, signed EX-A export document together with the original invoice, within three months of the sale, for amounts from EUR 50 upwards.

Payment is made through the “my purchases” area, by iDEAL, Przelewy24, Bancontact or card.

Bidding, and what the soft close changes

A free Troostwijk account is all that is required — there is no trade credential to supply.

Lots close on a published clock rather than in a live saleroom. You can bid manually or set an autobid ceiling, and the system raises you by the minimum step until it reaches your limit. A mobile app covers closings when you are away from a desk.

The closing time is not fixed. Under article 5.9 of the terms, a bid placed in the final minutes before a lot closes extends that lot automatically, in blocks of minutes, past the advertised end time. The terms do not state the block length for Troostwijk itself; they do specify six minutes for the group’s Vavato platform (article 5.8). The applicable countdown is shown on the lot page — check it there rather than assuming.

The practical consequence is the same either way: a last-second bid does not win a lot quietly. It reopens the contest and notifies whoever you outbid. This kind of soft close rewards deciding your ceiling in advance and letting the autobid run, and it makes “come back at the end” a poor plan.

Bids are also final. Article 5.2 makes every bid unconditional, irrevocable and binding from the moment the platform’s server registers it. There is no cancellation.

Condition: sold with all defects

Article 8.4 states that everything is sold with all visible and invisible defects — as-is, where-is, with no platform warranty.

That places the whole burden of inspection on the viewing day, and it is worth taking seriously with insolvency stock in particular. Photographs from a closed factory rarely show running hours, wear, missing tooling or whether a machine starts at all. If a lot matters, attend the viewing and power the machine up.

Collection is a cost, not an afterthought

Most sales are pickup auctions with fixed collection days at the premises where the goods stand, usually without individual appointments. Miss the window and you have a problem, because the site itself is often being cleared.

Budget for dismantling, rigging and haulage before you bid. A press bolted to a factory floor becomes your responsibility at the fall of the hammer; getting it out may need a millwright, a crane, and a low-loader. Transport partners are listed on the platform, which helps, but the cost is yours.

Terms and lot descriptions vary by country and appear in Dutch, German, French, Italian, Polish, Romanian and English.

Before you bid

• Find the buyer’s premium and VAT rate for the specific sale, and read the total on the confirmation screen.
• If you are an EU business, validate your VAT number before purchasing, not after.
• Check the lot’s location and the collection dates, then get a haulage quote.
• Ask what dismantling the removal needs, and who is allowed to do it on site.
• Attend the viewing for anything mechanical or high-value.
• Set your autobid ceiling at the price that still works after premium, VAT and transport.

Where it fits

Troostwijk suits buyers who can handle collection logistics and who want depth in industrial machinery across several countries at once. For a single small item shipped abroad it is usually the wrong tool; for equipping a workshop from an insolvency sale it is among the strongest options in Europe.

Comparable platforms are listed under industrial machinery, and everything we track in the country is on the Netherlands page.

Terms cited from the Troostwijk Auctions terms and conditions, retrieved 31 August 2026. Premium rates, VAT treatment and closing rules change and vary per sale — confirm on the lot page before bidding.