Auctim

Auctim is a Belgian online auction platform, operated by Auctim BV from Helststraat 47 in Aartselaar near Antwerp. The auctions on it are run by independent partner auction houses working as franchisees; the original one, Moyersoen NV, sits at the same address and has been selling by auction since 1980, and Auctim credits itself with more than 40 years of experience. Lots come from bankruptcy trustees, liquidators, leasing companies and financial institutions, plus companies clearing surplus stock or closing down. The auction house is an intermediary and never owns the lots, and the seller may sell anonymously; you collect either from the partner's own warehouse in Aartselaar or from the site where the goods stand, at present almost always in Belgium or the Netherlands. The site runs in fifteen languages, has apps for iPhone and Android, and claims more than 850,000 bidders, buyers in over 160 countries and a higher bid every 23 seconds.

What you can buy

• Cars and commercial vehicles: passenger cars such as a Mercedes-Benz CLA, vans, trucks, scooters and mopeds.
• Machinery, handling and agriculture: crawler excavators, road-construction plant, forklifts, metalworking and woodworking machines, drilling rigs, tractors and harvesters.
• Catering and food industry: stainless steel kitchens, bakery machines, refrigeration and bar furnishings from restaurant and distillery closures.
• Construction: scaffolding, work platforms, pallet racking, sanitary ware, radiators, timber, garden houses.
• Office, IT and consumer stock: office furniture, all-in-one PCs, refurbished iPhones and Google Pixels, design lighting, pallets of undelivered return parcels.
• Medical and aesthetic: treatment tables, defibrillators and extraction units from clinic and beauty salon liquidations.
• Antiques, art and jewellery: paintings, sculptures, historical interiors, numismatics, and a gemstones, jewellery and watches category.
• Property and whole businesses: houses, land and commercial buildings, store clearance sales on location, company takeovers with stock and assets.
• Further categories: ships and boats, aviation, textiles, pharma and chemistry, animals and pet supplies, though not all of them have lots running at any one time.

How the bidding works

A bidder account is free, and private buyers bid alongside companies. You pick a private or a professional profile; the professional one asks for a company number and an intra-Community VAT number, which is run through VIES before the invoice is issued. Each lot states its regime, B2B for traders only, B2B-C, C2B-C or judicial, and consumer rights exist only under B2B-C. Bidding is by rising bids, static or an auto bid with a hidden maximum, and any bid in the last ten minutes pushes that lot's close back by five. Some auctions require a refundable deposit, and an award can be provisional, subject to seller approval. Payment is due in full within 48 hours by transfer, Bancontact or iDEAL; you then get an invoice and a collection note, and nothing is released without it.

What to check before you bid

Bids exclude buyer's premium and VAT, and the premium percentage is set per sale and published with the lot, so read it before setting a limit. Private buyers and Belgian companies pay VAT, EU companies with a VIES-approved number do not, and companies outside the EU lodge a guarantee equal to the VAT, refunded only once export documents arrive within ten days of release. Goods are sold as they stand and professional buyers accept visible and hidden defects; only a consumer buying under B2B-C keeps the statutory guarantee. A viewing day is organised for each auction, and if you skip it the photo report is your only record of visible damage. Vehicle paperwork varies, from a registration certificate or certificate of conformity down to a certificate of loss. You collect at your own cost and risk on the stated day, late pickup brings storage charges, and transport partners are listed but booked separately.

Selling and the partner network

Businesses use the same auctions to clear depreciated or surplus machinery, vehicles and stock, and private sellers are taken on as well; Auctim handles the inventory, photography, promotion and settlement, and puts the proceeds in the seller's account within four to six weeks. Since 2020 the platform has also been opened to auction houses elsewhere in Europe, which join as licensed partners: alongside Moyersoen in Aartselaar, the contact page lists two partners in the Netherlands and one in North Macedonia.