Kiertonet

Kiertonet is an online auction site operated by Kiertoa Oy, a company based at Seuralantie 5 in Seinajoki, Finland, that sells surplus assets on behalf of Finnish public bodies. Sellers are municipalities, wellbeing services counties and their hospitals, schools, universities and vocational colleges, rescue services, state agencies such as the Finnish Heritage Agency and Puolustuskiinteistot, and parishes; the operator states that over 817 seller organisations and more than 170,000 completed auctions have gone through the service. Companies sell on a separate site, Huutomylly.fi. There is no central saleroom - every lot stays where the selling authority keeps it, and the listing names the town it must be collected from.

What you can buy

• Passenger cars and vans: retired fleet vehicles such as a 2018 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter ex-ambulance, a 2002 VW Transporter 4x4 and Hyundai i30 and i40 diesels, plus cars flagged as repair or spare-parts projects.
• Trailers and other vehicles: light and older goods trailers, with sections for ATVs, snowmobiles, mopeds, motorcycles, boats, engines and tyres and spare parts.
• Work machines and tools: heavy equipment, tractors and trucks, municipal plant, workshop machinery and hand tools.
• Institutional furniture: desks, cabinets and chairs cleared from hospital wards, clinics and offices, often in bulk lots standing at 0-20 EUR.
• Kitchen and catering equipment: canteen fittings, dish tables, glassware and porcelain from institutional kitchens.
• Electronics, building materials, garden gear and a hobbies and leisure section.
• Property: a real estate and apartments category for municipal building plots and apartment shares, typically opening in the tens of thousands of euros.

How the bidding works

Private individuals, companies and public bodies may all buy. Registering is free, but the account wizard runs through four stages: account details, profile, a phone number confirmed by SMS code after an emailed activation link, and strong electronic identification with your own Finnish online banking credentials. Lots run as timed auctions and each bid must be at least the stated minimum increment; a bid in the last three minutes pushes the closing time three minutes further. The top bid does not win automatically - the seller has two business days to accept or reject it, though it is bound once the bid reaches the seller's target price, and such lots are flagged under "Varmat kaupat". Once accepted, you pay within two business days by online bank payment or by invoice, which adds a 5.90 EUR payment-method surcharge and takes two to three business days to clear. Collection is arranged directly with the seller's contact person after payment clears, inside the window stated in the listing.

What to check before you bid

The identification step is the real gate for foreign buyers: the buyer guide requires your own bank credentials, and the terms otherwise allow mobile or equivalent strong identification. The interface is in Finnish only, and listings are written by the selling authority, though Kiertonet will draft the advert free of charge from photos the seller sends. VAT is not uniform - the terms require every listing to state separately whether VAT is included or added, so read the lot text rather than assuming. Goods sell as-is with no exchange right, and inspection is possible only at the times and places the seller states in the listing. There is no buyer commission, though a paid Kiertonet Premium add-on sells auto-bidding and alerts, and pickup and transport are entirely at your cost, with lots scattered from Helsinki to Lapland. Failing to pay can cost up to 4 percent of the price, at least 50 EUR plus VAT, and your account stays suspended until the price is paid. Consumers keep a 14-day withdrawal right under Finnish law, with return costs at the buyer's expense.