Surplex

Surplex is an industrial auction house specialising in used production machinery, run by Surplex GmbH from Theodorstraße 105 in Düsseldorf and online since 1999. It belongs to the Dutch group TBAuctions, alongside Troostwijk, Klaravik and Vavato, and covers the markets those sister companies do not — its own offices sit in France, Spain, Serbia and Switzerland, with around 200 specialists across Europe and customers in 170 countries. Stock comes from factory relocations, production-line replacements, company closures and insolvencies, which is why a single sale can be the entire contents of one plant.

What you can buy

• Metalworking: CNC machining centres, lathes, milling, grinding, bending and folding machines, presses, punching and sawing machines, welding equipment, EDM and foundry plant.
• Woodworking: CNC centres, panel saws, planers and profiling machines, sanding and gluing lines, edge banders, extraction systems and complete production lines.
• Construction and earthmoving: earthmoving machines, drilling rigs, concrete and road-building plant, site containers, cranes and lifting platforms.
• Transport and warehouse: forklifts, handling systems, racking and logistics equipment.
• Process industries: plastics and rubber processing, packaging lines, offset and rotary presses, glass and yarn manufacturing, chemical, cosmetic and pharmaceutical plant.
• Laboratory and medical: laboratory instruments and medical equipment released by clinics and research sites.
• Agricultural, tools, retail and office: smaller lots that come with a clearance — hand and power tools, air treatment, archiving, shop and office fit-out.

How the bidding works

Sales are online auctions on surplex.com, with the interface available in English, German, French, Dutch, Polish, Italian, Romanian and Spanish, and a customer-service team the company says speaks more than 20 languages. Alongside the auctions Surplex runs Direct Sales, a fixed-price channel that few industrial auction houses offer, so the same site carries both bid-based and buy-now stock. Exchange rates shown on the platform are updated daily rather than in real time, and the site warns that additional bank charges may apply — relevant if you are settling across currencies.

What to check before you bid

The practical difference with Surplex is what happens after the hammer: it is the only European industrial auction house to organise dismantling, transport and customs clearance from a single source, and it will clear a complete factory hall on a deadline. That matters, because a machine tool bought at auction is worthless until it is safely off the seller's floor — and the removal window in an insolvency is rarely generous. Lots sit at the seller's premises, not at a Surplex depot, so read each lot's location, viewing date and removal deadline before bidding. Buyer premium and VAT handling are set per auction, so open the specific sale's terms; for cross-border purchases inside the EU, have your VAT number and export evidence ready. Valuations are offered separately under the group's Valuplex brand.