Sell surplus equipment
Federal Equipment Company buys surplus process, packaging, and lab equipment, from one idle machine to a complete plant. When a site closes or consolidates, we review the equipment, recommend how to sell it, and handle the sale and removal, with no upfront cost to you.
Who we buy from
Most sales start with a list and a few photos. What happens next depends on how much equipment there is and how soon it has to go.
When a plant closes or a line moves to another site, the equipment has to be gone by a fixed date. We buy or sell the whole site, including production lines, utilities, lab instruments, and spare parts. Our team handles dismantling, crating, and removal, and we plan the sale around your closure schedule.
If production is moving to another plant, we can also source equipment for the new site.
Many sales are a single mixer, filler, or press that no longer fits the product line. Send us photos with the nameplate, and we will review the equipment and recommend how to sell it. For equipment we buy outright, we can pay cash or give you credit toward equipment in our inventory.
Send your listLarge manufacturers often have idle equipment spread across plants in several countries. Our Resource Recovery Program tracks those assets so one site can reuse what another no longer needs. Your sites get the first look at listed equipment, and it stays open to them after it is listed for outside sale, until it sells. Our longest program has run for more than 15 years.
About the Resource Recovery ProgramHow it works
Five steps, with the same point of contact from your first list to the final settlement statement.
Start with a list of the equipment and a photo of each machine, including the nameplate. An export from your asset register works, and so do photos taken on a phone. The nameplate shows the manufacturer, model, and serial number. The manufacturer and model drive most of the value.
We review your list and recommend how to sell it. For equipment we want to buy, we make an offer. If you need a formal value, our Certified Equipment Appraisers provide appraisals as a separate, paid service for owners, lenders, attorneys, and accountants.
We recommend a sale method based on the volume of equipment, its condition, and your timeline. The options are compared in the table below, and a closing site often uses more than one.
Our team handles dismantling, crating, loading, and freight, including compliance for international shipments. We pay removal costs upfront and deduct them from the sale proceeds, so there is no upfront cost to you. Pharmaceutical, biotech, and food equipment can also go through our three-step decontamination service.
After a consignment or auction sale, you receive an itemized settlement statement. Equipment with no resale value is recycled or disposed of through vetted downstream partners. Chain-of-custody reporting documents where it went, for your compliance and ESG records.
Ways to sell
The right method depends on how much equipment there is, what it is worth, and how soon it has to go. An outright purchase is the quickest and simplest. Consignment and auction sell to the end buyer, so they can return more for equipment in demand. An auction also closes on a set date, which suits a closure deadline.
| Method | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Outright purchase | We buy the equipment and pay you directly. | Single machines and small lots, or when speed matters most |
| Consignment | We market and sell the equipment, and you receive an agreed share of the proceeds after it sells. | Higher-value machines with steady demand |
| Online auction | We catalog, advertise, and sell the equipment in an online auction, on our own or with a partner auction firm, and invoicing and sales tax collection are handled for you. | Plant closures and large lots that need to clear by a set date |
| Liquidation | We give the equipment its own sale page and market it to buyers, who request details and make offers. | A site's equipment that sells better marketed as a group |
| Private treaty sale | We collect negotiated or sealed bids on a complete line or site within a set period, and you choose which bid to accept. | Complete process lines that are worth more intact |
| Trade credit | We apply the value of your equipment as credit toward a purchase from our inventory. | Replacing or upgrading equipment on the same line |
Auctions run through our auction division, The Proxio Group, and with partner auction firms.
What we buy
We buy process, packaging, and laboratory equipment from plants in the industries below. That includes complete production lines, plant utilities such as boilers and compressors, and QC and R&D lab instruments.
Equipment does not have to be running. Idle, out-of-service, and partly disassembled machines often still have value to a buyer who can refurbish them. Spare parts inventories can be sold through PharmParts, our parts division.
Describe the equipment using the form on this page, by email to sales@fedequip.com, or by calling 800-652-2466. For a longer list, Federal Equipment Company follows up after the form is submitted to collect the list and a photo of each machine and its nameplate. Federal Equipment Company reviews the list and recommends an outright purchase, consignment, auction, liquidation, or private treaty sale. For equipment it wants to buy, it can make a cash offer or give credit toward equipment in its inventory.
Yes. Federal Equipment Company buys and sells equipment from plant closures, line changes, and consolidations, including complete sites. Its team handles dismantling, crating, and removal, and it plans the sale around the closure date. When production moves to another plant, it can also source equipment for the new site.
There is no upfront cost. Federal Equipment Company pays removal costs upfront and deducts them, along with other selling expenses, from the sale proceeds. With an outright purchase, it pays the seller directly. With consignment or auction, it earns a percentage of the sale.
Equipment that can be seen running, with manuals, maintenance records, and a readable nameplate, usually sells for more. Consignment and auction can return more than an outright purchase for equipment in demand, while an outright purchase is faster. If a formal value is needed first, Federal Equipment Company's Certified Equipment Appraisers provide appraisals as a separate, paid service.
Yes. Federal Equipment Company can apply the value of surplus equipment as credit toward a machine from its inventory, which spans more than 275 categories.
Idle, out-of-service, and partly disassembled equipment often still has value, either to a buyer who can refurbish it or for its parts. Federal Equipment Company can assess it from photos. Equipment with no resale value is recycled or disposed of through vetted downstream partners, with chain-of-custody reporting.
Yes. Federal Equipment Company buys analytical, QC, and R&D laboratory equipment along with production equipment, and its Certified Equipment Appraisers appraise lab assets. It sells lab equipment through its inventory, its auctions, and a network of specialized buyers.
Yes. Federal Equipment Company buys and sells equipment internationally, with representatives in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Puerto Rico, Europe, India, and Southeast Asia. Its team handles crating and compliance for international shipments and supports sellers in eight languages.
Get started
Tell us what you have, where it is, and when it needs to go. If you have a longer list, we will contact you after you submit the form, and you can send the list and photos then.
Prefer to talk? Call 800-652-2466 (international +1 216-271-3500) or email sales@fedequip.com.
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