UK trade marketplace
Ex-hire equipment for sale
Ex-hire stock is the most consistently underrated equipment in the UK market. It comes off a fleet because the rental spec moved on, not because anything failed — and it has usually been maintained to a schedule, because downtime costs a hire company money.
Why ex-hire is usually the better buy
A hire company's stock earns its keep by working. That produces two things a private sale rarely does: a maintenance routine, and somebody who can tell you what the equipment actually did. Both raise what it is worth and both reduce what you are risking.
It also comes off in matched batches. Eight identical fixtures, forty identical desks or a complete audio system are worth more together than separately, and are far easier to run as a fleet afterwards.
What to ask that you would not ask a private seller
Hours and duty type. Dry hire, touring and fixed install wear equipment very differently, and a hire company knows which it was.
Service interval and what was replaced. On anything with a lamp, a battery, a filter or a driver, the replacement history matters more than the age.
Why it is leaving the fleet. The honest answer is usually a spec change or a standardisation, and a seller who gives you that answer plainly is telling you something useful about the rest of the listing.
Where ex-hire stock turns up
Most commonly in AV, events and production, where rental specs move fastest. Also in access and plant, where fleets are refreshed on a cycle, and in catering and furniture after contract hire ends.
Browse by equipment
- Used pallet racking
- Used forklift trucks
- Used exhibition stands and display systems
- Used and ex-hire stage lighting
- Used CNC machines
- Used commercial ovens
- Used office desks
- Used scaffolding and access equipment
- Used mezzanine floors
- Used PA systems and speakers
- Used LED screens and video walls
- Used industrial air compressors
- Used commercial refrigeration
- Used office chairs and task seating
- Used shop shelving and gondolas
- Used commercial vans
- Used access platforms and scissor lifts
- Used servers and rack hardware