By Jeff Mann Sell Your Ramp 0 Comments

Yard Ramp Exit Strategy

Going Full Circle

When It's Time to Sunset Your Ramp

In our corner of the universe, we've long said that the two best days of an owner’s life are the day they bought the business and the day they sold it.

That's commonly known as exit strategy.

True to form, many companies focus on helping you with exit strategy. That is: they're in business to help put you out of business.

One such company, NAVIX, tells us there are only four exit strategies:

  1. Pass to Family
  2. Sell to Outside Third Parties
  3. Sell to Inside Key Employees
  4. Planned Liquidation

Back to our corner of the universe. If you are wanting to sell not the business itself but an asset ⏤ hello, yard ramp ⏤ and you can sell it to your sister or nephew (Strategy #1) or your bookkeeper (Strategy #4), let's hope they have really big back yards.

Companies sell off their yard ramps for a number of reasons. Let's say they've repurposed their focus and no longer need an inclined plane to load and off-load inventory. Or They're relocating to a facility that doesn't require a yard ramp. Or a yard ramp already exists on site the new facility. Or they have a two-year lease on a new property.

Whatever the reason, we're here to help with that exit strategy.

From the very first contact, we're looking to help customers make the easiest decisions. (For example: Though we don't finance, if people can't or don't want to lay out the money for a purchase, we do direct them to finance companies.) When you're done, you have us to turn to in order to liquidate that purchase.

And right from the start, we let our prospects know about our buy-back program. That is, we walk you through the the cost of purchasing a ramp and the value by which you’ll mitigate that cost when The Yard Ramp Guy helps you convert that steel back into cash.

Already have a yard ramp? With our brokerage services:

  • We share with you the market value, based on our appraisal and the geographical location of your ramp.
  • We make a recommendation for what we believe the asking price should be for your ramp, and together we agree upon the asking price.
  • We’ll discuss and agree upon sales negotiating strategy. And we will split the final sale price – 70% for you, 30% for The Yard Ramp Guy. That is not a typo.

We post and market the ramp through our website listings, we handle the transaction, and we coordinate any turnkey services the new buyer might need.

It's much easier than you posting it on eBay or craigslist.

Or trying to convince your sister, nephew, or bookkeeper how great that ramp would look in their yard.

This week, our man McCoy Fields goes diving in the ocean...to go mountain climbing.

Click HERE to see how he does it without ever leaving his BarcaLounger.

By Jeff Mann Sell Your Ramp 0 Comments

The Magnificent Magnesium Ramp

Coleman PowerSports: In Action, At Auction

Uplifting News

In addition to rental and sale of new and used yard ramps, The Yard Ramp Guy's successful brokerage service provides your business with a streamlined way to sell your old ramp. By listing and promoting your ramp on our site and via our sales team, we take the hassle out of the process for you. And we offer you sweetened terms ⏤ 70% for you, 30% for us (not a typo) ⏤ that are otherwise unheard of in the industry.

We've been offering this service for many years and, while we're always up for new things, we thought maybe we'd seen it all...until Kim Harrison contacted us.

Kim is the general manager of Coleman PowerSports in Falls Church, VA. The company, now with two locations, is one of the preeminent sellers of motorcycles, ATVs, side-by-sides, and snowmobiles. Coleman PowerSports is consistently at or near the top rankings in its categories (i.e., motorcycle riding schools, Ducati dealerships).

Coleman PowerSports: Ramping Up

Kim's father, Bill, started the business in 1963 as a BSA dealership, then added Honda and Yamaha and soon evolved into a power sports operation: jet skis, personal watercraft, lawn mowers, scooters. ("Lawn mowing" is not an official sport yet ⏤ we asked ⏤ but the machinery can be very powerful.)

Soon enough, as business grew, Bill ramped up his operation by purchasing a ramp to ease movement of new motorcycles, which were delivered in crates, out of the truck and into the showroom. It doubled during auctions, providing an easy way to bring bikes up to the auctioneer. In time, Coleman PowerSports "retired" the ramp from that work and repurposed it as a pedestrian ramp against the loading dock.

When Kim contacted Yard Ramp Guy president Jeff Mann about brokering the sale, he was struck by three things.

"My first thought," he said, "was nobody makes specs like that." The industry standard today is 20,000-lb capacity, 84" width, and 36' length. Kim's ramp: 11,000-lb capacity, 60" width, 30' length.

Second: the frame was constructed of magnesium. Though not a rare metal (it's third-most plentiful structural metal on Earth), Jeff couldn't recall ever seeing magnesium used in a yard ramp manufacturing. (Magnesium as a metal is good for use in locations near salt water, and part of its processing actually involves seawater.)

Click thumbnails to enlarge these gems.

Third, and most surprising, and most pleasing: this yard ramp has had ONE owner for all of its 51 years in operation.

For perspective...in late spring of 1971, FedEx was founded, the New York Times began publishing the Pentagon Papers, "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" with Gene Wilder was released, and Bill Coleman purchased a magnesium forklift ramp.

Yes, it gets better. As Kim remembers, "Charlie was the forklift operator. He was one of my dad's first employees, and he stayed with us from the 60s to the 2000s."

George Brett played third base for the Kansas City Royals for his entire 21-year career. The Wayside Inn, Sudbury, MA, has the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the United States (336 years). Somewhere, there's a 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air, in perfect condition, with 4,000 miles on it, driven by a sweet little old lady, only to and from church on Sundays.

The Coleman family kept the same forklift ramp in its business for half a century. It remains in our categorized "Very Good" condition. Hydraulics work. And it's for sale (see the listing HERE).

We just love a ramp with a story. We're honored that Kim Coleman chose us to broker the sale. And we're grateful to Bill Coleman for saving these remarkable documents.

Speaking of magnesium, this week our man McCoy Fields gives a timely shout-out to the man who discovered magnesium. And that, of course, happens as he describes how coffee helped improve our world.

Click HERE to get intellectually caffeinated.

By Jeff Mann Sell Your Ramp • Used Yard Ramps 0 Comments

Yard Ramps for Sale on Craigslist

You can get lucky but few listings limit its marketplace usefulness  

Finding Peace in Heavy Equipment

Craigslist’s wide popularity makes it an efficient channel for buying and selling items locally. Certainly, over the past 20 years, it has largely replaced newspaper classified ads as the go-to place for sellers of all types of items and buyers looking for inexpensive used items. What can be better? You post an item, free of charge, and wait for email responses from interested buyers who come to pick it up from you with cash in hand!

When it comes to Craigslist, one usually thinks of an online marketplace for old toys, bicycles, and cheap second-hand furniture. That said, the site’s “Heavy Equipment” category does accommodate forklift ramp sellers.

Selling anything on Craigslist is quick and easy. After setting up an account, you create your listing, providing a description, price, and uploaded photos. Craigslist’s focus is local, so your listing will only appear to users in your defined location. After all, being able to transact purchases in person is a big part of Craigslist’s appeal, while not having to worry about shipping and getting paid. Each listing that you post can appear from 7 to 45 days, depending on the city and category. Resellers, on the other hand, can post ads and pay $5 per listing to appear in non-local results for 30 days.

How effective is Craigslist for buying and selling portable loading dock ramps? We think it’s a mixed bag. Why? The lion’s share of searches made by shoppers of used yard ramps are made on Google. That’s where buyers find the most results of resellers (like The Yard Ramp Guy) and manufacturers with used yard ramp listings. In addition, that’s where most sellers put their ad dollars to work, so search engines are where you see the highest concentration of listings.

Know that Craigslist’s Heavy Equipment category has sparse postings for yard ramps, which might be your greatest opportunity: Say a buyer wants to find and inspect a ramp locally. The minimal effort involved in using Google for a search like “craigslist used yard ramps in Miami” makes it very worthwhile to give it a try. (Local searches are extremely popular.)

The same goes for sellers. It’s cheap (remember, free if not a reseller) and postings can be created in a matter of minutes. The ease of posting makes this entirely worth trying.

Buyer & Seller Tips:

  • Craigslist is rife with scams. Use common sense when examining replies. Ignore, for example, replies written in broken English wanting to buy without ever looking at it and asking questions about how to pay you (their goal is to hack into your back account!). Click HERE for more information on spotting Craigslist scams.
  • Include detailed information about what you’re selling in your posting. High quality photos are essential.
  • Your posting is limited to your city and state. If you want to expand to surrounding states and cities, you’ll need to create separate posts for each city/state region.

Of course, we believe that The Yard Ramp Guy’s brokerage service is the right choice for selling your ramp quickly and efficiently. Over the past 10 years, we’ve become the go-to place for buyers and sellers interested in one thing: yard ramps.

By Jeff Mann Sell Your Ramp 0 Comments

The Yard Ramp Guy Cash-Back Program

Selling Your Yard Ramp

liquidating inventory with The Yard Ramp Guy
Liquidating...The Right Way

Companies move to different locations frequently. Their operations may require a different yard ramp configuration. Or no yard ramp at all.

When those situations arise, consider our Yard Ramp Cash-Back Program as one of your options for liquidating your ramp and converting the steel into cash.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Provide The Yard Ramp Guy will all the details of the ramp, as you know them, along with a full set of photos showing the good, the bad, and the ugly.
  2. The Yard Ramp Guy will share with you the market factors leading to our recommended asking price. We then, as partners, agree upon our asking price and overall pricing strategy.
  3. The Yard Ramp Guy posts the ramp for sale on our Buy Used listings – at no cost to you – and handles all inquiries, quotations, negotiations, transaction exchanges, and pickup details.
  4. Upon receipt of payment from the buyer, we will direct-deposit your 70% share of the sale immediately upon receipt of Buyer’s payment. Only then do you release the ramp for pickup. And YES! That’s right: 70% for you, 30% for us (similar to an estate sale).

Together we enjoy working together the way our parents’ and grandparents’ generations conducted business in their day – on a HANDSHAKE! We only ask that you tell us the ramp is no longer available if you happen to sell it yourself to someone we did not pursue or send your way to see the ramp.

For more details, please contact Jeff Mann at 888.977.4224 ext 2.

By Jeff Mann Sell Your Ramp 0 Comments

Selling Your Yard Ramp

Questions & Answers for the Seller's Market

Side View: Loaded Left
The Yard Ramp Guy: Partnership

From the beginning, we decided to partner with Sellers of their used yard ramps rather than haggle with them. It changed the dynamic completely.

This is our approach to partnering: We split the final sale price – 70% for you, 30% for The Yard Ramp Guy. (That is not a typo.)

The Yard Ramp Guy team loves questions—whether you ask them or we ask them. This week, we highlight a selection of questions and answers about selling your yard ramp:

How do I sell a yard ramp?

Our Sell Your Ramp Form displays all the information we’ll need you to share with us. We do require a set of digital photographs so we may make an appraisal. We will generally respond within 24 hours. We will call you promptly if more information or clarification is required.

When we call, we’ll discuss the three ways in which we might choose to work together:

  1. The Yard Ramp Guy as your "Ramp Buyer";

  2. The Yard Ramp Guy as your "Ramp Broker"; or

  3. Posting your ramp to The Yard Ramp Guy's website as a "For-Sale-by-Owner" ramp.

How do you determine the value of my yard ramp?

The specifications, condition, and age of the ramp—along with the demand for such a ramp—are the criteria we use to determine the market value of your ramp.

Can I post my ramp on your site to sell it myself?

Yes! Our "For-Sale-by-Owner" option showcases your listing, which will appear in the same format as every other ramp you see on The Yard Ramp Guy's website. We charge a one-time fee of 7% of the Asking Price you have determined for the ramp. We’ll include your contact name and phone number (or email) in your listing. This approach gives your yard ramp a broad regional and national exposure, as opposed to more limited promotion that sites like CraigsList provide.

Here’s how the "For-Sale-by Owner" arrangement works:

  1. You determine the Asking Price.

  2. The Yard Ramp Guy invoices you for 7% of the Asking Price as a Posting Fee.

  3. Our Posting Fee Terms: Payment in full is due to The Yard Ramp Guy prior to ramp posting on websites.

  4. Your contact information will be included within the posting.

  5. You field all inquiries, issue all quotes, and handle transaction details.

  6. The Yard Ramp Guy will leave the posting active until you notify us to convert it to "Sold" status.

  7. Upon notification of sale, The Yard Ramp Guy reserves the right to continue the posting so long as all references to you, including name, phone number, and email are removed. Unit will be marked as "Sold."

Not one time has a seller suggested our offer is anything but fair and attractive.

Our competitors say we are nuts for leaving as much cash on the table, as we know we do. But we know what our numbers show. A used ramp is a single commodity item. We can work hard for our 30% and enjoy the profit from our effort...or we can lose out on more opportunities than we could ever count. We'll leave that way of doing business to our competitors.

___________

Quotable

Dear McCoy Fields — Really:

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm. As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.Audrey Hepburn