Amid the economy downturn, business owners in the US and European countries are selling redundant equipment and machinery to unlock capital.

Kitmondo.com, an online marketplace for used machinery, has experienced a 39% increase in volume, which is a record for the marketplace.

According to Richard Barker, CEO of Kitmondo.com, the activity has been significantly higher since the banking crisis began to unfold in August.

"More companies are liquidating surplus assets and, with output down, manufacturing and production assets are often the first to go. It's easier to rationalize a row of machines than a row of employees," he said.

The company's equipment listings have increased by 39% in the last 60 days, with more than 88,000 pieces of equipment now available for sale. Barker pointed out that most of the equipment recently submitted has been from small and medium sized companies who appear to be the hardest hit.

He also explained that the used machinery market is a useful bell-weather for the health of the manufacturing sector. Growth in the market
reflects an increase in asset disposals - a frequent symptom of business failure - and can act as an early warning signal in certain sectors.

It remains to be seen if buyers will have appetite for the increased volume of used equipment, but Barker is hopeful "As well as domestic buyers looking to reduce capital equipment costs, the demand for machinery from developing countries continues to be strong. China and India in
particular acquire large amounts of used manufacturing assets and in the Middle East demand for construction equipment is as high as ever".

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