GAYLORD — Miedema’s Repocast, which provides online auctions for vehicles, boats and other assets, has entered the Gaylord market.
Repocast.com started in 2000 as the sales and recovery division for Miedema Asset Management Group based in Byron Center near Grand Rapids. The company recently purchased Alpine Auto Auction at 5216 N. Old 27 Highway.
“We sell a wide variety of assets and we do a lot of repossessions for banks and credit unions,” said Rob Post, vice president of operations for Repocast.com. “The facility in Gaylord will be mainly focused on larger items including cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, etc. We will also do a specialty auction once a month for construction equipment, semi trucks and trailers, recreational vehicles and restaurant equipment.”
The Gaylord facility will conduct an auction every Thursday, said Post. The auctions are open to the public, including dealers and individuals or “basically anyone who is interested in buying or selling,” he added.
Post said auctions provide some advantages over selling an item through Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.
“People like the idea of bringing an item to an auction because it is a one-stop process,” he said. “We take care of the pictures and descriptions and place it online for them. We usually sell it in one day and we send them a check two weeks later.”
Post said using an auction also means the seller can avoid some of the inconveniences of dealing with the public, such as someone who shows up late or not at all.
Car dealer lots are not nearly as full as they were before the coronavirus pandemic. Post said Repocast is dealing with inventory issues but on a smaller scale.
“The advantage we have is the access to repossessions. With the economy starting to go the other way we may see more of them. We are starting to see more come in,” he said.
Kevin Burr, a native of Alpena who operated an auction business in that area, is the manager of the Gaylord facility.
“This is a good market and now that everything is online we can draw people from everywhere,” Burr said.
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Burr said potential buyers can look at the online listings and then come in and check out a vehicle, for example.
“We encourage (potential buyers) to come and inspect it. We will let you start it up. We can’t allow test drives because of insurance reasons,” he said.
Post said Repocast has over 600,000 bidders on its platform and last week a buyer from Battle Creek came in and purchased a vehicle.
Burr said soon there will be computers set up in the Gaylord building so those with limited internet access can come in and check the online offerings.
Post said Miedema is a family-owned company.
— Contact reporter Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com.
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