Sellers
Where does supply actually come from, and which lapses are worth a phone call this week?
Active sellers
340
4 groups that behave nothing like each other — the average of them describes nobody
Lapsed since last month
102
30% overall, of which 71 are one-off sellers who had one thing to sell
The 3 in demolition contractors are the ones that matter, and they are 9% of that group.
Value from the top group
41%
from 34 sellers — 10% of the roster
Concentration stated plainly rather than smoothed. It is the largest single risk this business carries.
What counts as a lapse, and what gets done about it
- 1Listed in the previous month and not in this one. Nothing longer — a six-week window would hide a demolition firm that has already found somebody else.
- 2One-off sellers are counted and not chased. A builder with one door to sell is a successful seller, not a leak.
- 3A demolition or salvage lapse is a phone call inside a week, made by a person, about the specific load we know they had.
- 4Nobody is emailed a re-engagement sequence. It has been tried, it worked on nobody, and it cost us two relationships.
The number that matters on this screen is three, not seventy-one — and no single lapse rate can tell you that.
The concentration nobody wants written down
Thirty-four demolition contractors are forty-one percent of value, and nine of those thirty-four list everything they strip. If two of the nine stopped tomorrow this business would lose about a fifth of its gross value in a month, and there is no acquisition campaign that replaces them inside a year.
It is on the screen because a risk that only lives in somebody’s head is a risk that gets discovered in the month it happens.
Four groups, eight months each · active sellers
Demolition contractors
41% of value
Firms who strip buildings for a living and would otherwise skip the lot
- Sellers
- 34
- Listings each
- 11.2
- Lapsed
- 3 · 9%
Nine of the thirty-four list everything through us; the rest list what will not fit on their own yard. That difference is worth more than any acquisition campaign, and we have never worked out how to buy it.
Architectural salvage yards
29% of value
Established yards using us as a second shop window
- Sellers
- 58
- Listings each
- 6.4
- Lapsed
- 6 · 10%
Flat for eight months and holding. They do not need us and they know it, which is the correct relationship to have with a supplier who has their own front door.
Builders and joiners
22% of value
One-off sellers clearing what came out of a job
- Sellers
- 186
- Listings each
- 1.7
- Lapsed
- 71 · 38%
The lapse rate looks alarming and is not: most of these had exactly one thing to sell. A builder who never returns has still been a good seller.
Estate and probate clearances
8% of value
Solicitors and house clearers, usually once
- Sellers
- 62
- Listings each
- 2.1
- Lapsed
- 22 · 35%
Slow to list, high value when they do, and every one of them needs a phone call. The only group where our own time is the constraint.
No seller is named on this screen and none of these panels can be opened to a list of individuals. Supply is a relationship two people hold; the moment it becomes a leaderboard, the phone call stops being a phone call and starts being a follow-up.