Salvage Auto Auctions Form New Company to Provide Buyer Services Network

A group comprised of several of the auto salvage auction industry’s foremost operators have reportedly created ICAP Buyers Network LLC (ICAP), a web-based buyers’ network company designed to allow streamlined access to the combined inventory of participating independent salvage auctions.

ICAP reportedly simplifies the buying process by offering: a single, integrated, searchable inventory database; e-mail notification of specific vehicles of interest to buyers; a single registration process with a single user name and password; live online or proxy bidding; and a transportation network for both domestic and international delivery.

ICAP plans to roll out the first phase of its menu of services at this year’s NACE trade show, held in Las Vegas, Nov. 3 – 6. While the current coverage territory is the Central U.S., ICAP plans to eventually offer its services on a national basis by adding high-quality independent pools to its provider network.

Kenneth Rickli, one of the company’s principals, said, “ICAP grew out of a recent brainstorming session. Our goal is to make it as easy and as cost-effective as possible for salvage vehicle buyers to participate in our auctions. ICAP’s principals sell well in excess of 100,000 vehicles annually at our pools, so I am confident that we have what buyers are looking for. We want to become the first source they turn to when searching for and purchasing inventory, and believe that ICAP, by serving as an online buyers’ network, will provide the means to make that a reality.”

ICAP’s combined customer base currently exceeds 10,000 buyers, and the group will initially provide service in the Central U.S. from the Mexican border, through the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, to the Canadian border. An expanded national buyer network will increase the customer base exponentially, giving ICAP the potential to dwarf existing buyer rosters.

“We continue to evaluate market trends and conditions by listening carefully to the needs and concerns of our customer base,” said John Lindle, another company principal, “and we have identified a niche created by the latest round of buyer fee increases in the consolidated sector of our industry. In addition to being a brand-new concept, ICAP brings to buyers the opportunity to conveniently select high-quality, high-quantity inventory from pools offering customer-friendly service at a reduced overall cost.”

Company principals include Kenneth Rickli and Hardy Rawls, who own and operate Bayou City Auction Pool in Houston and Alamo City Auction Pool in San Antonio, Texas. Carroll Estes, outgoing president of the American Salvage Pool Association, owns and operates Central Cities Auction Pool in Temple, Texas, as well as Dallas/Fort Worth Cities Auction Pool in partnership with Rickli and Rawls. Joining them in this new venture are John Lindle and Joe Zrostlik, principals of QCSA, headquartered in Eldridge, Iowa with additional auction branches in Chicago and Portage, Wisconsin.