Equipment rarely gets sold in agriculture “just because.”

Most of the time, when a farmer is selling a tractor, combine, planter, or sprayer, there is pressure behind the decision. A banker wants the balance sheet cleaned up. An operating note needs to be restructured. A tough year forced hard choices.

Dealerships are no different. They do not liquidate inventory for fun. They do it because floorplan costs, interest expense, or year-end financials demand action.

In moments like that, the last thing the agricultural community needs is a big percentage taken off the top.

Sellers Keep 100 Percent

At Tractor Tuesday, sellers pay zero commission. No listing fees. No hidden deductions. If your machine sells for $250,000, you receive $250,000.

Traditional auction models often charge a seller commission of 8 to 12 percent. On high-value equipment, that can mean tens of thousands of dollars gone before the seller ever sees a check. When someone is already under pressure, that matters.

Tractor Tuesday was built by a 6th-generation farmer. This platform was not designed to extract maximum revenue from stressed sellers. It was built to give them the strongest possible opportunity to maximize value.

How We Make It Work

We charge a 5 percent buyer’s premium, capped at $7,500.

That cap is intentional. There is no luxury tax on expensive machinery. Whether a tractor sells for $150,000 or $350,000, the maximum premium is still $7,500.

There is a misconception that adding a buyer’s premium reduces the hammer price dollar-for-dollar. Real-world auction data often shows that this is not the case.

Research on auction behavior indicates that competitive bidding environments trigger escalation effects. Once bidders are engaged, the focus shifts to winning relative to competitors, not micro-calculating marginal fees. As long as the premium is reasonable and clearly communicated, it becomes part of the mental math before bidding begins.

We see this play out on Tractor Tuesday. In many cases, our final sale prices have exceeded valuations from competitors that charge seller commissions. When buyers understand that the seller is keeping 100 percent of the bid, there is less friction in the process. It feels fair. It is fair.

Buyers do not resent paying a transparent 5 percent premium when they know the farmer on the other end is not simultaneously losing 10 percent to commission.

Built for the Farm Community

This is bigger than fees. It is about philosophy.

When farmers have to sell, they deserve a fair marketplace. When dealers need to move inventory, they deserve a partner, not another expense line.

Tractor Tuesday is farmer-owned and built to serve agriculture, not capitalize on economic stress. Zero seller commission. Transparent, capped buyer’s premium. No hidden games.

It is a different model, built for the people who actually work the land.