Most used-equipment deals in the UK are still valued one of two ways: a desktop valuation ordered from a firm and turned around in days, or a number looked up in a printed / subscription guide. Both were built for a world without a camera in every pocket. Here’s how each stacks up against a photo-in, evidence-out valuation.
A desktop valuation is a queue: you send the details, wait, and pay per report. On a fast-moving deal that delay is the deal. ExactVal returns a full valuation in well under a minute, so the number keeps pace with the decision.
A printed guide prices a model, not this machine. It can’t see the 9,000 hours, the cracked glass, or the missing bucket. ExactVal reads the real photos — make, model, hours, condition — and prices the asset in front of you, adjusting for condition on an A–E rubric before it lands on a value.
“The guide said so” is a weak line in a credit file. ExactVal shows the realised auction comparables behind every figure, a confidence score, and a fire-sale / average / retail spread — the working, not just the answer. See the methodology →
No desktop valuation or guide tells you the machine exists. Guided live capture ties the photos to the moment and device, so you’re not underwriting a recycled dealer photo. For asset finance, that’s often the bigger risk than the value itself. More →
Per-report desktop fees add up fast across a book of small-ticket deals, and you pay them whether the deal completes or not. ExactVal is priced to run on every case, not just the big ones — so nothing goes out under-checked because a valuation felt too expensive to order.
We’re not pretending it never does. A named, signed valuer’s report still carries weight for a large, unusual, or disputed asset where a human inspection is warranted. The point isn’t to replace that — it’s to stop paying desktop prices and desktop delays on the routine 90% of the book that doesn’t need one.