Ingram Micro is to put its excess and obsolete stock under the hammer in the first move by a broadline distributor in the UK to auction off surplus inventory over the internet.

The online auction site was launched this week and will be tested before going fully operational in April. It will initially be used only to offload return-to-vendor stock, but may be extended to sell products with damaged packaging as part of bundled special offers.

Mary McCormack, Ingram Micro UK's e-business marketing manager, said access to the site will be through the reseller centre, and VARs will use passwords to ensure end-users cannot buy from the site.

She said the motivation behind the auction was to get resellers online. Ingram previously disposed of its excess stock at Showcase events.

McCormack insisted the move was not a response to excess and slow-moving inventory that contributed to Ingram's fall in profit last year. "Excess and obsolete stock is not a particular issue for the UK. It's an idea we had to get resellers on site," she said.

Ingram will not set deadlines for bids but will have a stock countdown.

The news drew a mixed reaction from resellers. A representative for Aztech MicroCentres said it will not benefit resellers because they cannot support obsolete stock. Jazz Garcha, director of G Squared Computer Systems, said while he dealt only in current stock, it will be useful for brokers that sell obsolete equipment.

Robert Robb, managing director of SRS Computer Systems, said its usefulness will be determined by whether resellers can use the auctioned products. "I'm not sure if it's quite the thing for resellers focussing on the business market," he said.

Meanwhile, Ingram has further consolidated its UK management team with the confirmation of Neville Ebanks as commercial director. Ebanks, who rejoined Ingram in September, said he was "very happy" to be back at the distributor and that he will concentrate on outsourcing, ecommerce and getting the basics right.