Question 1

What counts as “real landed margin” at Lothound?

Accepted Answer

Lothound starts with the bid price, then adds the buyer premium, a freight estimate, and a refurb or staging allowance. That total is the landed cost. We compare it with the trailing comparable-sales band for the matched asset, condition, and geography, so the margin you see has the expensive, unglamorous parts of the buy in the math. Freight and refurb are directional estimates, not a carrier quote or a promise about the lot’s condition.

Question 2

Which state, federal, and public-surplus sources does Lothound monitor?

Accepted Answer

The current scheduled feed set is GovDeals, Public Surplus, GovPlanet, Cox Auctions, and HigherGov. Together they surface federal, state, county, and municipal surplus listings, but they are not the same thing: GovDeals, Public Surplus, GovPlanet, and Cox Auctions are marketplace or auction feeds, while HigherGov is an aggregator. Municibid and individual county-auctioneer pages are part of the scout and tip vocabulary, not a claim that every agency or every county is monitored live. If a lot is missing, send the URL through the tip line.

Question 3

How does the threshold-based alerting logic work?

Accepted Answer

You set a minimum margin threshold for each vertical, such as 15% under the comparable-sales band. Lothound scores each closing lot against the trailing 60-day comparable-sales band, narrowing for asset class, condition tier, and geography, then checks whether the landed margin clears your threshold. A match becomes an alert with the same breakdown: bid, premium, freight, refurb or staging, landed cost, comparable band, and the resulting edge. Lothound never bids on your behalf.

Question 4

Which specialist niches are supported?

Accepted Answer

The catalog covers five verticals: marine, lab equipment, machine tools, vehicles, and electronics. Pro buyers can choose any two; Full buyer subscribers get all five. Each vertical has its own buy-box vocabulary and comparable-sales context, so a marine outboard is not scored against a generic marine lot and a lab centrifuge is not treated like a microscope.

Question 5

How often should I expect alerts?

Accepted Answer

The source feeds and comparable-sales jobs run on a daily schedule, with the ingestion windows staggered across the morning. Paid threshold alerts are sent as matching listings clear the scoring pass; if you prefer less inbox noise, choose the daily digest setting. Free new-listing alerts use the free tier’s digest cadence. This is scheduled sourcing intelligence, not a real-time auction-room feed, so timing still depends on when a source publishes or changes a listing.

Question 6

How does billing work?

Accepted Answer

Free alerts stay free with no card on file. Paid self-serve plans are Pro at $19 per month for any two verticals, Full buyer at $49 per month for all five, Team at $99 per month for 3–5 seats, and Enterprise at $199 per month for 5+ seats. You choose monthly or annual prepay on the pricing page and complete checkout through Stripe’s hosted payment page. There is no brokerage fee, success fee, sourcing fee, or per-lot charge. Cancellation and billing edge cases are handled through the Lothound contact line.

Before you subscribe, here’s the math.

The short version for a specialist buyer.