🎯 The business: used CNC mills and lathes bought at U.S. auctions and from shops that are upgrading, inspected and sold to machine shops in Monterrey, Querétaro, Guadalajara and the border maquiladora belt. A short shipping lane, duty breaks under the trade agreement, and a manufacturing boom that cannot buy new machines fast enough. The full machinery game plan is in this section.
Independent job shops, automotive and aerospace suppliers and vocational schools. A ten-year-old vertical machining center that sells at a U.S. auction for $15,000 to $35,000 sells in Mexico for $30,000 to $60,000 delivered. Buyers pay by advance or letter of credit, often with a deposit at inspection. Rigging and freight are a large share of the price and of the customer’s questions.
| LLC and insurance | $1,200 |
| Listings, site, WhatsApp tools, six months | $1,200 |
| Auction deposits and travel to inspect | $1,500 |
| First machine (inventory model) | $8,000 to $15,000 |
| Total: broker ≈ $4,000 · inventory ≈ $15,000 to $20,000 |
Learn the machines: the three or four control systems buyers trust (Fanuc, Haas, Mazak, Okuma), what a spindle test and a ballbar test show, and what a rigger charges. Register with the industrial auction houses. Build a bilingual WhatsApp catalog with videos of machines under power. Contact the U.S. Commercial Service in Monterrey; a Gold Key there connects you to shop owners and the trade associations. Start as a broker: find the machine after the buyer commits.
Broker: a 10 percent commission on a $45,000 machine is $4,500 per deal, two deals a month to start. Inventory: a machine bought at $20,000, inspected and prepared for $2,000, shipped and rigged for $4,000 and sold at $42,000 leaves about $16,000, with the cash tied up for two to three months. One machine a month with inventory is a real business; the constraint is capital, not demand.
Export controls: most used general-purpose CNC machines are not controlled, but high-precision multi-axis machines can be (ECCN 2B001), and the classification depends on the specifications; check each machine. USMCA rules of origin for duty-free entry. Mexican import requirements for used machinery, which can include a permit and NOM safety labeling. Electronic export filing for shipments over $2,500. Payment protection on every deal.
A machine damaged by a rigger who did not know how to move it. A controller that fails after the move. A buyer who finds a problem at delivery and wants a discount. Border delays with a machine on a flatbed. The dealers who last inspect in person, hire riggers who move machine tools for a living, document everything on video, and keep a Mexican customs broker on speed dial.