One of the largest construction equipment auctions in the United States was held Feb. 17-20, generating over $64 million in sales. Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers conducted the Orlando auction, which featured 2,660 lots of primarily late model construction equipment and heavy-duty trucks.
More than 4,504 bidders from 46 countries and all 50 states attended the unreserved auction, and buyers from outside of Florida purchased 85 percent of the equipment. Buyers from other countries purchased approximately 29 percent of the equipment.
“It was an amazing sale,” said Gary Seybold, regional manager for Ritchie Bros. “We’re very proud of how smooth everything went, especially being the largest auction in company history.”
What also made the auction unique for the company was the number of people who bid for equipment online. A record 857 bidders, almost 20 percent of total bidders, registered to bid in real time using the Internet bidding service rbauctionBid-Live on the company’s website.
“This event reconfirmed our decision to pursue a bricks and clicks strategy,” said Bob Armstrong, vice president of Ritchie Bros. Internet services. “We were very happy with the tremendous online participation — people buying from as far away as Kuwait, Australia and the United Kingdom.”
Armstrong said the auction website makes bids more competitive.
“The rbauction.com website has enabled us to expand our bidding audiences, creating an environment where Internet bidders and live bidders compete against each other on a level playing field — this is the best of both worlds for bidders as well as consignors,” he said.
Ritchie Bros. has 25 unreserved auctions scheduled for March. To look at equipment you can bid on online, click on the link to the right.
