Ritchie Bros. sees success with world’s largest equipment auction

A sea of equipment stretched over the 220-acre Ritchie Bros. auction site in Orlando, FL last week as the company hosted its largest auction ever. Over six days the company sold a staggering 13,350+ assets for a record $297+ million– up seven percent from last year’s $278+ million total.

The massive selection of equipment attracted more than 15,900 people from 88 countries – setting a new site record – including 11,300+ bidders participating online in real time from around the world. At the end of the six-day event, approximately 84 percent of the assets were purchased by buyers from outside Florida, showcasing the auction’s wide appeal. U.S. buyers purchased 85 percent of the equipment, while international buyers from countries such as Australia, China, Colombia, Germany, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates purchased 15 percent. Online buyers purchased approximately 49 percent of the equipment.

“We had a great week in Orlando, helping more than 1,150 companies sell their surplus equipment to buyers from nearly every corner of the world,” said Ravi Saligram, chief executive cfficer, Ritchie Bros. “Orlando is the Super Bowl of auctions and our team was prepared and performed tremendously, helping us set multiple company records, including our largest ever gross transactional value (GTV) and the most equipment we’ve sold in one auction in 60-plus years of business. On Day Five alone we sold approximately 2,300 items for more than $82 million – the largest single auction day in our history!”

Saligram continued, “We achieved GTV of $297 million for the 13,350 items sold in Orlando, representing growth of seven percent in both GTV and lots sold versus prior year, a positive indicator of loosening supply. Our results reflected strong pricing for premium construction assets with low hours. Conversely, we witnessed pricing pressure on assets with higher hours, which indicates supply may have begun to harmonize with demand. Transportation assets, including over-the- road trucks and vocational units, continue to achieve strong prices. Importantly, I want to thank all our consignors and buyers for their confidence in us, and our employees who worked very hard to make the auction a tremendous success and add value for our customers.”

Equipment highlights included 800+ excavators, 640+ compactors, 430+ loaders, 395 skid steers, 385 dozers, 210+ articulated dump trucks, 240+ dump trucks, 465+ aerial work platforms, 465+ truck tractors and so much more. Every single item was sold without minimum bids or reserve prices. 

Stay tuned for ACT’s official event coverage in the April issue.