Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers launched rbauctionBid-Live, its Internet bidding service, which allows customers to follow the live auction, hear the auctioneer and place bids, all live and in real-time on the Internet. Customers who are unable to attend an auction or prefer not to travel, but have satisfied themselves as to the condition and value of a particular piece of equipment, can now place their bids online. Bidding is as simple as clicking a bid button, which changes to reflect the auctioneer's current asking price.
Richmond, B.C.-based Ritchie Bros. started development of its Web site business in the mid-90s and immediately started researching online bidding. The company knew there would be interest in online bidding because it already offered a proxy bidding service that allowed it to take bids from buyers who could not attend an auction.
“The problem with proxy bidding was that buyers could not adjust their bid if they decided to raise it by $1,000 at the last minute,” said Bob Armstrong, vice president of Internet Services. Online bidding, however, provides these customers with complete control of their own bid.
According to Armstrong, one reason why it took so long to launch the rbauctionBid-Live service is because the company knew it was critical to offer real time bidding. It also needed to have real time audio so that bidders were able to get a sense of the mood and pace of the auction.
According to Dave Ritchie, chairman and CEO of Ritchie Bros., the rbauctionBid-Live service was designed to address the unique needs of the used equipment industry.
“Used trucks and equipment can't be sold like commodities or collectibles. It is important that all bidders, including our Internet bidders, have the opportunity to inspect, test and compare the equipment, and then bid on it in a fair and open environment,” Ritchie said.
In 2000, Ritchie Bros. entered into a relationship with Auction Management Solutions, Tampa, Fla., a software development company. Using its core Internet bidding software and incorporating the requirements laid out by Ritchie Bros., AMS built a highly customized and sophisticated live-bidding system that integrates seamlessly with Ritchie Bros.' live auctions. Ritchie Bros. Web developers built security and registration features for the rbauction.com Web site to ensure that only qualified RBA customers would have access to the service.
To participate in a Ritchie Bros. auction via the Internet, a user must first register for the rbauctionBid-Live service and receive a Ritchie Bros. Express Bidder card as well as a Personal Identification Number. These allow the user to securely log in to the service. The application process takes about two business days.
From this point, the user should select the auction of interest and complete the registration process. Once the live participation software is installed onto the user's computer he or she is ready to bid live at the auction. Return to www.rbauction.com on the day of the sale and click on rbauctionBid-Live to join the auction.
To review the systems features and capabilities, a user clicks the “Take the Tour” link on the rbauctionBid-Live launch page, just before joining the auction. Or, for a quick review, the bidder can visit the site's convenient FAQ pages. When the bidder joins the auction, he or she immediately sees the bidding interface and hears the auctioneer.
When a lot you're interested in is being sold, click the check box next to the lot number to activate your bid button. The current asking price will be displayed onscreen. When you are ready to make your bid, simply click the bid button. If your bid is accepted, your bid button is disabled to ensure that you don't raise your own bid by mistake. Your bid status message will display, “Bid accepted — you're on.” If you do not see this message, you are not the high bidder and you will need to submit a new bid.
If you are the high bidder when the auctioneer says “sold,” your bid status message will display, “Sold to you!” If you are not the winning bidder, the bid status message will read “Sold to another bidder.”
According to Armstrong, the average registration of online participants for an Internet broadcast is 10 percent of the total registered bidders, while the average total attendance of an auction is 1,000 bidders. Since launching the service in March, Ritchie Bros. has recorded online bidders from 28 countries, all 50 U.S. states and all 10 Canadian provinces.
In fact, Internet bidders are placing bids on 25 percent of the lots featured online and these bidders are either the buyer or the runner up on 12 percent of the lots.
“Not only are the Internet bidders showing up, they are making a difference — affecting the sales price (and raising it) on 12 percent of the lots broadcast,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong predicts that the online bidding system will be installed at most Ritchie Bros. auction sites by the end of the third quarter, and that 80 percent of its auctions will be broadcasting online.
The company is currently working on the next version of the service, which Armstrong expects to introduce in the fall.
“The service is meant to enhance the auction experience,” said Armstrong. “We want to make sure that the Internet bidder is having the same experience as the bidder that's live at the auction.”
If you have a Web site you would like to see featured in RER, please contact Brandey Smith at [email protected].
