Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers last week held the world’s largest heavy equipment auction in Orlando, Fla., selling more than 8,800 items for more than $166 million. The six-day unreserved public auction set new company records for online sales, with buyers generating more than $54 million in gross auction proceeds or about 33 percent of the total proceeds.
Additional records broken at the auction included number of online registered bidders (more than 4,400), number of online bidders (more than 1,000) and a new Orlando site record of sellers (more than 830.)
“Our February auction in Orlando continues to be the company’s largest auction each year and this year is no exception,” said Peter Blake, Ritchie Bros. CEO. “Equipment owners from around the world and most notably from all across the eastern seaboard of the U.S. send their equipment to our Orlando auction because we provide ease, confidence and the world’s biggest auction in which to sell their assets for the highest possible price.”
Blake said auction totals would have been higher, however, severe winter weather in the northeastern U.S. prohibited some potential sellers from freeing up equipment from jobsites.
“We also noticed a lower volume of cranes in this year’s inventory due to higher construction activity in the non-residential market,” Blake added. “However, simultaneously we saw a more diverse and larger selection of equipment from the energy and transportation equipment categories than previous years.”
Florida based Caterpillar dealer Ring Power Corp. sold a selection of more than 140 heavy construction and rental-type items during the auction. Ring’s vice president and used equipment manager Dennis Ryan noted that prices this year exceeded Ring’s expectations.
“We saw strong prices in many areas, more specifically in the backhoe, aerial, truck and trailer, motor grader, and bulldozer categories,” said Steve Kriebel, regional sales manager, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers.
For a complete list of upcoming Ritchie Bros. auctions, visit www.rbauction.com.
