For more than 60 years people have bought and sold machinery, trucks and more at Ritchie Bros.' auctions.See the video and experience what the auction is like!
Continue reading: 8 facts you may not know about Ritchie Bros.
#1 Humble beginnings
Ritchie Bros. started in 1958 as a small, family-owned auction business (initially selling used furniture!) and started selling agricultural and industrial equipment in the early 1960s. Once the three Ritchie brothers found their sweet spot they began expanding their operations. First throughout Canada, then across the border in the US and later overseas in Europe, Middle East, Australia and Asia. Today, the company employees 2,500+ people and sells 500,000+ items a year through its auctions and online marketplaces. In Europe there are Ritchie Bros. auction sites in the UK, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain and Italy. Video below: see what a Ritchie Bros. auction in the early 1960s was like!
#2 More than half is sold online
In 2002, Ritchie Bros. launched live online bidding as an additional way to bid. By the end of that year online bidders represented 10% of buyers or runner-up bidders - which for a new bidding method was a very promising result. The company continued developing its online bidding technology over the years, and more and more bidders started to use it. It unlocked new demand markets. Today more than half of all items in the live auctions are sold online.#3 The largest industrial auctions in the world
Whether you're looking for a specific make/model or just browsing around, chances are you'll find what you need in Ritchie Bros.' inventory. In 2018 alone more than 500,000 were sold at Ritchie Bros.' auctions and online marketplaces. Any given day of the year, there’s around 50,000 items available. You can search in various ways on the website, including by country, make, model, year and more. See it for yourself - check out the inventory of upcoming Ritchie Bros. auctions.
#4 It always sells
Ritchie Bros. live onsite auctions are known for their unreserved auction method. This means there are no minimum bids on the items sold. Everything sells on auction day, regardless of price. This draws in large crowds of online and onsite bidders. For over 60 years the unreserved auction method has
"The live events still create a unique ‘event’ dynamic in the market where buyers and sellers can see current market conditions in real time and catch up with their colleagues in the industry.”
#5 To sell or not to sell
Idle equipment isn't making money, but in most cases it may cost money in storage, insurance and depreciation. Every year tens of thousands of businesses around the world rely on Ritchie Bros. to sell equipment on their behalf. From farmers to large rental companies, and from OEM dealers to construction companies. Here's why they choose Ritchie Bros. to sell.
#6 Technology drives innovation
Since the early days Ritchie Bros. has always explored new ideas to enhance the buying and selling experience of its customers. In the 1960s, the brothers experimented with 'drive in' style auctions, where bidders had to honk their car to bid. With the rise of online capabilities, technology began to play an increasingly more important part. Besides adding live online bidding in 2002, several other bidding methods were added, including Timed Auctions for smaller & consumer lots, live bidding via the Ritchie Bros. mobile app and more recently, PriorityBid, which allows bidders to get bids in several days before the live auction begins.
Aside from bidding technology, Ritchie Bros launched RB Asset Solutions in 2018 - a cloud-based asset management and disposition system with a complete inventory management system, data analytics and dashboards, e-commerce sites and more. Ritchie Bros. has even experimented with equipment voice search in 2019.
#7 There's cool features on rbauction.com
There's several cool things you can do with a free account on rbauction.com. You'll get access to past selling prices, can save searches, receive inventory updates, place bids and much more. Create yours today!
#8 Ritchie Bros. is more than auctions
Although Ritchie Bros. live onsite auctions continue to grow every year, not everyone likes buying or selling at an unreserved auction. In recent years, Ritchie Bros. has transitioned from an auction company to a multi channel disposition platform with different powerful ways to sell and buy. Brands that are part of the Ritchie Bros. family are online listing platform Mascus, online auctions IronPlanet and 24/7 online marketplace Marketplace-E. Within just two years of its inception Marketplace-E surpassed EUR 450 million (US$500 million) in sales.
BONUS #9 - More auction sites, including in the UK
Of course by now you're keen to visit a Ritchie Bros. auction site! In Europe alone, Ritchie Bros. has auction sites in The Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Are you based in the UK? Come and meet our UK team and experience our auctions in Maltby (Rotherham)!
Learn more about Ritchie Bros. - Create a free account at rbauction.com.
