Ritchie Bros. conducted its largest Tipton, CA auction ever, selling more than 2,250 equipment items and trucks for more than $23 million on February 15.
A record 4,850 people from 44 countries registered to bid in the unreserved public auction, including more than 3,400 people registering to bid online. U.S. buyers purchased approximately 90 percent of the equipment, including 60 percent purchased by California buyers, while international buyers from such countries as France, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates purchased 10 percent of the equipment. Online buyers purchased 52 percent of the assets.
"With our sale last week occurring right at the back end of World Ag Expo we saw a nice uptick in attendees, resulting in strong pricing on what was the largest selection of equipment we've ever seen in Tipton," said Chad Apland, Regional Sales Manager, Ritchie Bros. "We sold a record 270 farm tractors and saw excellent pricing on those, especially for the MFWD and four-wheel-drive tractors. We also saw solid pricing on the great lineup of transportation and construction assets."
He continued, "We signed up some nice packages of gear early this year so had lots of time to market it to potential buyers across the country and around the world. Those packages helped us build momentum and we were receiving equipment right up until sale day.”
The company also announced its first Texas auction of 2019 was a huge success, building momentum into the company's massive six-day Orlando, FL auction this week. In total, more than 4,800 equipment items and trucks were sold in the Houston auction for $45 million.
A record 7,150 people from 63 countries registered to bid in the two-day Houston event, including 5,400 people registering to bid online. U.S. buyers purchased approximately 89 percent of the equipment, including 52 percent purchased by Texas buyers, while international buyers from such countries as Germany, Vietnam and New Zealand purchased 11 percent of the equipment. Online buyers purchased 57 percent of the assets.
"We smashed our Houston attendance record this week—surpassing our previous bidder record set just last November by 28 percent!" said Alan McVicker, Regional Sales Manager, Ritchie Bros. "As a result, we achieved solid pricing on most equipment categories, with particularly strong results for transportation assets."
Ritchie Bros. currently has more than 55,000 equipment items, trucks and other assets listed for sale through its various marketplaces, including 13,500+ items selling in the company's massive premier global auction this week in Orlando, FL.