Ritchie Bros.' February Florida auction is a destination event for equipment buyers and sellers, attracting thousands of people from around the world to the Sunshine State. This year, with COVID-safety its focus and a wealth of technology in its toolkit, Ritchie Bros.' conducted a hybrid-style event in Orlando, FL—equipment stored onsite with 100 percent online bidding to ensure safety, while adding new services and data tools to drive buyer demand. The result was a spectacular success, as the company sold more than 12,000 items in six days for over $191 million, making it the largest-ever 100 percent online equipment auction.

"Ritchie Bros. continues to innovate and drive unprecedented demand, resulting in strong pricing across every asset category last week in Orlando," said Ann Fandozzi, Chief Executive Officer, Ritchie Bros. "This continues the positive pricing trend we saw at the end of 2020 and earlier this month in Houston, TX. For last week's Orlando sale, we saw particularly strong price performance for truck tractors, skid steers, and loader backhoes, followed closely by wheel loaders, aerial equipment and dozers. Despite the uncertainty in the world, Ritchie Bros. continues to deliver outstanding results thanks to our dedication to customer success, investment in technology, world-class customer services and a deeply-ingrained innovative spirit."

The auction attracted more than 22,700 online bidders from over 80 countries, setting a record for the Orlando site. The company also set new records for online page views (over 2.9 million and up 18 percent year over year), watchlist adds (over 177,000 and up 54 percent Y/Y), and PriorityBids (over 53,700 and up 316% Y/Y).

"Orlando is more than an auction—it's an event our customers rely on for the success of their businesses and we take this responsibility seriously," added Fandozzi. "We introduced new services this year to help customers unable to travel safely to inspect equipment in-person, including thousands of inventory videos, new data tools to help customers better understand market pricing, and scheduled pickups and inspection times. The more informed our customers are, the more confident they will be when bidding."

While the auction was conducted 100 percent online, Ritchie Bros.' Orlando site was still packed with the best selection of equipment anywhere.

Approximately 82 percent of the equipment in the Orlando auction was purchased by U.S. buyers, including 18 percent purchased by Floridians. The remaining 18 percent of the equipment was sold to international buyers from as far away as Australia, Germany, Egypt and Korea.

Ritchie Bros. delivered strong results for more than 1,000 consignors who sold in the Orlando auction.