Auctioneers Ritchie Brothers sold over $166m worth of equipment at an auction in Orlando, Florida. The company broke its record for online sales at the event as well as the auction site record. More than 8,800 items were sold at the six-day unreserved public auction. The company noticed a lower volume of cranes in this year’s inventory, which it attributed to higher activity in the non-residential construction market.
Online buyers amounted to 33% of gross auction proceeds generating more than $54m. A record 4,400 bidders registered online and there were 1,000 online buyers.
Ritchie Brothers said that due to the severe winter weather that hit the northeastern U.S. in recent weeks, many of the sellers from the region who normally participated in the auction were unable to free up equipment from their job sites for the auction.
The event attracted more than 8,640 registered bidders from 84 countries, including all 50 U.S. states, all 10 Canadian provinces and one territory. These bidders participated both in person and online. Buyers from the state of Florida purchased over $29m, whilst 82% or $137m was sold to buyers located outside the state. More than 29% or $48m was sold to buyers outside the country. Buyers participated from countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Guyana, Italy, Nigeria, Russia and Qatar. There were more than 830 sellers at the event.
Source: Cranes Today Magazine
