Ritchie Bros. has been a leader in the auction business for decades. Its live unreserved auctions help tens of thousands of companies sell and buy equipment and trucks annually. And yet, not every company is interested in selling without a reserve—they want access to Ritchie Bros.' global buying base, but need more control over the selling price, timing, and/or process.

Enter Marketplace-E, Ritchie Bros.' online sales solution with Make Offer, Buy Now, and Reserve options, serving the construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, government and other industries. Launched in March 2018, the site recently surpassed $500 million in gross transaction value (GTV).

"Marketplace-E has grown so much since its launch in early 2018—in sophistication and popularity," said Karl Werner, Interim Co-CEO and President of International, Ritchie Bros. "When we only offered unreserved auctions, we limited the number of companies and individuals we could help. Selling unreserved is not for everyone. Now that we have live auctions, IronPlanet weekly featured auctions, and Marketplace-E, we have a solution for every customer need."

Werner continued, "As a result of the site's growing popularity amongst sellers and buyers, we've seen strong double-digit growth in the average selling price of an item and total GTV through Marketplace-E has grown 52 percent over the past six months! Interestingly, with Marketplace-E we have also introduced a new type of buyer to our brand; a buyer who is uninterested in purchasing from auctions, but willing to pay a premium to get top of the line used assets right away. They don't want to wait for the next auction—they need it now and can get it from Marketplace-E."

More than 3,200 companies from 45 countries have sold assets on Marketplace-E since its launch. The top five equipment categories on Marketplace-E include truck tractors, excavators, dozers, cranes, and pipelayers. Top selling manufacturers include Caterpillar, John Deere, Komatsu, Freightliner and International.

How Marketplace-E works – three selling options:

• Make Offer: list equipment online and let potential buyers submit offers, then negotiate with potential buyers to reach an agreement
• Buy Now: list equipment online at a fixed, buy-it-now price; like a basic ecommerce transaction. Once the item is purchased, the listing is closed
• Reserve price: an online listing with a minimum/reserve price. The item will not sell until the reserve is met. The seller minimum is protected, but the potential highest selling price is not capped

The selling process is also aided by an inside sales team dedicated to facilitating offline negotiations between interested buyers and sellers. All asset listings are syndicated on both rbauction.com and IronPlanet.com platforms to increase visibility to the company's huge global buying audience.