Ritchie Bros. conducted its largest Texas auction ever, attracting 76 percent more bidders year over year and achieving $95 million in gross transaction value—surpassing its previous Texas sales record, set June 2020, by 17 percent.

The Fort Worth auction attracted a record more than 16,000 bidders from 79 countries. Approximately 83 percent of the equipment in the auction was sold to U.S. buyers, including 34 percent sold to Texas buyers, while international buyers from as far away as France, Ghana and Vietnam purchased the remaining 17 percent.

“Our consignors are benefiting from robust equipment and truck demand we are helping drive in 2021,” said Chuck Roberson, Regional Sales Manager, Ritchie Bros. “With all bidding online, demand has skyrocketed over the past year. Our Fort Worth auction last week saw online pageviews per lot increase 59 percent year over year, while watchlists per lot and PriorityBids increased 78 percent and 157 percent respectively.”

“Even with all bidding online we still safely welcomed thousands of masked buyers onsite to inspect equipment in person prior to bidding,” added Roberson. “We also sold more than 800 items last week with our Virtual Sales Option, as many consignors from outside the state were eager to be a part of the sale. Our auctions are becoming more digital and more convenient, resulting in more bidders and better returns for sellers.”