Ritchie Bros. is building bigger and better events with its regional auction format, bringing together more consignors and buyers to provide more selection and increased competition. Last week, the company held regional auctions on both sides of the border, with more than $65 million of equipment sold in its U.S. Rocky Mountain Event and over $27 million sold in the Canadian B.C. Regional Event—both were new regional records.

"Consignors love these big events because they attract more bidders and the increased competition results in more money in their pockets at the end of the auction," said Chad Apland, Regional Sales Manager (Denver), Ritchie Bros. "Our Rocky Mountain event last week featured 5,700+ items from 800+ consignors stored across eight locations, with all items selling to online bidders around the world. Low-hour construction equipment was in especially high demand, resulting in some phenomenal prices.”

The May 25 – 26 Rocky Mountain Event attracted over 11,000 bidders from 54 countries, with approximately 94 percent of the equipment sold to U.S. buyers, including 20 percent sold to Colorado, 11 percent to Utah and 7 percent to Texas. The remaining 6 percent was sold to international buyers from as far away as Honduras, India and Taiwan.

Meanwhile, up north, Ritchie Bros. was selling over 2,100 items for approximately 500 consignors in its B.C. Regional Event, with equipment stored at three locations across the province. The May 24 – 25 auction was B.C.'s biggest ever in terms of gross transaction value and attracted more than 6,500 bidders from 34 countries.

"Our Chilliwack yard usually fills up quick, so it's great that we could add hundreds of additional items from elsewhere in B.C. and store them at yards in Prince George and Kamloops," said Pat Elliott, Regional Sales Manager (Chilliwack), Ritchie Bros. "We built the auction around a great package of forestry equipment and achieved excellent results on the late-model gear. Good quality, low-hour equipment continues to bring big money, so I encourage interested sellers to contact us to take advantage today."

Approximately 94 percent of the equipment sold in the B.C. Regional Event was sold to Canadians, including 71 percent sold to B.C. buyers. The remaining 6 percent was sold to international buyers from as far away as Guatemala, Egypt and Thailand.