It's not every day you see hundreds of thousands of U.S. military items—including Humvees, tactical vehicles, uniforms, field gear and more—sell in just two days, but Ritchie Bros.' GovPlanet marketplace did exactly that last week.
GovPlanet sold more than 700,000 military surplus items—packaged up into approximately 8,400 lots—through two live onsite auctions in Las Vegas, NV, and Atlanta, GA, as well as an online-only auction at GovPlanet.com. Gross transactional value for the two-day GovPlanet event was over $9 million.
"We had more than 5,800 bidders from 35 countries place more than 180,000 bids on the expansive selection of assets sold over the two-day event," said Doug Feick, Senior Vice President, New Business and Corporate Development, Ritchie Bros./GovPlanet. "One item alone—a simple winch—achieved 606 bids from 237 unique bidders! The selection was diverse and demand was high, with auction attendees from around the world. We had upwards of 185,000 people who viewed the auction."
The massive military surplus event also included construction equipment, computer and office equipment, storage and shipping containers, medical and dental equipment, aircraft parts and other items owned by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Utilizing the full power of the Ritchie Bros. operation, the company separated out rolling stock items and sold them through unreserved auctions at the company's permanent sites in Las Vegas and Atlanta. Simultaneously the company sold non-rolling stock items—stored at one of GovPlanet's two warehouses or one of 70+ U.S. military bases across the United States—through the company's well-established GovPlanet website.
"This unprecedented sales event showcased our multichannel prowess, operational strength, and marketing savvy," said Ravi Saligram, CEO of Ritchie Bros. "By utilizing a combination of web platforms and our auction network, we were able to sell a significant amount of inventory stored across dozens of locations in just two days. We are extremely pleased by the record attendance and look forward to creating a cadence of such events in the future and continue to drive network effects."