Ritchie Bros. started the year strong in Texas, selling more than 5,850 equipment items for more than $61 million in Houston this week—up approximately 35% from the same auction in 2019.

More than 8,850 people from 71 countries registered to bid in the February 11 – 12 Houston auction, including more than 6,950 registering to participate online. U.S. buyers purchased approximately 90% of the equipment, with the top three state buyers being Texas, California and Georgia, while international buyers from such countries as Australia, India, and the United Kingdom purchased 10% of the equipment. Online buyers purchased 58% of the assets.

“This was our largest-ever February Houston auction, with a record number of consignors and bidders, and strong pricing on both days of the event,” said Kari Taylor, president, U.S. Regions, Ritchie Bros. “We saw the number of online buyers increase 41% year over year, including strong participation from international bidders. It’s clear the evolution of our marketing tactics and platform enhancements, including tools like PriorityBid, is making it easier for customers to participate online. This is also great news for our sellers, who can access our global demand from any of our live or online marketplaces. With big events still to come in Orlando, Fort Worth, and Las Vegas, as well as Marketplace-E and regular weekly online auctions, it’s great to see supply spread more evenly across Q1 and the year. Sellers can access all our solutions, whenever they want and from wherever they are.”

Equipment highlights in the Houston auction included 410+ truck tractors, 170+ excavators, 115+ skid steers, 90+ loader backhoes, 50+ cranes, 50+ dozers, and more. All items were sold without minimum bids or reserve prices.