At its recent auctions in Phoenix and Houston, Ritchie Bros. sold more than 7,400 combined items, yielding a company record of $59 million in Phoenix and $55 million in Houston. All assets in the auctions were sold 100% online.

The Phoenix event was held as an unreserved auction on Feb. 17 and Feb. 18. More than 10,000 customers registered to bid on more than 2,400 equipment items at the auction. Buyers from the United States purchased approximately 96% of the equipment, while international buyers picked up the remaining 4%.

“This was an exciting auction with non-stop customers in our yard checking out gear ahead of the sale and record numbers of online bidders during the sale, all resulting in record-breaking pricing levels,” Ivan Molina Carrillo, regional sales manager for Ritchie Bros., said. “With the market continuing to experience inventory constraints and prolonged wait periods for new product, Ritchie Bros. is the only place where you can buy unused, very late-model gear and have delivery of it the same day. It was a great event for our sellers getting price realization and for buyers needing assets right away.”

Specific highlights from the Phoenix auction included more than 345 assets, including more than 90 late-model Simple 18 dump trucks and more than 45 late-model Peterbilt truck tractors for Heritage Trucking.

“Nobody could have done the job Ritchie Bros. did. They made it easy,” Peter Tode, CEO and founder of Heritage Trucking, said. “I tell everybody Ritchie Bros. is the gold standard in the business.”

The Houston auction was held from Feb. 15 to Feb. 17. During the auction, Ritchie Bros. sold nearly 5,000 equipment items, attracting more than 15,800 bidders from 62 countries. Approximately 90% of the items in the auction were sold to U.S. buyers, including 46% to buyers from Texas and 6% to buyers from California. The remaining 10% was sold to international buyers from countries such as Chile, Russia and the United Kingdom.

“Our auction last week in Houston easily surpassed our expectations, with record-breaking registrations and lots of activity at the auction site,” Chuck Roberson, regional sales manager for Ritchie Bros., said. “Clearly the momentum we saw last quarter is still going strong. Customers are especially responding to us adding a third day to the event for timed auction items. It gives them more time to bid and more time to get the assets they need.”