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

More than 8,850 people from 71 countries registered to bid in the Houston auction — February 11 to 12 — including more than 6,950 registering to participate online. U.S. buyers purchased approximately 90 percent 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 percent of the equipment. Online buyers purchased 58 percent 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 percent 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-plus truck tractors, 170-plus excavators, 115-plus skid steers, 90-plus loader backhoes, 50-plus cranes, 50-plus dozers and more. All items were sold without minimum bids or reserve prices.

Ritchie Bros. currently has close to 70,000 equipment items, trucks, and other assets listed for sale through its various marketplaces. The next Texas onsite auction will be held in Fort Worth, from March 10 to 11.

For a complete list of upcoming auctions and equipment available, visit rbauction.com and ironplanet.com.

Auction Quick Facts

• Total gross transactional value — $61-plusM
• Number of sellers — 765-plus *new Texas record
• Amount sold to online bidders — $35-plus million (58 percent)
• Total registered bidders (in person and online) — 8,850-plus *new Texas record
• Registered online bidders — 6,950-plus
• Total lots sold — 5,850-plus
• Number of sellers — 765-plus *new Texas record

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