Ritchie Bros have conducted a US$29 million unreserved public auction that was held on June 23 & 24 at the Company’s permanent auction site in Los Angeles, California.

The auction attracted more than 1,900 bidders from around the world including an on-site buyer from Russia who purchased more than US$840,000 of equipment. The US$29 million auction featured more than 2,900 heavy equipment items and trucks and attracted bidders from 28 countries, including 41 U.S. states. Almost 1,300 people registered to bid in person at the auction site; another 600 registered to bid in real time over the internet. Buyers from outside California purchased almost US$14 million of equipment, including more than US$7 million that went to buyers from outside the United States.

“People are willing to travel a long way to bid at our auctions,” said Richard Aldersley, Ritchie Bros. Regional Manager. “They appreciate the fact that we sell a large selection of equipment for many industries, all in one place at one time; the ability to test, inspect and compare items at the auction site; and the knowledge that the bidding process is fair and transparent. If they can’t make it to the site on auction day, they can bid in real time over the internet. Our ability to attract a large global audience of bidders, both on-site and online, helps us deliver consistently strong returns to our local consignors. We were very pleased with the results of this week’s auction.”

Among the 2,900 equipment items sold in the unreserved auction in L.A.: wheel loaders, motor scrapers, crawler tractors, hydraulic excavators, loader backhoes, skid steer loaders, crushing equipment, scissorlifts, forklifts, mixer trucks, dump trucks, truck tractors, pickups and cars.

Posted: 06|30|08 at 12:09 pm. Filed under: US News.