Facts and Records
A Ritchie Bros. auction is an exciting event: millions of dollars of equipment, thousands of bidders, an item selling almost every minute – often for tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Here are some interesting facts from more than 50 years of Ritchie Bros. auctions:
Our first auction
- 1958 in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada – CA$2,000 of furniture sold
Our first auction outside North America
- 1987 – in Liverpool, the United Kingdom
The largest auction in Ritchie Bros. history
- US$190 million of equipment sold over five days at our Orlando, Florida auction site (February 2008)
Our largest Canadian auction
- CA$93 million (US$79 million) of equipment sold over three days at our Edmonton, Alberta auction site (April 2009)
Our largest auction in Europe
- US$67 million of equipment sold over three days at our Moerdijk, the Netherlands auction site (November 2004)
The highest bid ever placed at a Ritchie Bros. auction
- 34 million Euros (US$46 million) – for the 220-ft megayacht Apoise, at an auction in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (March 2010)
The highest bid placed on a piece of equipment at a Ritchie Bros. auction
- US$3.7 million - for a Liebherr LR 1800, 800-ton crawler crane at an auction in Sacramento, California (April 2006)
The most bidders at one auction
- More than 8,500 people registered to bid on-site or online at an auction at our Edmonton, Alberta auction site (April 2009)
The most lots ever sold at a Ritchie Bros. auction
- Over 8,300 heavy equipment items and trucks sold over six days at our Orlando, Florida auction site (February 2009)
Most equipment sold to online bidders at one auction
- US$36 million of equipment sold to online bidders participating in an auction at our Orlando, Florida auction site (February 2009)
Our largest auction site
- Orlando, Florida – 200 acres
Our first permanent auction site
- Edmonton, Alberta – opened in 1976
Auction terminology
Proxy? Choice? Unreserved? Learn the meaning of some common auction terms.