Ritchie Bros.’ recently concluded September auctions in Dubai broke a five-year site record for bidders with more than 1,289 attending the now entirely online event from 86 countries.
The global industrial auctioneers said there has been strong attendance at its auctions throughout 2020, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, with the September auctions seeing bidding registrations going up by 32% compared to the same auction a year ago. Hundreds of new bidders joined the Dubai auctions throughout 2020, added the auctioneers.
A total of 2,090 lots were sold in the September online auction that was open for bidding over several days. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt and Iraq were the top-five buyer countries in the Middle East. The USA, Canada, India, Netherlands and the UK were the top-five outside the region.
In terms of the sold equipment, the leading asset categories were hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, all-terrain cranes, crawler tractors and hydraulic truck cranes. Motor graders, access equipment, SUVs and other items were also sold in the company’s third Dubai auction of 2020.
Due to the Covid-19 situation, Ritchie Bros. has moved its auctions entirely online. In Europe and the Middle East, the company exclusively uses its so-called Timed Auction system, allowing bidders to bid over several days until the auctions close easily.
Eduard Faig from Ritchie Bros Middle East said: “Our Timed Auction bidding system is super easy and fun to use. Bidders have more time and are notified when they’re outbid and when they are in the lead. There’s a lot of item information and photos available on our website, but bidders can still come to our auction site to inspect items of interest before they place bids.”
Regarding the latest auction, Faig commented: “Our customers here in the region love the onsite auction experience, but online bidding is steadily growing here as well. With our Dubai team’s support, many customers from the region placed their first online bids and were very positive about the experience.
Ritchie Bros. will hold its next Dubai auction on December 15 and 16, and Faig added: “We’re already building up inventory for our final Dubai auction in 2020. Anyone interested to sell before the end of the year should get in touch with us to discuss options.”