Can you imagine buying a second-hand Volvo FM9 tipper truck for Rs. 5 lakhs? Ever witnessed 200 trucks and construction equipments getting sold in 6 hours flat? It was quite an unimaginable experience at the first-ever Ritchie Bros.’ Indian auction held in Hyderabad on September 25. Tipper trucks and excavators were literally selling like hot cakes. Every 2 minutes a truck or an equipment was getting sold. The whole atmosphere was just electrifying with more than 300 buyers assembling at the auction site. Trucks were paraded like models walking down the ramp. It was an unbelievable and a mind-blowing experience for me.
An international crowd of bidders, both on-site and online, purchased hundreds of equipment items for more than Rs. 17,43,40,000 at the one-day unreserved sale in Hyderabad. At an unreserved auction, there are no minimum bids or reserve prices. Every item is sold to the highest bidder on the auction day, regardless of the price.
“It’s like a dream come true for me to hold the fir auction in India”, said Mr. Sameer Malhotra, Country Manager for Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. I remember meeting Mr. Sameer a couple of years ago when the company had just then set up an office in India to explore the possibility of conducting auctions. “In less than two years, the first India auction was conducted and the results were beyond what we expected”, he said.
Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers is the world’s largest industrial auctioneer selling more equipment to on-site and online bidders than any other company in the world. The company has over 110 locations in nearly 30 countries, including 39 auction sites worldwide. Ritchie Bros. sells, through unreserved public auctions, a broad range of used and unused industrial assets, including equipment, trucks and other assets utilized in the construction, transportation, agricultural, material handling, mining, forestry, petroleum and marine industries.
Ritchie Bros. auctions are fast paced and exciting. Most auctions feature hundreds of different used equipment items for the construction, transportation and other industries, providing a convenient “one-stop shop” for equipment buyers. Equipment is gathered and displayed at the auction site in the weeks leading up to an auction so that the potential buyers can inspect and test the equipment before they bid. On the auction day, mobile equipment is driven in front of a covered auction theatre at the site where the bidders can sit in comfort and see each item as it’s being sold. Because every Ritchie Bros. auction is unreserved, every item is sold to the highest bidder on the auction day.
“It was a great auction. We welcomed hundreds of visitors to the auction site, of which more than 200 registered to bid. Even though we welcomed so many new customers, they felt comfortable placing bids and clearly came to Hyderabad to buy equipment. Everyone at the auction, including our own staff, enjoyed the excitement of the first-ever Ritchie Bros. auction in India, and this resulted in a fantastic atmosphere”, Mr. Sameer added.
Every Ritchie Bros. auction is unreserved, meaning there are no minimum bids or reserve prices. It also forbids owners from bidding on their own items, which ensures that the bidders set the prices, not the sellers. Equipment are displayed at the auction site prior to the auction and bidders were allowed to inspect and compare different items before they bid on the auction day.
The auction site at Hyderabad was right opposite the new airport in Shamshabad. Ritchie Bros had hired a huge plot of land and converted it into an auction site. More than 200 equipments and tipper trucks were lined up for the auction, most of them used equipments. Bidders from all over India as well as from other countries participated in the unreserved public auction. Customers from as far away as the UAE, Japan, Lebanon, Singapore, Thailand and Canada purchased trucks and equipment at the auction.
The whole bidding process was very easy. The auctioneer announces an “ask price” when a truck is being sold. If no one wants to bid at that price, he reduces the ask price until someone places a bid. A bid catcher relays that bid to the auctioneer. The auctioneer then raises the ask price and calls for more bids. The bidding continues until no more bids are placed. The auctioneer will then announce that the item has been “sold!” to the highest bidder.
“This auction proved that the Indian market is ready for our unreserved equipment auctions,” said Mr. Guylain Turgeon, Managing Director for Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. “People came in great numbers and were very excited to be part of the event. In the 30 years I’ve been working at Ritchie Bros., I’ve never experienced such overwhelming reactions from a crowd as I’ve experienced at our first auction in India. The bidders had no problem keeping up with the fast pace of the auctioneer and our bid catchers. It’s pretty unique that so many new bidders participated so actively in a first-ever Ritchie Bros. auction in a country. Many of them successfully became the highest bidders and purchased equipment and trucks at fair market value. We’re looking forward to conducting another unreserved public auction in India soon.”
