Every year, tens of thousands of people choose to sell used equipment at a Ritchie Bros. unreserved auction. They know they can count on certainty of sale ­– every item is sold to the highest bidder on auction day – and that we’ll help them get global market value for their assets. If you’re one of those people, or you’re considering selling at one of our auctions, here are five tips to help you maximize your returns.

1. Keep your equipment well-maintained.

Keeping equipment in great running condition is obvious when you’re using it, but it can also pay off when it comes time to sell. Having a reputation in your industry for taking good care of your equipment leads to more interest from motivated buyers who know they’ll be bidding on items that come from a “good home,” and that in turn increases competition for your gear.

2. Consign early.

A little planning ahead will help you maximize your exposure to our global buying audience. The earlier you consign, the more people see your equipment – in our marketing materials, on our 21-language website, and at our auction sites. That means more exposure, more demand, and better results on auction day.

3. Ask us about refurbishing.

The way your equipment looks can make a difference on auction day. Most of our auction sites have full-service, state-of-the-art refurbishing facilities offering year-round equipment painting and repair. Equipment that’s in good condition and ready to be put straight to work generally attracts higher bids on auction day. And buyers can treat refurbishment as a depreciable cost, as opposed to an expense if they have repairs done after the purchase.

4. Provide interested buyers with equipment info.

The more relevant information you can provide to potential buyers – maintenance records, repair schedules, owner and usage logs, etc. – the more confidence they’ll have in the equipment you’re selling, and the more likely they’ll be to choose it over other pieces. We post detailed equipment information and photos on our website, but having the papers and physical proof of a machine’s history that people can look at adds another level of transparency.

5. Get equipment to our yard early.

The sooner you get your equipment to one of our 40+ auction sites, the sooner interested buyers can test and inspect it in person. Most people still prefer to “kick the tires” before they bid (or have a mechanic do it for them) – check out equipment’s condition, start it up and watch it run, see the included attachments – even if they plan to bid online.

Ritchie Bros. is a full-service auction company, so whether you’re selling one piece of equipment or an entire fleet, we take care of all the details of the sale of your equipment. Want to know more? Talk to your Ritchie Bros. rep about selling equipment at an upcoming auction.
Watch this video to see what some of our Australian customers say about selling equipment at Ritchie Bros. unreserved auctions—or read some other customer testimonials here.