About Us

ESTABLISHED: 1958 in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. First unreserved auction: 1958. First unreserved industrial auction: 1963.
LOCATIONS: Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada, Ritchie Bros. has over 110 locations worldwide, including more than 40 auction sites in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia.
EMPLOYEES: Ritchie Bros. has more than 1,160 full-time employees around the world.
LISTING: Ritchie Bros. is a public company. Its common shares are listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the trading symbol RBA.
MANAGEMENT: Ritchie Bros. is a public company. Its common shares are listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the trading symbol RBA. Robert Murdoch is the current Chairman of the Board; Peter Blake is the current CEO.
UNRESERVED AUCTIONS: Every Ritchie Bros. auction is unreserved. That means there are no minimum bids or reserve prices; every item is sold to the highest bidder on auction day, regardless of price. Ritchie Bros. also forbids owners from bidding on their own items, ensuring that bidders set the prices, not sellers.
INDUSTRIES: Ritchie Bros. sells a broad range of used and unused equipment for the construction, transportation, agricultural, material handling, mining, forestry, petroleum, marine and other industries.
2011 AUCTION RESULTS: Gross auction proceeds of US$3.7 billion; 339 unreserved industrial and agricultural auctions.
INDUSTRIAL AUCTIONS (2011): 228 auctions; 385,000 bidder registrations; 95,550 buyers; 41,300 consignments; 270,000 lots.
AVERAGE INDUSTRIAL AUCTION: (2011) US$15.5 million in gross auction proceeds; 1,186 lots from 183 consignors; 1,681 on-site and online bidders from around the world.
GLOBAL MARKETPLACE: The participation of on-site and online bidders from around the world at each Ritchie Bros. auction ensures that equipment is sold for its global fair market value – regardless of local market conditions. On average, over 1,600 bidders participate in each industrial auction. Larger auctions can attract hundreds, even thousands more.
INSPECTION: Equipment being sold is organized at the auction site weeks ahead of sale day. Prospective buyers are encouraged to come to the yard to test, inspect and compare the equipment to assess its value and condition before bidding.
LIVE AUCTIONS: Ritchie Bros. sells most equipment in a live auction. Mobile equipment is driven over a ramp in front of the auction theater; photos of stationary items are often projected onto a large Virtual Ramp screen. Bidders can sit inside in comfort and see each item while they bid. Bids can also be placed online in real time or by proxy.
TIMED AUCTIONS: Ritchie Bros. often sells smaller items, like consumer goods and attachments, in an online Timed Auction. Bids can be placed for several days, either online at rbauction.com, using on-site internet kiosks or mobile devices, or by proxy.
RBAUCTION.COM: Ritchie Bros. launched its new industry-leading, 21-language web site in 2010. Millions of people visit rbauction.com every year to check the auction calendar, search for equipment, access free auction results and even place bids in real time at auctions worldwide.
ONLINE BIDDING: Most people prefer to bid in person at Ritchie Bros. auctions; a growing number use Ritchie Bros.’ simple and convenient online bidding service to bid in real time at auctions worldwide. In 2011, 50% of the bidders at Ritchie Bros. industrial auctions bid over the internet; online bidders purchased more than US$1.1 billion of equipment.
SERVICES: Ritchie Bros. offers a range of convenient services to make buying and selling equipment easier, including financing, shipping, refurbishing, powertrain service warranties and insurance.
RITCHIEWIKI.COM: Ritchie Bros. sponsors a free collaborative web site for the equipment industry at RitchieWiki.com. The wiki contains the world's largest database of free equipment specifications. Ritchie Bros. sponsors a free collaborative web site for the equipment industry at RitchieWiki.com. The wiki contains the world’s largest database of free equipment specifications.