Ritchie Bros’ Dubai auctions this month will be an online only affair due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with bidders using the company’s ‘Timed Auction’ bidding system.

The global machinery and equipment auctioneers said the bidding will take place for a few days prior to the auction, ending on September 29 and 30. The auction this month will see over 1100 items going under the hammer, such as cranes, dump trucks, excavators, wheel loaders, dozers, etc. All item will be sold to the highest bidder.

Eduard Faig, regional sales manager, Ritchie Bros. Middle East & India, was quoted as saying: “It’s easy to place bids and bidders have more time to get their bids in. The auction system notifies bidders when they’re outbid or are in the lead. There’s a lot of item information and photos available on our website, and bidders can still come to the auction site to inspect items of interest before they place bids.”

Among the highlights of the September auction are more than 30 cranes, including XCMG and Sany mobile cranes; over 60 wheeled loaders, including a 2018 Caterpillar 972L; and 60-plus excavators, including a 2018 Caterpillar 320D2.

Earlier this year, Ritchie Bros held an entirely online auction in June, which saw heavy participation with bidding registrations going 21% over the same auction last year.

The June auction saw over 1,080 items sold, with 1,012 bidders from 73 countries participating. The top five countries for the number of bidders were the UAE, USA, Canada, UK, and The Netherlands, while the top equipment categories sold were wheeled loaders, hydraulic excavators, mixer trucks, lifts and truck tractors.