At the end of a big project, Australia's Alex Fraser Group faced a situation that's familiar to many in the construction industry: a long list of surplus equipment.
Managing Director Peter Murphy assessed the company's options and came to a simple conclusion.
A Ritchie Bros. auction is just a really simple, efficient way to clean up a long list of gear you don't need.
As one of Australia's largest providers of recycled road materials, the Alex Fraser Group buys and sells equipment regularly, so they're no stranger to Ritchie Bros. auctions.
But they typically only buy and sell a few pieces at a time.
At the end of a big project in early 2013, the company was faced with an unusual situation: almost $750,000 worth of surplus equipment on their hands. Among almost 90 items they wanted to sell: crushing equipment, excavators, transport trucks, dump trucks, trailers and containers.
Managing Director Peter Murphy and his team looked at all their options, including private sale and various auction companies, and then came to a decision: sell it all at a Ritchie Bros. unreserved auction.
"We felt confident that Ritchie Bros. could market our gear, attract the crowds and get us the best value for it," says Peter simply. "I felt pretty comfortable selling unreserved because Ritchie Bros. brings the market for this type of equipment."
One other benefit: less hassle.
"We had a high article count," explains Peter. "To have lots of people drifting through our site looking at it all was not very appealing. Being able to send all of our gear to Ritchie Bros. and have no doubt that everything would be sold at the end was very attractive. It would have taken us months if we'd tried to do it privately."
The Alex Fraser Group sold their surplus equipment at the Ritchie Bros. auction in Geelong, Victoria in June 2013.
"The thing that impressed me the most was the specific, targeted marketing Ritchie Bros. did on top of their broad advertising," says Peter. As well as being listed on Ritchie Bros.' high-traffic website, in print ads and targeted direct mail and email, the company's equipment was featured in a special brochure; their Ritchie Bros. rep even made personal phone calls to buyers he thought would be interested.
The result? More than 1,500 people registered to bid in the Geelong auction. Equipment sold to buyers from across Australia, Asia and beyond.
"By sending it down to the Ritchie Bros. site, you're putting your gear in front of a bigger audience," says Peter. "At the end of the day, we felt like we got a good return on our equipment. A Ritchie Bros. auction is just a really simple, efficient way to clean up a long list of gear you don't need."
Written and published: August 2013.
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