Has Richie Bros Auctioneers lost what put them ahead?

Abscraperguy · Sep 8, 2011

It seems the last while that Richie Bros has lost some of the features that made them famous and allowed them to expand.

1. Insisting on checks clearing the bank before releasing anything. This one is nothing but a slap in the face. I've never passed a bad check on them like most, if not all of you but it doesn't matter, everyone gets treated like a criminal. I don't suppose they've heard the saying "treat me like a criminal and I'll turn into one".

2. Fees, fees, fees. It appears that RBA has taken a page out of the airline's book. In a lot of locales they can get away with this because they've bought out or ran the competition out of business. Take a look at the smaller items. The seller pay 20% and then the buyer pays another 10%. Do they honestly think they're worth $600 to sell a $2000 piece. And then should it be a bad day and a piece or two brings less than their $50 commission it can add insult to injury when that $50/piece is made up from the remainder that brought over 50.
Now what really takes the cake is the latest fee, 2.5% on everything. Mark my words, pretty soon we'll pay for a bid numbers, parking, and even using the biffy. Here's hoping that taking a leak will be cheaper than taking a dump.

3. Timed Auctions. Ok we are in a tech age and yes I have internet on my computer and carry an Android so timed auctions aren't a problem to bid on stuff. But with technology stuff breaks down and then what. It's happened where the kiosks at the auction all crashed and no one could bid except online. Lots of stuff sold terribly cheap and who paid for it but the seller. I dislike the timed auction because it doesn't allow people to push stuff up in price if the urge suddenly arises. There are a lot of people who wait til the last second to place a high bid and then if you haven't entered your absolute highest bid they take it. And extension after a bid like Ironplanet would be a definite improvement.

4. Customer service. RBA doesn't try to have less than ideal customer service I just think its a victim of its own success. When RBA went public it fueled a tremendous growth. There are a lot of younger folks in the company now, who haven't been there long, who tend to be a little cocky. And really who can blame them, they work for the biggest heavy equipment auctioneer in the world.

5. Integrity RBA's integrity isn't terrible its just not 100% like they would make us all think. There's no such thing as an unreserved auction if a guarantee that was made is starting to look like a serious loss. This had been discussed on here.
A friend of mine who was selling out contacted the two biggest auctioneers in his area to come take a look. The RBA guy never came and never came but the other rep was at his yard in a few days. Well after hearing nothing from the RBA rep after a few weeks he called the other guy and told him it was his job. It just happened that the RBA rep called that afternoon and wanted to come down. My friend informed him that he was sorry but he had listed it with the other guy. The RBA rep wouldn't take no for an answer even going as far to tell him if he hadn't signed any papers he could easily switch. In other words, it would be okay to break a verbal promise to switch to RBA. It didn't happen.

I don't mean this thread to be just an RBA bashing but these are some things I wonder about. I still go to some of their sales but am a lot more careful about buying as they aren't, IMHO as customer friendly as some of their competition and definitely not like they used to be.

Hendrik · Sep 8, 2011

Companies change, just about everyone hates ebay now, how can they do what they do? Marketshare.

2stickbill · Sep 8, 2011

Abscraperguy said:
It seems the last while that Richie Bros has lost some of the features that made them famous and allowed them to expand.

1. Insisting on checks clearing the bank before releasing anything. This one is nothing but a slap in the face. I've never passed a bad check on them like most, if not all of you but it doesn't matter, everyone gets treated like a criminal. I don't suppose they've heard the saying "treat me like a criminal and I'll turn into one".

2. Fees, fees, fees. It appears that RBA has taken a page out of the airline's book. In a lot of locales they can get away with this because they've bought out or ran the competition out of business. Take a look at the smaller items. The seller pay 20% and then the buyer pays another 10%. Do they honestly think they're worth $600 to sell a $2000 piece. And then should it be a bad day and a piece or two brings less than their $50 commission it can add insult to injury when that $50/piece is made up from the remainder that brought over 50.
Now what really takes the cake is the latest fee, 2.5% on everything. Mark my words, pretty soon we'll pay for a bid numbers, parking, and even using the biffy. Here's hoping that taking a leak will be cheaper than taking a dump.

3. Timed Auctions. Ok we are in a tech age and yes I have internet on my computer and carry an Android so timed auctions aren't a problem to bid on stuff. But with technology stuff breaks down and then what. It's happened where the kiosks at the auction all crashed and no one could bid except online. Lots of stuff sold terribly cheap and who paid for it but the seller. I dislike the timed auction because it doesn't allow people to push stuff up in price if the urge suddenly arises. There are a lot of people who wait til the last second to place a high bid and then if you haven't entered your absolute highest bid they take it. And extension after a bid like Ironplanet would be a definite improvement.

4. Customer service. RBA doesn't try to have less than ideal customer service I just think its a victim of its own success. When RBA went public it fueled a tremendous growth. There are a lot of younger folks in the company now, who haven't been there long, who tend to be a little cocky. And really who can blame them, they work for the biggest heavy equipment auctioneer in the world.

5. Integrity RBA's integrity isn't terrible its just not 100% like they would make us all think. There's no such thing as an unreserved auction if a guarantee that was made is starting to look like a serious loss. This had been discussed on here.
A friend of mine who was selling out contacted the two biggest auctioneers in his area to come take a look. The RBA guy never came and never came but the other rep was at his yard in a few days. Well after hearing nothing from the RBA rep after a few weeks he called the other guy and told him it was his job. It just happened that the RBA rep called that afternoon and wanted to come down. My friend informed him that he was sorry but he had listed it with the other guy. The RBA rep wouldn't take no for an answer even going as far to tell him if he hadn't signed any papers he could easily switch. In other words, it would be okay to break a verbal promise to switch to RBA. It didn't happen.

I don't mean this thread to be just an RBA bashing but these are some things I wonder about. I still go to some of their sales but am a lot more careful about buying as they aren't, IMHO as customer friendly as some of their competition and definitely not like they used to be.

A friend of mine said you have to give them a $1,000 deposit just to enter yard and look.

osrf29 · Sep 8, 2011

alot of other Auctions are doing are doing the same.I think in the future the ones that stand out will be the auctions that dont nickle and dime us to death.

Mack185 · Sep 8, 2011

2stickbill said:
A friend of mine said you have to give them a $1,000 deposit just to enter yard and look.

Not at the St. Louis one. You can roam freely, climb all over anything, start anything etc. etc. Have never had a RB employee even look my way.

2stickbill · Sep 8, 2011

Mack185 said:
Not at the St. Louis one. You can roam freely, climb all over anything, start anything etc. etc. Have never had a RB employee even look my way.

This was in Houston TX.Might be different there.

alco · Sep 8, 2011

2stickbill said:
A friend of mine said you have to give them a $1,000 deposit just to enter yard and look.

It's not like that at any of the sales I have ever been to.

imbzcul8r · Sep 9, 2011

First time bidders have to put up a $1000 deposit, refunded after the auction, don't know what that proves other than they can come up with a thousand bucks. Our local Ritchie rep came to our yard a few months ago & said they were going to a 2.5% buyers commission and explained all the wonderful services they were going to provide like detailed inspections, warranties & financing and then went on to say that almost every other auction company has buyers commissions too. The detailed inspection is just a bunch of extra pictures & the warranty you pay extra for so its just another way to get a few extra bucks. I find myself going to fewer and fewer Ritchie auctions just because Ritchies is getting retail or close to it on most items that are at all decent anyway.

RTSmith · Sep 10, 2011

At two recent auctions, we were out on the yard at the small lots, in 100 degree heat mid afternoon. The auctioneers were blowing through it so fast, RB "sold" it while folks were still trying to bid. I pity the sellers of these types of lots. They are charged a fortune, and then the auctioneers treat it like junk. I guess if it can't roll across the ramp, it doesn't pay enough.

TimHay · Sep 10, 2011

2stickbill said:
A friend of mine said you have to give them a $1,000 deposit just to enter yard and look.

new time bidders have to have a $1000 deposit
i always right a check and leave with what a bought rightaway it all deppends on the amount you have spent at richie brothers in your lifetime

Abscraperguy · Sep 10, 2011

TimHay said:
new time bidders have to have a $1000 deposit
i always right a check and leave with what a bought rightaway it all deppends on the amount you have spent at richie brothers in your lifetime

Have you bought anything in the last year? A year ago they started insisting on checks clearing before they release stuff. I'm told this applies to EVERYONE. I have spent more than just 100 or 200000 but maybe if I had spent the required 3 mil to become "important" things would be different. And its not that I've made purchases a handful of times. I've spent all the way from $50 at a single sale to $70000. And total purchases could be almost 100 in the last 10 years.

Randy88 · Sep 13, 2011

What goes around comes around in the end, what put them on top just might be what puts them under in the end, all the yards and sale sites with buildings are nice but cost a lot of money in this day and age, its called overhead expenses and the way the market has shifted to internet bidding someone without those overhead expenses might just take them down by undercutting them and still make a hefty profit while doing it all while charging less to both the buyer and seller. Nobody stays on top forever and the larger any company gets the less that's offered to any customer for support or personal service, let alone being treated like a human being, most are seeing just that right now from RBA, we're no longer a person or customer but just a number, like any item they sell, those too are just numbers.

Justin · Sep 19, 2011

so i just signed up to bid at RBA, I was planning to bid online, I have never bought anything from RBA. So they ask for a deposit just to bid, and that was a percentage of what my maxium bid would be. So is that the norm, for alot of these auctions? Every other auction I have ever been to never asked me how much money I was going to spend or could spend. Granted I did not fill that box out, I think I will wait until I can talk the rep for this area. Sounds like B.S. to me.

Randy88 · Sep 19, 2011

Nope thats how its done, most even ask for the bank letter of guarantee when you sign up and put down your deposit, then on top of that they'll even call your bank to make sure they have a contact person to talk to if they have any questions about your account as well, so cheer up, things are looking up for you your only part way done with the experience of trying to buy equipment off that action. Its usually easier to just go to the sale in person rather than deal with all the paperwork ahead of time, that way if you don't end up getting anything you don't have to wait until your money makes it back to your bank, and most times if you haven't done enough business with them that's how you need to do it each time, another thing to keep in mind when your paying for your purchases. Other web based sale sites are operated differently, and yes its easier to do business with some of the others and that's why this thread has been hashed over several times now, people are upset, but I'm sure you didn't have that same thought did you, you probably came away thanking them for the opportunity to give them your money?

TimHay · Oct 10, 2011

Abscraperguy said:
Have you bought anything in the last year? A year ago they started insisting on checks clearing before they release stuff. I'm told this applies to EVERYONE. I have spent more than just 100 or 200000 but maybe if I had spent the required 3 mil to become "important" things would be different. And its not that I've made purchases a handful of times. I've spent all the way from $50 at a single sale to $70000. And total purchases could be almost 100 in the last 10 years.

I bought a truck at the spring sale in GP online, a four in one bucket at the last Edmonton sale, and a ripper on line at the last GP sale. All of wich I paid with a check not certified and left with my item that day. It was the same with my 8n and 621b. They take my check to the manager or phone my rep.and it always works out fine. I personally feel richie's is a class act

Abscraperguy · Oct 11, 2011

TimHay said:
I bought a truck at the spring sale in GP online, a four in one bucket at the last Edmonton sale, and a ripper on line at the last GP sale. All of wich I paid with a check not certified and left with my item that day. It was the same with my 8n and 621b. They take my check to the manager or phone my rep.and it always works out fine. I personally feel richie's is a class act

Consider yourself fortunate. I've never heard of this rule being relaxed. I had a good relationship with my rep but RBA pulled a dirty one on him and he left. The new guy lives a few hundred miles away and doesn't know anyone from his area. I would have tried that trick of yours (phoning the rep) if the former rep was still around and if I would ever buy anything there again.

dblaneyfan · Oct 20, 2011

Ritchie Bros has built up a strong reputation with foreign and domestic buyers over the last decade by doing a lot of business, and they have seen the gamut of scams. It isn't really a "treat you like a criminal" mentality, it is a "fool you once shame on you, fool me twice..." process. I have known of a couple of people over the years who have won a piece of equipment, sweet talked them into letting him leave with it the same day, and then sold the equipment without the auction company ever getting paid. Most of those pieces have been the smaller, sub $3000 items that make it hard and expensive to recover or get a judgement for.

I have known of an auction company who held a sale, and a couple of days later had everything remaining on the yard seized. If you had already paid it didn't matter, some people got their won and paid for equipment months later. It happened in South Carolina, sure some on here have heard of that ordeal.

A lot of smaller auction companies require a bank letter of credit before you can get a bidder number. A bank letter of credit is pretty much guaranteed if you want to bid online. Lyons requires a $10,000 wire transfer deposit just to bid online.

Companies are out to make money, and a lot of auction companies have followed RBA's lead in the buyer fee also. Why do people still use Ritchie? Because on average they pull higher bid results in their areas. They also don't play the games that other auctioneers are well known for. Third, they have credibility.

I don't agree with the buyer premium, but I do agree with the payment clearing rules. Been burnt a few times on that myself.

With all of that being said, I would rather purchase at smaller auctions, looking for better deals.

Butlerthe · Apr 2, 2016

Timed auction is problematic. Hate to see them go to this. Live auctions have always sold themselves on the fact that it determines true market value. Being on site during a sale is a disadvantage in the timed items. The pros/house can sit and wait on pc's (or...read further) until last second and enter "max bid" . RB servers are not fast enough to update/notify those on site who think they are high bidder at the point of which time expires. Many items sell well under value do to this and opportunities are missed by customers, both buyers and sellers. It is not an auction. It's luck of the draw to see who can hit at the last possible second. (eBay tricks) By using max bid in the last seconds, it doesn't allow for others to know the bid and have a fair opportunity to make a purchase. I would never sell anything that way for sure. It is all about reducing labor costs at each sale. Increase of margin on less revenue and costs. With added fees and less labor, RB wins, not the consignor. DR dumped stock due to direction of new philosophy. The no reserve, no buy back that made RB who they are applies to the consignor but not to RB owned items. The % of RB owned items continues to increase. The timed auction creates a great opportunity for "the house" to purchase items below value and resell. They will not tell you who the bid numbers belong too for many reasons. It is an enviroment that can be controlled with software, in cyber land and out of site.
Everything cycles and opportunity will be created for others in this profession to gain market share by applying the same original principles that DR did years ago, and customer service.

Welder Dave · Apr 2, 2016

Dave Ritchie's 2 year vacation on the yacht he paid $100,000,000 for cost him about $40,000,000 when he sold the yacht at auction. Bidding on that required a large refundable deposit to weed out dreamers. He's not hurting! RB used to be much better and certainly were one of the last to have buyers premiums but when everyone else has them... I was surprised there wasn't a big revolt against them for adding the buyers premium. I'm sure the regular/large buyers have made previous arrangements/guarantee's regarding payment but personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with making sure a cheque clears before you take the item. I don't know why anybody in their right mind would sell the small stuff at an RB auction though. It's not sold by an auctioneer but I guess by timed bidding and doesn't get anywhere near what it should. They used to have trucks drive around to auction the items that couldn't be moved and it brought much higher prices. It's good for the buyers I guess but I've seen stuff that is worth several thousands go for a peanuts because I think nobody wanted to do the timed bidding. Who wants to keep going back to see if someone else bid higher? It's weird because other small items that are new and sold at every auction, like excavator thumbs, are sold live but with closed circuit pictures by an actual auctioneer. This isn't fair for consigners. Everything should be sold live by an auctioneer. The other thing that's puzzling is how an item that was supposedly sold to the highest bidder stays in the yard off to the side and then sold again 2 or 3 auctions later, not the next auction. I'd bet dollars to donuts RB is buying the really good deals (or they didn't meet their guaranteed minimum) because they know they are worth more. This is against their own principles. I've seen it a few times at their Edmonton(Nisku) auction and it's too much of a coincidence when you see a machine moved off to another part of the yard and sit there for a few month' to be sold again ( better season).

DIYDAVE · Apr 2, 2016

Any sale that has a BP, is not worth going to, if you ask me. Never been to a RB sale, but usually go to an auction most every saturday. If a lawyer or real estate auction were to charge a fee on their work, to the buyer and the seller, He/she would likely be brought up on ethics charges,and booted from their profession. Another gripe is that most that charge the BP, also charge tax, on the bid amount + the BP. Labor is not supposed to be taxed here, so the auctioneer is actually scamming another percentage point or s, off the buyer...

Has Richie Bros Auctioneers lost what put them ahead?

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