鈥淒ue to COVID-19, all auctions now are online bidding only.鈥� This message greets the visitors of the Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers website.聽
Even though the current restrictions may have sounded as a serious challenge at the first site, the global pandemic that put many companies in a difficult situation opened new opportunities for the auctioning world.聽
Jordan Clarke, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers agriculture sales director for Western Canada, shared that the online bidding system that they were forced to turn towards didn't bring too many changes to their work and is working 鈥渟urprisingly well.鈥澛�
鈥淭he process leading up to a sale is still the same. We are setting up the yard just like we would at any farm auction expecting that there was going to be 300-400 people there. All the practices of what we need for information ahead of the sale, that鈥檚 all 小蓝视频 done. Really the only change is actually what happens on sale day,鈥� said Clarke.聽
鈥淭he ability to have everything in the yard available online including big equipment and the smaller tools 鈥� has been a welcome sight for a lot of customers that perhaps were used to travelling in the cold and odd weather and putting on lots of miles. They are able to bid from the comfort of their home. And combined with the fact that a lot of customers are social distancing and practising isolation, this is a form of entertainment. We do have a captivated audience that鈥檚 watching these sales.鈥�
The sales are going well, exceeding auctioneers鈥� expectations price-wise, which results in many happy selling customers.聽
It the past, a typical live farm auction often had an online component, but it usually started with an hour or two that was available to a local crowd only. Now Ritchie Bros. offer all of that online as well, to be sold by timed auction.聽
Clarke said that despite the changes there is still as much activity in southeast Saskatchewan as they would usually see.聽
鈥淚f you didn鈥檛 know any better, you鈥檇 swear that everything is the way it always has been. People鈥檚 buying habits aren鈥檛 any different. In fact, I would say, they are as strong as they鈥檝e ever been,鈥� said Clarke.聽
The strong sales are probably a result of a combination of convenience of the platform, a self-isolation regime keeping many people in front of their computers and the seasonal demand.聽
鈥淭he activity level has been very, very good from both the buying side and the selling side,鈥� said Clarke.聽
For most people the transition to the timed auction platform went relatively easy with many clients already accustomed with virtual bidding, thanks to the previous online components of the sales. Clarke noted that there was some people who always preferred to show up for live auctions, but at this point Ritchie Bros. receive a lot of positive feedback even from them.聽
鈥淲henever there is something new, there is going to be some hesitation and a learning curve, but we hadn鈥檛 seen any changes in the results. In fact, we鈥檝e seen better attendance and better results in certain aspects. And that鈥檚 very encouraging and promising for our sellers,鈥� said Clarke.聽
He believes that the new system brought more advantages from both their and customers鈥� standpoints. At this time the company needs less people moving across Western Canada, which means, first, less expenses on that part, and second, more opportunities, as they can put together more auctions and make them even better using the resources they already have.聽
And buyers now can attend multiple sites on the same day and can also keep going with other tasks while putting a max bid on items they want.聽
However, Clarke pointed out that live auctions remain as important as they were before.聽
There is no plan yet as to what is going to happen to future sales. The current situation brought in some changes, but Clarke said they hope that when the pandemic is over they will come out with the best practices and will have a mixture of live auctions with some online bidding and possibly some timed auctions as well, as long as it is working for both sellers and buyers.聽
