Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers - Buyer beware!

[Soundguy]

From my experiece with auctions, their are numerous mistakes on many descriptions. I go to all the woodworking equipment auctions I can find and the auction companies know very little about the equipment for the most part. You have to know what it is that you are looking at prior to bidding. I come accross mistakes all the time.

I've been to some firearm auctions.. and I can assure you. the auctioneer, unless they are a collector themselves, only knows what is written on the card with the gun... not a cintilla more..

Soundguy

 

[BobRip]

I've been to some firearm auctions.. and I can assure you. the auctioneer, unless they are a collector themselves, only knows what is written on the card with the gun... not a cintilla more..

Soundguy

I suspect for legal reasons they want to keep it that way.

 

[Soundguy]

I doubt it is for legal reason.. I'm sure it is more due to a lack of experience. I.E. the auctioneer may be auctioning beanie babies one day.. baseball cards the next.. realestate the next.. then guns the next. They aren't experts in what they auction.. they are experts at auctioning.. i.e. selling for high bids.. reguardless of what is being sold... they don't care what it is.. they only want to see hands fly up.. any other info is useless to them unless it will drive the price higher.. and hopefully that info is included on the card.. etc..

Soundguy

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

Last spring I was at the RB auction in Morris IL. A trucking co. was going out of buisness and had 9- 378 Peterbilts at the auction. 4 of them were 2004's and 5 were 2001's. I wanted the 2004's but the 2001's would be my second choice. When they came up the block the 2004's were first. I was bibbing against an internet bidder and he out bid me. He took all 4 for 97,000 each. The 2001's were next. I ended up getting 4 for 86.500 each. After that I was walking around looking at somthing else when I saw 2 of the 2004's going back up the block. I ran back up to see what was going on and as I got there they sold for 93,000. I went to the office to get some answers. They told me the internet bidder hit the wrong button and only wanted 2 not 4. so they ran them back through. I told them this was B.S. and I should of had a chance to buy those trucks. I asked if they made any anouncement that they were coming back through and they hadn't. I suggest they run all the trucks back through to make it right. They laughed at that idea. Now I was realy mad. I ask them to run the trucks I just bought back through because I didn't want them. They said they were mine and I could sell them at the next auction. I talked with them for over an hour trying to get some kind of satisfaction. I had just spent $342,000. and they could care less. I will never spend a nother penny at RB Auctions.

 

[Iowachild]

I doubt it is for legal reason.. I'm sure it is more due to a lack of experience. I.E. the auctioneer may be auctioning beanie babies one day.. baseball cards the next.. realestate the next.. then guns the next. They aren't experts in what they auction.. they are experts at auctioning.. i.e. selling for high bids.. reguardless of what is being sold... they don't care what it is.. they only want to see hands fly up.. any other info is useless to them unless it will drive the price higher.. and hopefully that info is included on the card.. etc..

Soundguy

I have to agree with Soundguy. Auctioneers make their money on percentage of the sale, not being experts on the items sold.

 

[Big_Cajun]

GeauxLSU:

I'd be madder than **** at the whole situation if it were me in your shoes. I would have done a much more thorough examination of the tractor though, even if it were raining, or I would've passed on the bid. As for the auction company, I'd never take part in any of their functions again, and I'd tell everyone I know, because poor/rude service like that is something that everyone needs to hear. As for slingging mud....after those comments, they should drown and be buried in it (RB auctions that is).

Unacceptable on the service aspect...a lawyer isn't worth the $$$ difference. Eat the loss, enjoy the tractor...for that price, you should be able to recoup your costs if you sell it.

I hope you enjoy the tractor though.

BC

 

[bkjarrett]

Having been in the auction business with a very large global company....You will be hard pressed to win anything against RBA. If you are not that familiar with what you are buying you should buy it from a local dealer. Most "honest" dealers will stand behind what they sell in their community because word of mouth travels faster than the internet. As for the bidding....A lot of what you see at the auction, the auction company actually owns. If the item is one of theirs they will go to great lengths to protect their investment. If they don't own it they don't care...."10% is 10% no matter what it brings". If you are a first time buyer...the auction block is probably not the place to get your feet wet. My suggestion is attend a few auctions, see how it works then give it a try.

 

[brain55]

Even though this is nearly a six year old thread I'd like to add some things from my experience as a customer on the selling end. As the mechanic for a pretty good sized landscape contractor that was downsizing it was my job to make the vehicles and equipment being sold as presentable as possible to bring top dollar for my employer. Knowing that onsite operation and inspection would be minimal there are things that can be done to hide problems with machines. In addition to bidders not doing any homework to make sure they knew the real worth of equipment they were buying.

I watched people buy our used up two axle utility trailers for $2000 when a brand new one could be bought for under $2500. It is really tough to discover non-functioning 4wd or hydrostats that are weak under load. I had a Bobcat MT-52 that had a dead cylinder and smoked really bad. So I backed off the delivery valve in the injection pump so it wouldn't inject fuel into that cylinder no more smoking. Sure it ran on two cylinders but since it wasn't ever run under load it brought as much money as the machine next to it. I had a NH TC-35 that needed transmission seals I plugged the holes in the bottom of the clutch housing so it wouldn't drip. We had a Bobcat 337 excavator that had lost the crank pulley nut and spit off the crank pulley, to fix it properly I would have replaced the crankshaft, but for the auction JB Weld and Loctite did the job. The only stipulation from the auction company was that the piece needed to start and run under its own power to make it across the block, unless it was non-powered of course. Our pick-ups got wash jobs and new factory seat covers, that $200 per truck plus my time more than paid for itself I'm sure.

The only thing the auction company would take care of after the sale that I know of is when the bidder came to pick the equipment up if the battery was dead they would install a new battery, of course as the seller that came out of our end.

 

[murphy1244]

Even though this is nearly a six year old thread I'd like to add some things from my experience as a customer on the selling end. As the mechanic for a pretty good sized landscape contractor that was downsizing it was my job to make the vehicles and equipment being sold as presentable as possible to bring top dollar for my employer. Knowing that onsite operation and inspection would be minimal there are things that can be done to hide problems with machines. In addition to bidders not doing any homework to make sure they knew the real worth of equipment they were buying.

I watched people buy our used up two axle utility trailers for $2000 when a brand new one could be bought for under $2500. It is really tough to discover non-functioning 4wd or hydrostats that are weak under load. I had a Bobcat MT-52 that had a dead cylinder and smoked really bad. So I backed off the delivery valve in the injection pump so it wouldn't inject fuel into that cylinder no more smoking. Sure it ran on two cylinders but since it wasn't ever run under load it brought as much money as the machine next to it. I had a NH TC-35 that needed transmission seals I plugged the holes in the bottom of the clutch housing so it wouldn't drip. We had a Bobcat 337 excavator that had lost the crank pulley nut and spit off the crank pulley, to fix it properly I would have replaced the crankshaft, but for the auction JB Weld and Loctite did the job. The only stipulation from the auction company was that the piece needed to start and run under its own power to make it across the block, unless it was non-powered of course. Our pick-ups got wash jobs and new factory seat covers, that $200 per truck plus my time more than paid for itself I'm sure.

The only thing the auction company would take care of after the sale that I know of is when the bidder came to pick the equipment up if the battery was dead they would install a new battery, of course as the seller that came out of our end.

If you sold that in the state of Ohio you would be charged with fraud.

 

[brain55]

If you sold that in the state of Ohio you would be charged with fraud.

Fraud for what? I didn't make any promises about the condition of any machine neither did the auction company. Like stated before it is the responsibility of the bidder to check out the equipment and know what they are buying.