This was the first unreserved auction held in Moree by Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers – the world’s largest industrial auctioneer company.

Every Ritchie Bros. auction is unreserved, with no minimum bids or reserve prices set on auction items; instead the price of equipment is set by the market on the day.

“As a concept, it was very well received,” Ritchie Bros. business unit marketing manager for Asia Pacific, David Fanning said.

“We have a 100 per cent clearance rate. Every single item has a new home.

“It brings the crowds out as they know items will be sold.”

More than 190 items of various agricultural machinery and equipment was up for auction on the day.

“We had some very strong pricing with the major brands such as Case [IH], John Deere and Challenger,” Mr Fanning said.

Best in show was a 2012 Case IH 600 Quad Track which sold for $290,000 to a buyer from Queensland.

Two 2011 John Deere 7460 cotton strippers sold onsite for $155,000 each to NSW and QLD buyers, while two 2011 Case 8120 AWD’s combine harvesters sold for $210,000 to two QLD bidders, one online. 

Other good sellers were two 2008 Challengers MT875B belted tractors which sold for $110,000 to internet bidders, both from QLD, and 2011 and 2012 Finch 30-tonner chaser bins which sold for $70,000 each.

While most buyers came from NSW, QLD and VIC, there were some from South Australia and even a couple from Western Australia.

“The market conditions are ripe – a lot of farmers are well-positioned to take advantage of used equipment stock,” Mr Fanning said.

Of the 1500 people through the gate, 600 were registered bidders.

There were also 250 registered online bidders; 35 per cent of the sales were online.

“Internet bidding was exceptional,” Mr Fanning said.

Due to the outstanding success of the Moree auction, Mr Fanning said Ritchie Bros. plan to hold another one in the region later this year.

“Consignors and buyers were all happy with the results,” he said.

“The crowd was blown away wih the line up of equipment and that every item was sold on the day.

“More than a few customers commented that they’d never seen anything like this before and that they hoped we’d be back.”