Ritchie Bros. launch the ‘Asset Valuator’
New online tool provides buyers and sellers with instant access to millions of heavy equipment sales prices
A 20-tonne excavator with 8,000 hours on the clock; the eight-year-old skid steer loader you are looking to sell; or that truck tractor you will need to replace soon – how much would they sell for in today’s market?
With productivity at unprecedented highs in the industry and long lead times on new equipment, it is a challenging time for many businesses to make calculated decisions to buy or sell machinery. The Ritchie Bros. Asset Valuator (beta), a new tool from Ritchie Bros. Asset Solutions, is lending equipment owners and managers a helping hand.
Rupert Craven, Ritchie Bros UK sales director, explained: ‘What makes this tool unique, is that users have instant access to millions of previously sold items from the world’s largest auction company and Europe’s largest machinery listing site. The algorithm provides a good price estimation that can be used when making decisions to buy or sell equipment.’
The high utilization and appetite to buy machinery continued to be strong throughout 2021. A market survey conducted among construction businesses by Ritchie Bros. earlier this year, showed that 72% of the respondents expected to add machinery to their fleet this year, whilst more than 90% indicated they expected older machines would need to be replaced.
Price levels of construction machinery at Ritchie Bros. online auctions and marketplaces have soared 10–15% above last year’s averages, so it is no surprise that equipment owners and managers are looking to adjust their fleet and need data and tools to help guide their decision making.
The free online tool pulls historical data from various sources: Ritchie Bros. auctions, IronPlanet, Marketplace-E and Mascus. Using millions of previously sold items, the algorithm calculates average prices and estimates the value of used equipment.
After logging on to Ritchie Bros. Asset Valuator, users can search the database by brand, model, age, hours, mileage and more. For a more granular level of detail, customized searches can be made by region, country, and sales channel, and users can compare current prices with those dating back up to two years – prior to pandemic pricing changes. There is also a useful currency converter to calculate market values in other currencies.
Ritchie Bros. say the Asset Valuator tool is merely the tip of the iceberg in their Inventory Management System (IMS). Ritchie Bros. Asset Solutions is the company’s web-based, mobile-friendly software tool that empowers equipment owners to upload and track their own assets with real-time market valuations and effortlessly arrange disposition through multiple channels.
