IronPlanet Europe

IronPlanet is the online arm of the Ritchie Bros group and sells heavy equipment without the machines ever moving to a saleyard — they stay where they are and are inspected in place. Its European marketplace carries the full industrial range, organised by category rather than by sale event.

What you can buy

• Construction plant — excavators, wheel loaders, skid steers, compact track loaders, scissor lifts and telescopic booms.
• Trucks and trailers.
• Cranes.
• Agricultural and forestry machinery.
• Forklifts and warehouse equipment.
• Generators, compressors, tanks and portable structures.
• Quarry, mining and oil and gas equipment, plus government surplus.

How the bidding works

Accounts are free to create and the marketplace runs continuously rather than in scheduled sales. The model rests on inspection reports produced before the sale, which is what allows buyers to bid on a machine several countries away without seeing it.

What to check before you bid

Read the inspection report in full — it is the whole basis of the transaction and its limits are stated in it. Establish where the machine physically is before bidding, because on heavy equipment the transport cost can rival the difference between two bids. Note that the group also sells through Ritchie Bros' own channels; the same seller can appear in both.