Avoiding the pain and pitfalls of private selling

If you’ve ever sold anything privately – whether it’s a sofa or a car – you’re probably well-familiar with the time, effort and hassle involved in this undertaking.

Tire kickers, no-shows, and financial risk

Whatever it is you’re selling, you’re listing it online; maybe posting or sticking physical “For Sale” signs on the item or other locations; you’re dealing with inquiries via phone, text, and email; weeding out the tire-kickers from the legitimately interested; arranging viewing times; fielding offers and negotiating; and in the end, hopefully closing a deal and getting the cash safely in your hands.

But once you’re dealing with high-value, heavy equipment, the whole process becomes infinitely more time-consuming and the stakes are obviously much higher, not to mention your stress levels. And before you can even start selling, you need to spend time researching used equipment values, so you know what a reasonable asking price is.

While you wait for buyers, your costs continue

Besides all the aforementioned buyer inquiries, you need to think about paperwork, deal with any liens and get clearance for sale, and make sure you have a secure payment method while remaining wary of potential scams. Plus, you have the added ongoing costs associated with storage, insurance and depreciation. In short, selling something can quickly become a full-time job when you’ve already got one.

Hand off the hassle & pressure to people you can count on

At Ritchie Bros., our whole reason for being is to make the equipment selling experience easy and profitable for you. And we don’t just offer a “one size fits all” solution. You have lots of choices so you can sell when, where, and how you want – whether it’s one machine or a fleet. Here’s an overview of how we take the stress and hassle out of selling for you:

1. Contact us for a consultation

Sellers contact us and are connected with their local Ritchie Bros. advisor who discusses the seller’s needs and goals, and advises on the best options to get the best returns. Our highly-experienced team use Ritchie Bros.’ unparalleled pricing and market trends data to help guide decisions.

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2. Choose your selling channel and method

Seller chooses service that works best for them (all-inclusive or self-serve) and sales channel, or a combination of: live online auctions with onsite equipment storage; weekly online auctions; online marketplace with control over price; seller signs the sale contract.

3. Get ready to sell

Deliver equipment to a Ritchie Bros. location – this takes all the pressure and responsibility of storage, buyer inquires, inspections and more off the seller. Ritchie Bros. handles everything from here on in.

– OR

Seller chooses to sell equipment online from their location. Our equipment inspectors can visit to inspect items and produce an IronClad Assurance equipment condition certification. This lets online buyers see exactly what you’re selling via multiple photos and a detailed report and gives them confidence in what they’re buying.

4. Access our global buying audience

Ritchie Bros.’ global marketing kicks in as soon as your equipment is in our yard or photographed and inspected. One of the biggest advantages over private selling is our multi-channel marketing campaigns – online, print, email, radio and more – that gets the most eyes on your equipment, resulting in more competition and better pricing for you.

5. Equipment sold for global market value

Ritchie Bros. conducts the sale, then handles all post-sale tasks for you: lien checks, invoicing and secure payment, release equipment, remit any applicable taxes on your behalf, and you have the proceeds of sale within 21 days.

Equipment for saleSponsored2026 Mower King ECSSTR072 Skid Steer TillerMorris, IL 2 daysView listing

So, whether you want to hand us the keys and let us take care of everything or have some involvement – we’re ready to help however we can. And if you still choose to sell privately via an online listing service, our PurchaseSafe service is available to provide escrow services, taxation, lien search, payout coordination and more when selling on your own.

Interested in selling with Ritchie Bros.? Contact us today to discuss your options.

See also

Malcolm Excavating retirement sale reaches buyers beyond Ontario