Last week, Cat Auction Services sold more than US$5 million of heavy equipment during an unreserved public auction held at 
Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas. Bidders from 35 states and 9 countries registered to participate on-site and online at www.catauctions.com to compete for nearly 200 lots. The Houston auction kicked off a string of auctions for the company, with the next two occurring in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.) on May 5 and 6, and in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 17.
Cat Auction Services President Rick Albin said, “We were very pleased with the results of the Houston auction. It wasn’t our biggest in terms of number of lots or dollar amount sold, but we continued our trend of attracting active, serious buyers. As with our other auctions, buyer confidence was extremely high, which lead to exceptionally solid prices.”
Albin attributes this high level of buyer confidence to the TA1-level inspection reports on the equipment, as well as to the exclusive Caterpillar products and services available to buyers. “The fact of the matter is that our buyers have access to an impressive number of tools — from the most detailed inspection reports in the industry, to extended Equipment Protection Plans, to warranty and part options — that, combined, make them very comfortable with the value they’re receiving. Quite simply, we’ve given them the tools to make highly informed decisions.”
Once again the unique auction setup and innovative LeaderboardTM display drew rave reviews from on-site participants. And nearly 2/3 of the total bidders participated remotely via the company’s improved online bidding tool at www.catauctions.com. Albin noted the importance of continuing to achieve this balance of on-site and online participation as the company prepares for the upcoming Minnesota and Iowa auctions.