Ritchie Bros. Geelong

They may be okay, but definitely poor communicators – This is my experience with Ritchie Bros auctioneers. There was a car I spotted at their Geelong site that interested me. I haven't bought anything from them. So, this review is limited and only tells of my experience with them while considering whether to bid. Car auction sites can potentially see you buying a great car for a good price, but buying without trying comes with a great deal of risk. Studying the auction write-ups and photographs is essential in coming to a decision to bid for one. Viewing is possible and welcomed and that's good, but in my case, I was out of state which made it difficult.

Their website is very well put together, includes instructions on how to bid along with video tutorials. And they offer help via email. It's all very slick and looks good.

They state that a 7.5% fee is charged. Then there's GST. I found it ambiguous: "All charges are subject to GST." So, is GST an amount based on whatever 7.5% works out to be, or is it based on the amount the winning bid ended up at, or is it based on the sum of the winning bid plus the 7.5% charge?

I found a car that interested me, and I was considering bidding on it, but I had a few issues I wanted cleared up first. So, I emailed them. Of the three emails I sent, only one was answered, and the response was so ambiguous it didn't really answer my question.

One of my questions, that was not answered, was to find out if the vehicle was really up for auction. An unusual question, I know. The thing is, the car I was interested in had its VIN number displayed both in the write-up and in a photograph. I was looking at previous sales to check out the selling price of similar vehicles. That can be useful to know how much to bid. I spotted one that matched perfectly that had sold a few months earlier. What struck me first was that the photographs seemed identical. Then when checking I saw that not only were they identical they were the same photographs. The VIN number was the same on both, and the photo of the VIN number on each was the same. Even the odometer reading was identical. Very odd.

This auction house doesn't have reserves on its lots. Things sell for the price of the last bid. It was marked as sold. So, why is it being advertised again? A mistake. The winner didn't have finance approved. Who knows. That's why I asked, but got no response from them. It takes time to organize funds. With the auction coming up next week I've run out of time to even consider bidding.