$20 million dealer sale online only

A massive John Deere dealer inventory reduction auction scheduled for next Tuesday (June 30) has an estimated $20 million worth of equipment up for sale, reports Dan Sullivan of Sullivan Auctioneers (sullivanauctioneers.com), the firm conducting that auction. "This is one of those huge sales that can establish price trends for equipment for the summer," he adds. "It will be one of the largest auctions we will hold this year."

And that is saying a lot as Sullivan Auctioneers wraps up a massive two-day no-reserve dealer and farmer auction today (June 26).

The size of this sale is huge. For example, 74 combines (many of which are late-model harvesters) are on the auction block next. But what makes the auction particularly notable is that all the machinery will be sold online only with live bidding. "You can view the items for sale at Sinclair Tractor's (the Deere dealer holding the sale) locations in southeast Iowa in person prior to the sale. But everything sells online," Sullivan explains.

Online-only auction will be predominant

Sullivan Auctioneers, like most machinery auction services, went to online-only sales with the emergence of the COVID-19 crisis in March. And while some auctions are now being held in person (with bidders at the auction site), Sullivan remarks that Sinclair Tractor's decision to go online-only reflects a trend toward internet auctions being predominant in agriculture.

For more information about that trend, go to "Is The In-Person Iron Auction Dead?" located at agriculture.com/news/machinery/is-the-in-person-iron-auction-dead.

Online-only auctions have grown so popular with farmers that Sullivan speculates that in-person sales will be the exception in the future. "Buyers don't have to travel and stand around all day. They can bid in the office or in the pickup or tractor cab using a smartphone. You don't even have to stop farming to buy equipment," he adds.

What has increased, however, are potential buyers driving to the location where equipment is selling to view it prior to the sale. This is the case in those situations where an auction is held in one location as opposed to an eBay-style sale where equipment is scattered across the country selling at timed online sales. "We definitely see more people coming in to inspect equipment prior to the sale," Sullivan adds. "Likewise, we are seeing more people participating in online-only sales."

Details of the Sinclair Tractor auction which includes images and detailed descriptions of the equipment being sold can be found at sullivanauctioneers.com/auction/sinclair2020/.