Over 100 online iron auctions the first part of April

"Due to COVID-19 social distancing we are seeing a massive push to online-only auctions," observes Kyle McMahon on TractorZoom.com. "We are currently advertising 112 farm equipment auctions in just the first two weeks of April."

McMahon points out that typically these auctions would have been held in March. But the onset of the pandemic and recommendations to minimize large crowds of people had auctioneers scrambling to move their live sales online. "Auctioneers are adapting to online bidding to continue to represent their sellers the best they can," McMahon explains. "This is a big shift for buyers if they have never used online bidding."

If you haven't bid on machinery or land online before, McMahon recommends, "you create an account with the online bidding provider or auction company several days in advance in case you have to be approved to bid online. It also gives you a chance to navigate around the website to get comfortable prior to the auction."

Buying and selling machinery online is by no means new having been utilized by some farmers for nearly two decades with the emergence of eBay-style sales and the expansion of online sales outlets like bigiron.com, purplewave.com, and tractorhouse.com. Scott Steffes of Steffes Auctioneers now finds over half the equipment sold at many of their live auction events are being purchased online. And that percentage climbs with particular pieces of equipment such as high-horsepower tractors, combines, and self-propelled sprayers. Buying and selling online is safe and secure, Steffes reassures potential users.