Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Manish Somaiya from Citi.
Manish Somaiya – Citi
Yes, hi, good morning. A couple questions. Michael, can you give us a sense for the used equipment market? I think we've heard from a few sources that used equipment market was off about 5 to 8% in the fourth quarter. Can you give us a sense for where we have been over the last 12 months, and where do you it see that going?
Michael Kneeland
Okay. Manish, how are you? Thanks for the question. The used prices, I mean, there's two dynamics, one of which is, what goes to auction and what goes to retail. What we do on a retail basis, where we have over 70% of our sales is retail, we're still seeing relatively healthy margins.
However, in the auction, we have seen prices come down about 10% year- over-year, part of that is mix, Manish. I was just recently at the large auction in Orlando with Ritchie Bros. Both myself and other members of our management team, went through there and I will tell you that some of the prices that I saw there were actually up slightly from what they -- were the results that we saw in December.
Manish Somaiya - Citi
And Michael, just as a follow-up to that question then, can you give us a sense for where earth’s moving is vis-à-vis Aerials, what's the difference in used equipment prices?
Michael Kneeland
Used equipment prices at that auction were specifically -- were actually down. They were down, again, probably in the vicinity of 15% to 20% on a year-over-year basis, but again it comes down to model the year and brand, and the amount that was in this auction.
By the way, this auction was the largest auction in the world, and it was up significantly on a year-over-year basis. With inside of Aerial, again its product mix, booms better than scissors, small scissors which are more related towards retail and that type of construction. We saw prices come down on year-over-year basis.
Manish Somaiya - Citigroup
Okay. So I guess that at a call, I think in the last cycle we were off about 15% to 20% and we're just entering the downturn and we're off 15% to 20%. So, would you say that we are likely to reach the trends we saw in the last cycle for used equipment.
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