Share-based payments (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($)	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Unrecognized compensation costs	$ 7,109,000
Unrecognized compensation costs, period for recognition	2 years 6 months
Maximum employee contribution, percentage	4.00%
Minimum [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Employer matching contribution, percentage	50.00%
Maximum [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Employer matching contribution, percentage	100.00%
Performance Share Units [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Unrecognized compensation costs	$ 14,139,000
Unrecognized compensation costs, period for recognition	2 years 3 months 18 days
Restricted Share Units [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Unrecognized compensation costs	$ 1,921,000
Unrecognized compensation costs, period for recognition	1 year 3 months 18 days
Deferred Share Units [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Unrecognized compensation costs	$ 0
Share unit liability	$ 5,349,000	$ 5,130,000

Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Employer Matching Contribution, Percent of Match

No definition available.

Name:	rba_EmployeeStockPurchasePlanEmployerMatchingContributionPercentOfMatch
Namespace Prefix:	rba_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Maximum Annual Contributions Per Employee, Percent

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	rba_EmployeeStockPurchasePlanMaximumAnnualContributionsPerEmployeePercent
Namespace Prefix:	rba_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of cost not yet recognized for nonvested award under share-based payment arrangement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (i)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120381028&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EmployeeServiceShareBasedCompensationNonvestedAwardsTotalCompensationCostNotYetRecognized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Weighted-average period over which cost not yet recognized is expected to be recognized for award under share-based payment arrangement, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EmployeeServiceShareBasedCompensationNonvestedAwardsTotalCompensationCostNotYetRecognizedPeriodForRecognition1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Intrinsic value of outstanding award under share-based payment arrangement. Excludes share and unit options.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SharebasedCompensationArrangementBySharebasedPaymentAwardEquityInstrumentsOtherThanOptionsAggregateIntrinsicValueOutstanding
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardTypeAxis=us-gaap_PerformanceSharesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardTypeAxis=us-gaap_RestrictedStockUnitsRSUMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardTypeAxis=rba_DeferredShareUnitsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: