The challenge of high value consignments
Auction houses outside the global top 10 are vibrant environments for selling goods valued from a few hundred dollars up to perhaps $150,000 but rarely see consignments valued at over $500,000.
Consigning something valued over this level represents both an opportunity and a challenge for the auction house. A successful sale will bring in a healthy buyer’s premium and enhance the auction house’s reputation, however a passed sale has the opposite effect.
How can auction houses reduce the downside risks of a high profile passed lot?
Historically the auction house is trying to market to a small cadre of “whales,” individuals who can bid for ownership of the lot. As the value increases the number of whales decreases, and the auction house faces the very real challenges of finding them, effectively marketing to them, and ensuring that they turn up and participate in the auction.
This is a personal contacts business, the more experience in a specific field an auctioneer’s rep has, the more likely they have a rolodex of possible buyers. But this is a high-risk strategy, what if the rolodex isn’t filled with the right people? What if those people don’t absentee bid or turn up on the day, or just turn up 10 minutes too late?
Fractional bidding in high profile, high value consignments
A new way of reducing risk is to allow fractional bidding for the lot. aShareX, a Los Angeles based company, has solved the principal issues that previously prevented fractional bidding, particularly the ability to organize a dynamic cohort of fractional bidders to compete in a fast-paced live auction environment.
With aShareX’s SEC qualified process, fractional pre-bidding, and ability to handle up to 5000 bidders real time, a whole new cohort can bid in high value auctions.
How does this help auction houses?
Pre-bidding lets the auction house understand the buyers’ appetites before the auction even begins, fractional bidding lets the auction house deepen its relationship with its existing “non-whale” clients, and aSharex brings its customer base to the auction. These benefits will likely produce an increase in bidding activity and reduce the number of passes.
Please contact kevin@asharex.com for a demo of our fractional bidding system.
