Welcome to our 6th Auction of 2022
Before we take a short break from the rostrum in August, I am delighted to welcome you to our 6th auction of the year taking place at The Grand Connaught Rooms London WC2 on Wednesday 27th July.
As we prepare the final lots for this sale of almost 300 lots I reflect on the fact that it was less than a week ago that we stepped off the rostrum from our June auction, a sale that saw over £32.5 Million in sales and took our sales so far this year to some £140M.
It was in September last year that we returned to the rostrum with a live auction complimented by the ability for buyers to participate over the phone or internet. I am aware that whilst other auctioneers have not yet taken this step, they continue to sit on the fence or indeed, come to our sales to see how we achieve what others have either failed or aren’t brave enough to do. I make mention of this as there has been a number of recent trade press articles on this very subject and these included some interesting comments from auctioneers.
One actually stated that the online environment was better for them as if they didn’t have a registered bidder on a particular lot they would withdraw the lot on the morning of the sale to protect their sales success rate. I thought this odd and maybe for the last 33 years at BM auctions I have got things wrong – I always believed it is our client and their result that is more important NOT, that of the auctioneer.
Taking this further, I am also troubled to see a volume of auctioneers hiding behind the internet and producing blatantly false results; claiming properties have sold where they haven’t, setting ridiculously low guide prices that flout the regulations only to increase these the night before the auction and various other tactics. I guess if you are a public facing business, an auctioneer never so more public facing, that some think that by not having to face the public they can hide behind their screens and get others who publish their results to convey their fake news. My main point to this being, don’t be fooled into thinking all you read when, for example, you pick up the EIGroup results where auctioneers are claiming all sorts of sales that don’t exist. The reality is far from what they would have you believe, and if I’m wrong and this isn’t rife, why do results publishers actually now state the data is provided to them by the auctioneer and therefore, is not verified?
As for ourselves – well you see us stood on the rostrum – nothing can be more transparent than that!
So let’s turn to a positive and this catalogue, produced in less than a week since our June sale I am delighted to bring you another huge selection of stock. Don’t forget, do all your due diligence before you come to the auction and bid and in the lead up to the sale, we are here to help with your enquiries so please ask!
On one final point, please make sure that your solicitor or conveyancer will be around to deal with completion of your purchase. Despite airports being sludged up, many are getting away on holiday so make sure someone is around to deal with completion of your purchase.
In the meantime, enjoy the catalogue, we look forward to seeing you at The Grand Connaught Rooms on Wednesday 27th July and we wish you the very best of luck with your bidding!
