How Much Impact Has The Corona Virus Had On Auctions?

I guess I should have seen this coming with the entire world on house arrest. I usually don't partake in on-line bidding at the big auctions like Siegel and such.

Most of their material is above my level so I tend to stay with smaller auction firms. One of my favorites is a local auction house that does about 1 auction per month or one every 2 months.

I can usually source some pretty decent material at some good prices with only a fair amount of competition. Well last night at the auction close I was shocked at the amount of bids on items and the realizations of the majority of the lots. I realize that amount of bids aren't a true barometer of number of bidders but I have never seen bidding like this at this auction firm.

I had earmarked a certain amount of money and tagged about 25 lots of interest. I can usually hit on 10 - 12 of the lots or usually around 40 -60% success while staying on budget. Last night I won 5 of the 25 and basically still spent the budget I had planned on for winning 8-10 lots. Got some good material but the majority of the mid-priced lots ($50 - $100 CV) were fetching anywhere from 40% to above catalog value.

The flurry at the end was mind blowing. The auction uses a soft close so every bid placed in the final minutes extends the lot auction another 3 minutes or so. I tie this to the amount of people under quarantine and not much else going on in life. Anyone else seeing this? With no live viewing all auctions will be done online for the foreseeable future.

Oh yeah, I have been noting it. I have been watching auctions of all levels on SAN and have never seen so many paddle numbers at one time in those auctions. And it isnt just more people bidding via internet, it is an increase in the number of bidders. I spoke with a major East Coast auction firm yesterday and they confirmed as much. I have seen it when my material was sold. Competition is strong.

Perhaps the $1,200 stimulus payment is making people feel a little richer ... especially us retired folk. I have bought more BIN material lately because of the extra cash.

I made some Bids with a small auction house here in the UK. It had been scheduled to be a room auction with some bids placed prior to the auction. The auctioneer changed itto postal and e mail bids entirely. No pictures online unless requested. I paid about the same prices as usual and got 55% of what I bid for. The only difference for me was the shipping cost, even this was only at cost with nothing factored in for the labour involved.