Spike in online bidders

Auction company’s web-cast sales have grown to 15%

WEBCAST auctions are making their mark in South Africa, according to WH Auctioneers director Shannon Winterstein, who says the company is seeing massive growth in the number of online bidders who bid in real time on their live auctions.

“Online sales values are now approaching 15% of the total sales figures,” Winterstein said. “At a recent auction event of machinery in Cape Town, almost half the winning bidders were clicking online.

“There are some clear patterns that we see in the bidding process: such as that items which are popular in certain regions tend to attract more bids online in those areas. For example, we found that a greater number of Cape Town and Durban-based buyers bid online for convertible cars, which are perhaps more popular in and around those cities.”

WH Auctioneers’ upcoming construction and yellow metal auction, to be held on May 30, will feature a number of low-mileage 2015 Iveco 8x4 water trucks. “We have already been contacted by several Cape Town-based users who believe that with the current water shortage these vehicles, which are each capable of carrying 25 000 litres of water, are essential. We expect bidding from Cape- based buyers will be brisk, despite the requirement that the vehicles will have to be moved from Gauteng.”

According to Winterstein, the past few years have seen huge improvements in technology. “Our web-cast bidding happens almost in real time, with a split-second delay that doesn’t slow the live auction. Buyers from across the globe can efficiently bid using a stable system from a computer or cellphone. We often find that online buyers are looking for one or two items only and don’t want to take the time to come to the auction.”

With about 200 lots of latemodel assorted equipment, including graders, loaders, trucks and trailers hitting the auction block on Tuesday, Win- terstein expects the number of online buyers will be a record this month.

The web address for bidding is www.whauctions.com.

For more information, contact Shannon Winterstein on 011 574 5700.