‘We are looking forward to getting back to something like normal’
Iam pleased – and relieved – that the live online format for auctions seems to be holding up so well. At our July sale, we managed around a 75% sell-through rate for bikes – and both buyers and sellers seem to be adapting well. In fact, one vendor had 10 bikes in our last sale. It would have cost him around £1200 to transport them to the NMM, which he saved by hosting viewings at his home.
And buyers don’t seem to have a problem working this way, either. It’s just as easy for them to travel to a vendor’s premises for a physical viewing, and about half the bidders at a live audience sale bid remotely (either by phone, online or commission bids) anyway.
I think, in some ways, the Covid crisis has speeded a lot of things up. People have had to adapt and communicate and deal online. It’s brought a lot of us into the 21st century, because we’ve had to embrace technology. I think the live online approach works particularly well with parts and memorabilia lots – and for project and relatively low-value bikes. Our smallerscale monthly sales will continue, but we still plan to get back to a live audience for our three main bike sales of the year. There are still a lot of people who enjoy and value the experience – and sometimes the drama – of a traditional sale.
So, while we’re stuck with the live online format for the moment, we are looking forward to getting back to something like normal and engaging with a live audience in the saleroom. That’s part of the excitement of an auction. And certainly our friends at the National Motorcycle Museum are equally keen to welcome visitors back.
At the moment, we’re planning to hold our November sale back at the museum – though, of course, we’ll have to make adjustments to the way we’d normally run a sale there. But we’ll have all the bikes under one roof for viewing on site and probably have the bidders in a separate room. There’s plenty of room for social distancing at the museum.
Fingers crossed... we hope to see you there.
Former car racer and bike fanatic Mark Bryan has been a motorcycle specialist at H&H since 2014