WH’s new strategy paying off
● It’s been a busy few months for WH Auctioneers and the trend is set to continue.
Following last month’s record-breaking auction of Aveng excess assets that drew over 480 registered buyers from six countries, this coming week’s auctions in their yard at Midrand and the KPMM Marble Hall yard will continue to see great equipment available for bidders.
According to WH executive Tim Varenzakis, it’s about “doing things differently”.
“We have been working hard to change the way in which auctions are conducted in SA,” said Varenzakis. “Over the past few years we have focused on building our internet system and data availability.”
The strategy has worked, he said. WH has seen a 30% increase in webcast bidders. The local market is becoming more comfortable with bidding on the internet.
This is resulting in 12% or more of every auction being sold to online bidders, many of whom are regional buyers.
In addition to this, as under-bidders, these online bidders also help to increase sales prices to sellers.
“Most recently, we have begun to focus on strategies to de-risk auctions for sellers.
“While the reserved auction platform is required in SA, we have started to guarantee results to sellers. With a guarantee, WH is able to pay the seller a large portion of the estimated proceeds upfront.”
He said the solution was working well for large corporate customers who could understand the financial implications long before the assets were even on the auction floor.
“What we didn’t expect is that the guarantees have been a massive benefit to our buyers. On auction day, we are able to drop reserves significantly and use the ‘wins’ to cover the items that sell under value and would under normal circumstances not be sold. This has resulted in our sales rates going up to between 80% and 100% on reserved auctions, an increase of almost 15% over previous years.
“Despite the tough market, it’s clear that if managed strategically with professional support, an auction is still the best way to reduce excess assets,” Varenzakis said.