‘It was standing room only at the Summer Stafford Sale’
You never quite know what to expect at any auction, but this year’s Summer Sale at Stafford really was an unknown quantity. It was our first live sale for 18 months, but in the end, thanks to the hard work of our amazing team, the loyalty of our clients and the sheer quality of the bikes consigned, it proved to be a huge success. Out of 689 lots, 670 sold.
Of course, we had to run things a little differently to previous Stafford sales to ensure a safe environment for everyone attending. We had a lot more space than usual to work with and were able to expand into all three halls on the eastern side of the building, rather than our usual two. That meant we could host viewing in separate halls to the sale itself, with a one-way system and spacing out of the lots to enable socially-distanced viewings. We also had to put a cap on numbers in the sale room and space out the seating there. But, by sale time, it was still standing room only.
Once the sale got underway on Friday, it really was business as usual. There was a real buzz about the sale room and people seemed really happy to be back in the live sale environment. Everyone in the room was there to buy. We had around 1000 bidders (including online) from 30 countries registered to bid at the sale and it was soon evident that the appetite for classic bikes hasn’t gone away. In every section of the sale, there was lively competition.
While there were, perhaps, not quite so many bidders from mainland Europe, there was still a strong international audience. I don’t think we need to worry about the state of the market, although I do think some adjustments have occurred. Perhaps the market for traditional post-war British classics has cooled a little, but the slack has been taken up by a younger generation of buyers looking for the machines that shaped their youth. Strong prices for both a circa 1984 Yamaha RD350LCII YPVS (£9775) and a 1981 Yamaha RD350LC (£12,075) proved that point.
After three pretty frantic days, we had a lot of happy buyers and vendors. We’ve had many emails from vendors thanking us for making their (sometimes difficult) circumstances a little easier. That means a lot to me and the team. And, with the outstanding sell through rate, I think we’ve reinforced our place in the classic bike auction world. My thanks to everyone who bought, sold and worked at the sale for making our live sale comeback one to remember for all the right reasons. bonhams.com