Auction houses mull over whether to return to live in-person sales

WITH Talisman Railwayana having returned to live saleroom sales and Great Northern announcing its intention to do so, two more mainstream auction houses – GW Railwayana and Great Central – are mulling over the decision of whether to follow suit.

Of the two, GWRA is currently the most upbeat about the possibility, with boss Simon Turner saying that his auction in July next year would be a saleroom sale that would also include live online bidding, subject to his usual Pershore High School venue being available.

“Many collectors are comfortable with live online only sales, but also many would welcome the return of saleroom auctions, and so I think it is important to hold a mix of saleroom with live online bidding and live online only throughout the year,” he said. Great Central’s Mike Soden said that the auction house had two main sales remaining for this year, in September and December, neither of which would be held in the saleroom, adding: “The matter is under constant review, but currently there are no definite plans to reopen our saleroom doors.”