Auction sets online bidders record on thesaleroom.com

With ever more auctions taking place in an online-only format, a four-day sale held by Adam Partridge Auctioneers & Valuers in Macclesfield has achieved a new online record for registrations on the saleroom.com.

The auction – Boutique Sale followed by Antiques & Fine Art with Sporting, Militaria, Silver, Jewellery and Watches – took place as an online-only event on May 26-29. It attracted 3,982 registered bidders on thesaleroom.com. This is the highest number of registered bidders for any sale held on the online auction marketplace*.

Richard Lewis, COO of Auction Technology Group, said, “Since the start of lockdown, auction houses have been working hard to keep their auctions running by moving them entirely online and we have seen high registration numbers across nearly all sales in the past few months.

“The record-breaking number of online registrations for Adam Partridge’s auction – more than 10 times the average on thesaleroom.com – is testament to the team’s hard work to bring bidders to the sale, as well as a signal that bidder behaviour has quickly adapted to the new way of working.”

When added to the number of phone and commission bidders (231) and the bidders on the auction house’s own website (803), the total number of bidders registered for the Adam Partridge sale exceeded 5,000. With 2,694 lots offered – all consigned pre-lockdown – and a sell-through rate of 92%, the sale total, including 20% buyer’s premium, was £903,600.

The auction, postponed from April 1-4, was the first held by Adam Partridge since March 13, almost 11 weeks earlier.

Photograph: Lot 543: An early 19th century Indian shield (dhal), with five rounded half cut spheres, snake and gold inlay, diameter 40cm. Courtesy Adam Partridge.

* according to data going back to the start of 2016.