The first online-only auction held in Ireland was besieged with 45,000 hits in less than six hours as 200 registered bidders competed to buy 45 lots.
The Allsop online auction raised €6.9m (£5m), selling 46 of 65 properties offered, reflecting a 71% success rate.
Allsop Ireland managing director Steve McCarthy said the experience proved that online auctions have a future.
“The buyer demands online sales, and it is about what they want, not what we want. They enjoyed the process whereby you can see the people you are bidding against with a time and date stamp.”
Robert Hoban, director of auctions at Allsop Space, added: “There was overwhelming engagement by buyers, with many contacting us directly to say how much they enjoyed the process.
“They found it to be less intimidating and stressful than other property purchases they have made.”
Bidders were required to place a €5,000 deposit per property to register to bid and provide pre-authorised credit card details so deposit payments could be deducted immediately.
Bids were placed via a transparent bidding process with a public record of all bids. Where successful, this concluded with a legally binding sale.
Highlights included a 980 sq ft two-bedroom flat in Galway, which attracted a flurry of bids in the last minute (see above), causing the price to leap €8,000 in 50 seconds from €77,000 to €85,000. Bidding started an hour earlier with a reserve of €55,000.
Other lots attracting clicks included a one-bedroom cottage in Railto, which attracted 25 bids in the first 10 minutes. The property was offered on behalf of a financial institution and sold to a local investor for €141,000 after 40 bids.
David Sandeman of Essential Information Group, who worked with Allsop on the software for the auction platform, said: “Online auctions open up many more opportunities than a catalogue and a venue. Auction houses are seeing it as an additional way of offering lots, and it will widen the appeal of auction.”
Earlier this month Andrew Binstock, director of Auction House London, revealed it would soon be launching an online auction facility.
