Moorabool has some exciting news to share: we now run regular Auctions!
We once ran a successful auction rooms in Geelong, ‘OldBank Auctions’ for 10 years – the last sale being in 2004. It began when a good customer/collector asked us to sell his collection; today, it’s the exact same scenario.
We have a large collection of lush ceramics to sell on behalf of a good customer of 50 years, with most of it coming directly from us at some time. Along with the many other groups of items that have come in on consignment, we suddenly have a very full building….
So Auctions are our solution. There are many other auction houses accessible online today, so how will we stand out?
Back in the ‘OldBank’ days, we had a unique selling advantage: every lot was illustrated on a website, in the early days of the web. We had one of the early digital cameras, purchased in the late 1990’s. This resulted in bids from all over Australia – unique for the time! Today it’s normal, and bids come in from all over the world – but we still have a way to stand out in the crowd, along the same lines as ‘Moorabool Antiques’ has stood out at the retail level.
We can auction items using our usual clarity of the important things such as condition and date – we’ve been called ‘pedantic’ when it comes to these details, but it’s a good thing in the Antique Auction World. Have you ever seen the term ‘a/f’ describing the condition of a piece? As-found, or all-faults is the meaning. This could be describing anything, such as the entire head of a figure replaced with plaster, and stuck together from many pieces & painted over….. or it could mean a small inconspicuous hairline crack at the back which is hard to spot. ‘A/f’ is not at all helpful in making a decision to bid – and therefore not suitable when describing condition. As you’ll know by Moorabool’s descriptions, we talk you through any damages or flaws.
Bid with confidence
We’ll be pedantic in our condition reports and ensure items are photographed extensively. If we’ve missed something, it is a simple thing to request more images or information.
First of many Auctions
Moorabool Auctions will hold its first auction on June 1st. This is possible through Invaluable; they provide a robust platform, where we upload our items and run the auction on the day.
We plan to have a regular monthly sale, with the following sale scheduled for the first week of July. We’re open to accept items for upcoming sales at any time.
Bidding is simple.
It’s a simple procedure; you register your details on their site, and when the auction starts, just like a real one you’ll see the item being sold on your screen, and the amount. To bid, there’s a button: once you click, it sends your bid to the auctioneer…. and if no-one else bids, it’s yours. If someone else does bid, you’ll see you are no longer the highest: that’s decision time…. to bid or not to bid, how much do you need it……?
We are also able to bid on your behalf with left bids, which also saves you the 5% Invaluable adds to purchases on their platform…..
Shipping
We’re able to offer a shipping service along the same lines as our shop. This is a major point-of-difference with other salesrooms, where the bidding & buying is the easy part: when it comes to getting your goods shipped, there’s so often a rude shock in the form of shipping quotes.
Our shipping is very reasonable: a cup & saucer, for example, will be around $20, Australia-wide – or around $50 to the US or UK, safely double-boxed & insured.