Samantha Jenkins
Up to 600 people crowded the room at Strettons’ £6.76m auction this week, where a digital display screen behind the rostrum was used for the first time.
Monday’s sale saw 92% of the 111 lots sell, including a tax office in east London with a reversion in two years’ time offered by the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It made 20% over reserve when it sold for £662,000.
An unusual lot for Strettons was a refurbished eight-bedroom house in South Woodford, E18, complete with indoor swimming pool which sold to an owner-occupier for £400,000.
The back-projected screen displayed the lot number, address and a photo of the property.
“It’s innovative and brings technology one stage further into the room,” said auction director Graham Slyper. “We did it to help make auctions user-friendly and also to prevent people from saying they thought they were bidding for something else.”
However, one lot was still knocked down to a dealer who claimed she was bidding for another lot and that she had not been watching the screen!
Although Strettons may yet incorporate a bid display, it has ruled out online bidding.
“The essence of an auction is the atmosphere,” said auctioneer Ben Tobin. “And, furthermore, there seems no way for bidders to identify whether bids are genuine.”
Strettons’ corporate website is due to go live in the next few days and from March will feature an interactive catalogue with guide prices, special conditions, viewing arrangements and constantly updated announcements for each lot.
