The tradition of auctions, from yesterday to today, from low prices to very high value objects. Second text in a series of three.
“Fortunately, we had started setting up online sales two or three years before the pandemic,” explains the Duty the president of the Iegor house, Martine de Saint-Hippolyte. The auctions of this house established in 1983 now take place almost all on the Internet. Everyone is invited to follow the progress of sales from home.
We started this just before the pandemic. For us, there is no going back.
Even during traditional sales of wines or paintings, led by the auctioneer Laurent Berniard, the amateurs gathered by the Iegor house could already bet online for a while, following the progress of a duly prepared illustrated catalog.
At Encans Empire, sales are now also all online. “We started this just before the pandemic. For us, there is no question of going back”, explains the owner, Edward Rogozinsky, joined in Florida.
“The most precious thing for people now is time,” he says. “Even though there is something fun about auctions, far fewer people than before are willing to sit around for four or five hours waiting for the item they’re interested in to come up for sale. »
A bygone era
Based in Toronto, Heffel has a branch in Montreal, as well as in Vancouver, Ottawa and Calgary. It alone attracts a large part of the major art sales on the pan-Canadian scene. Again, explain to Duty Tania Poggione, head of the Montreal office, sales are now made online, even for major works. Thus, a painting by Marcelle Ferron was auctioned online, on November 24, for the record sum of 1.8 million dollars. “We have two big traditional sales, in the spring and in the fall, which are held from Toronto. Otherwise, the house now offers one sale per month. On line.
For Martine de Saint-Hippolyte, of the Iegor house, the era of sales in front of a room of buyers is over. It does indeed belong to a past that is not about to return. “Maybe we’ll still have an occasional indoor sale. One or two a year, maybe. But for the moment, we do not see the use of it. Almost everything is done over the Internet now. »
Since 1983, Martine de Saint-Hippolyte and her husband have helped promote auction sales in Montreal. They often serve as smugglers for the goods of rather wealthy people. Thousands of paintings, jewelry, great vintage wines, manuscripts, collections and antiquities have passed through their hands.
Some sales, the most prestigious, explains Martine de Saint-Hippolyte, now benefit from an agreement with the Drouot auction house in France. These sales, also online, take advantage of the digital network of this company, whose origins date back to 1852. “We also have an agreement with an American partner, LiveAuctioneers. Nothing to do, she underlines, with the sales conducted on large networks like eBay. “Here, expertise is put forward. »
A digital revival
Has the pandemic slowed down the auction market by tipping everything for good on the digital side? ” On the contrary ! We have extended our premises, says Martine de Saint-Hippolyte. We occupy more space than ever. From now on, people can come and appreciate more objects on site, while waiting for the online sale.
The Empire Encans had up to thirty people to handle the pieces and do the necessary during the traditional auctions. “Since the pandemic, we are only five. And it works very well. Better than ever,” says Edward Rogozinsky. “We thought it would mainly promote sales among young people. But everyone actually stayed. »
Every two weeks, a new sale is scheduled by Empire. “We sell jewelry, lots of jewelry, but also paintings, rugs, collections. The truth is that COVID has helped us a lot. We haven’t missed a single sale. »
However, this new way of selling has overlooked furniture. ” It’s too complicated. For deliveries. At the last sale, we had buyers from Poland and British Columbia… We can send anything, but sometimes it costs more than the object itself. »
Reliable?
Are online auctions reliable? The boss of the Empire house swears yes. “We obtained sales contracts for the government after investigation. The same with banks, who trust us. We have sold online the assets of a Montreal billionaire, such as Mr. Phillip Robinson, the owner of Gray Rocks. »
Tania Poggione affirms that the Heffel house is one of the few pioneers of the genre. “We have been selling online since 1999. Since then, we have continued to improve our platform.” It highlights the house’s agreements with major museums.
“Of course, there are all kinds of people who are trying their luck now in online sales,” observes the president of the Iegor house. But, she hastens to add, “it’s not a magic wand.” In other words, digital does not give expertise to those who do not already have it. The seller’s experience and reputation continue to come into play.
“If a customer buys an object and finds, with supporting evidence, that it does not correspond to what he intended to buy, we reimburse him, even if, in principle, sales are final”, says Martine of Saint-Hippolyte.
Everyone online
Traditional auctioneers are often less equipped when it comes to online sales. On the outskirts of the city of Sherbrooke, the colorful owner of Enchères A/B is trying, like many others, to convert his practice to the digital age. Alain Brousseau relies on digital, without relying on a duly secure website. “I now do more than twenty a year. Online only. “With each sale, he wishes online” a good auction [sic] to all “.
Online auctions, “that’s what saved us and it’s the best idea I had to do that,” says Scott Bennett, third in a line of auctioneers.
In Saint-Hyacinthe, well-established auctioneer Sylvain Gélineau has also been selling online for a while. In an ongoing sale, he is offering paintings by popular artists, as well as a few serigraphs by Alfred Pellan, Normand Hudon or Jean Paul Riopelle. Nothing that commands stratospheric prices, with rare exceptions, unlike sales at Heffel.
The risks
Aren’t there risks from the outset when buying lots online on sites? How do you know that you are not being the plaything of a fraudster? “It is sure that, if someone appears a lot, I do checks” about him, indicates to the Duty Alain Brousseau. He adds that “there are a lot of people who buy all kinds of things in bulk and resell them”. In other words, online, it is not uncommon to see the same people buying in quantity, at least at brands like his.
The A/B Auction process is one of the simplest observed by The duty : a Facebook page where the objects of a sale parade, one by one, with for each a minimum of information. The names of those who bid appear with their bids, as if it were a simple comment. Nothing to do with the much more supervised ways of larger houses.
What safety nets does the buyer have? Alain Brousseau is the first to regret that online auction practices are not more regulated. “I hope there will be regulations! Many are not even registered. I see plenty. »