"Unprecedented interest" at Auction House London's 2nd live-stream sale

Auction House London held their second-ever live-stream auction during the lockdown last week (Wednesday 6 May), which delivered a stunning 84% success rate, and included the highest number of registered bidders for a single lot that Auctioneer Andrew Binstock has ever seen.

49 lots were sold from the 58 offered on the day, with bidding taking place online, by phone or by proxy, raising a total of almost £10m (£9,946,750). But it was the very first lot – a one-bedroom, ground floor flat in Redhill, Surrey - which became the story of the sale.

Andrew Binstock said: “There were astonishing and unprecedented levels of interest for Lot 1. We had 39 registered bidders who had each paid money in advance in order to bid on that property. We had originally guided it at £80,000, but bidding was fast and furious and wasn’t long before I was able to hammer it down at more than twice that price, for £190,500.

“I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed 39 different people registering to bid on one lot ever since my career began two decades ago – let alone where they were required to pay up front – so that was quite staggering. I seriously wonder whether it’s something I will ever see happen again.”

Auction House London was the first in the Auction House UK group to hold a sale via live-stream bidding on 25 March, just after the lockdown started.

Andrew Binstock explains: “It’s certainly an unusual experience, auctioneering in front of a TV camera, with only the company of a couple of other members of the team, co-ordinating the bids in the room. Inevitably, we had some unsold lots on the day, and people who are still interested in the properties concerned are invited to get in touch to see if we can help.

“But after the success of our first live-stream auction, we had no qualms about staging one again. And even with the slight easing of the restrictions announced by the Prime Minister last night, there’s still a ban on public gatherings. So we’re happy to announce that our next auction will be held via live-stream too.”

Auction House London’s next sale will be on Wednesday 17 June, starting at 12 noon.