Results: Christie's Online Wine Sale

Bloomberg ran a short update on the recent online wine sale Christie's held.  The two week bidding period closed on August 20th, and the results seem promising. The pre sale estimates were from $750,000 to $1 million, and the sale totaled a respectable $819,710 (including buyers premiums).  The sale offered 301 lots and a strong 88% of the lots sold.  The top selling lot went for $42,350 which included a 21% buyers premium.

With the success of this first timed internet auction, I would expect to see more luxury items sales on the internet only platform from Christie's.  Sotheby's has yet to announce online only timed auctions.

Bloomberg reports on the sale.

The sale was the first foray into stand-alone online wine auctions by Christie’s, which until recently only allowed internet bidders to participate in live auctions. The two-week sale sourced from three private collections ended on August 20, with 88 percent of the 301 lots sold. The pre-sale estimates excluding premium ranged from $750,000 to $1 million.

The auction represents a push by Christie’s to gain market share in high-end sales. It also plans to sell watches, prints and fine art in all-online sales with the next internet-only wine sale starting on Oct. 16.

One quarter of the online clients were first-time buyers with Christie’s while many others, including an Asian client who bought the top lot, were existing customers buying wine for the first time, Per Holmberg, head of wine at Christie’s New York said.

The 444 registered bidders came from 29 countries, including Latvia and Indonesia. Brazilian bidders were also very active, mirroring the trend in other Christie’s sales, Holmberg said.

Source: Bloomberg