COVID fuels record prices and interest in online auctions
‘These days demand outstrips supply’
Ethan Miller uses video as a way to share and connect with online bidders during Covid. View the M&M YouTube channel.
While the pandemic has created unimaginable challenges for many businesses, it has also led to enormous opportunities for others.
Online auctions of clocks and watches, antique cars, advertising and Canadiana are setting record prices and sending interest soaring. It’s a confluence of circumstances, but COVID-19 is the key factor.
“We initially thought the collector market would be toast during COVID,” says Ethan Miller, who co-owns Miller & Miller Auctions in New Hamburg, Ontario with his brother Justin. “We thought, ‘we’re screwed – who cares about collecting anything when we’re fighting a worldwide pandemic’?”
How happily wrong they were.
Auction companies with solid online platforms in place were particularly well-positioned to deal with the restrictions imposed by COVID.
“People have been kept away from everything – sporting events, restaurant dinners, movies and parties, so when we do an auction now there’s a lot of interest and a lot of new customers,” says Dana Mecum of Wisconsin-based Mecum Auctions, which sells between 12,000 and 13,000 cars a year and advertises itself as purveyors of ‘the world’s largest collector car auctions’.
“Auctioneers who have good operations and have built strong businesses are doing really well right now,” Mecum says. “Some people I know who’ve been in business 45 years have had their best results this past year.”
According to a Feb. 5th story in the Globe and Mail, the market for vintage watches has similarly boomed during the pandemic. “People have become closer to their passions because they’re spending more time at home,” says Paul Boutros, head of watches for the auction house Phillips in North America, which is also calling 2020 its best-ever year.
This Omega 'Pre-Moon' Speedmaster Ref. 105.002-62 sold for $23,600 at Miller & Miller Auctions in November 2020.
This Rolex Explorer Ref. 1016 Wristwatch sold for $29,500 at Miller & Miller Auctions in November 2020.
The trend is somewhat surprising given StatsCan reports that over half of Canadian businesses have seen a decrease in revenue during COVID, with smaller businesses most likely to have seen a reduction of 40 per cent or more.
Yet like many other high-end online auctioneers, Miller & Miller Auctions surpassed its own sales records in 2020. The average number of online user registrations was up by more than 40 per cent, bids per auction rose 24 percent and more than half the lots met or exceeded estimates. It’s certainly something Ethan and Justin’s late father and mentor Jim Miller would have never imagined.
Online shopping growth increased more than 40% in the United States in 2020 during COVID-19. The dramatic increase in e-commerce sales behaviour is similar in Canada.
“I remember back in 1995 Dad ranting about ‘this internet thing’,” recalls Ethan. “He said it was ‘for people who sit at home in track pants with nothing better to do with their time’.” Ironically, by 2005 his son Justin had become a ‘power seller’ on eBay and in 2015 – five years after Jim’s death – the two Miller sons launched their online company Miller & Miller Auctions, ‘sellers of high-value collections’.
With well-developed platforms, Miller & Miller was prepared for the limitations imposed by COVID. And they’ve since enhanced operations, elevating their live-stream auction by enriching its production value and by creating a companion mobile app, which means people can view the auctions from anywhere, even bid while walking down the street. They’ve also hired a shipping and logistics specialist to ensure buyers receive their purchases in roughly a week. And they’ve expanded their cache of consulting experts, something they’re particularly proud of since having consignments knowledgeably described and thoroughly examined for even the smallest hint of damage (often the kiss of death) has always been a top priority for Miller & Miller, a commitment which has assumed even greater importance now that people can’t examine things for themselves.
The Miller & Miller Auctions mobile app allows you to view and place bids in the auction from anywhere at anytime.
Click here to download on Apple. Click here to download on Android.
Mecum believes another factor in the exploding online auction market is pent-up demand. “Pre-COVID we were already entering an era where a lot of collectors were of an age that they were ready to scale down and sell,” he says. “They were ready to pass along their collections to middle-aged people who were by then doing well financially and thinking, ‘why not, life is short’. COVID brought all that forward. These days demand outstrips supply.”
“For the most part, it’s a seller’s market right now,” agrees Justin. “It’s also easier to have a pulse on the market since everything’s being sold online which means there’s a record. Prices are insane. It’s crazy.”
“We’re seeing a renewed interest in Canadiana and historical objects,” adds Ethan. “Instead of being fixated on the future – which looks kind of bleak right now – people seem to be finding comfort in old and familiar things. Vogue’s “Trends to Know in 2021” include exposed timber beams, select heirloom furniture, candles, fireplaces, things that last, and a divergence from minimalism. It’s refreshing to see”.
And with no antique shows or markets to wander around, online sales are where it’s at – now and for the foreseeable future.
“Things will not be going back to any kind of normal,” predicts Ethan. “This model works and even more so when you’re selling world-class collections in an international market where the live auction model becomes improbable. COVID forced us to fine-tune our processes and it’s also reinvigorated the market.”
The late Jim Miller, well known for his shrewd business instinct, a keen eye for quality and the quintessential sales pitch, would no doubt be surprised by this way of doing business – with or without track pants.
By Diane Sewell
Diane Sewell has been a writer for over 25 years, producing stories for some of the country’s top newspapers, consumer magazines and websites, as well as client newsletters and commissioned books.
Check out this recent Global News radio interview where Ethan Miller discusses the impact of COVID on the auction industry:
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