Two record sales, attracting a global audience, have proved conclusively that live Internet antiques auctions are the future, says Journal antiques columnist and Brown & Co auctioneer Craig Bewick . . .

A pre-war gem that provided a shock when it went for10 times the pre-sale estimate. This Schuco Studio Mercedes Grand Prix car was bought for £418 by a Yorkshire Internet bidder

It looked like an auctioneer’s worst nightmare: Late afternoon on the first day of last month’s spectacular two-day specialist toy auction at the Brigg rooms, with a hundred lots to go, and just four people in the audience. There were more auctioneers and porters in the room than buyers!

In reality, things were going rather well because there were hundreds of people watching the progress of the auction on the Internet and, more importantly, there were 50 active bidders.

Everyone in the business has, of course, been monitoring the development of live Internet auctions – which permit buyers to bid live online – with interest, not to mention amusement. The early days did occasionally see things going spectacularly wrong and, in some cases, slowed progress down to the point where auctioneers and sale-goers just about lost the will to live.

The systems have now been sorted out and the results of our two auction experiments in recent weeks have shown beyond a shadow of doubt that this is going to completely revolutionise the auctioneering world.

One of the early indications of the way things were going occurred at the viewing session for the Autumn Antiques Auction, when a Beverley buyer– a regular attendee at auctions – indicated that we would not see him the following day. He would be bidding online.

Interest in the event proved to be even more widespread: As anticipated, there were people logging on from France, Germany, Italy and Spain. There were also lots of people joining us from all over the United States.

More of a surprise were the people from Tokyo (an evening event for them), Buenos Aires (an early morning start for those collectors), Turkey, Iraq and, believe it or not, Afghanistan!

Lots have been despatched to some very exotic places, including a Meissen monkey band that went to Istanbul and a pair of Victorian glass lustres to Beirut!

More prosaically, but equally important, were the people who joined the auction, virtually speaking, from the antiques belt in London . . . Kensington Church Street and the like. In the olden days (a couple of months ago) these important buyers would have had to send someone up to Lincolnshire or bid on a telephone. Now they can bid online.

The number of people following the sale on the Internet at any given time during the day fluctuated, depending on which section was being sold, but the technical experts tell us that upwards of 10,000 people logged on at some stage.

The number of people registering to bid was well into three figures and their presence did significantly affect the outcome. Twenty-two per cent of the lots were actually sold to Internet bidders but in countless other cases their involvement produced higher prices for vendors.

To give just one early example: The hammer was about to go down at £20 on a nutcracker in the form of a bear’s head when suddenly four or five bidders came in to the fight on the Internet and the price soared up to £110.

Internet involvement in the two-day toy auction was even greater. Collectors and enthusiasts from Denmark, Germany, Italy, Cyprus and the Republic of Ireland, as well as from all over the UK, were involved in the bidding.

Around 35 per cent of the lots in the auction were bought by Internet bidders and Internet bidding occurred on 50 per cent of the lots.

The impact of the Internet was again evident in any number of instances including one of the big surprises of the auction, a Schuco Studio Mercedes Grand Prix car. Dating from 1936, it was not only boxed but even had its tools and accessories which are, of course, the bits that tend to get lost.

We reckoned that it might make £40-£45 but it actually sold for 10 times that amount – £418. Everyone actually in the room had dropped out below the £200 mark and after that it was a straight fight between Internet bidders.

After two record-breaking auctions in a row, the decision to use the Internet on all major sales in the future has already been taken. From a buyer’s point of view, it is just so much more convenient to be able to bid from home. It also minimises the urge to make impulse buys!

From a vendor’s point of view, it means that their antiques and collectables will genuinely be exposed in a global market.

It is having a significant impact on us in that we are already receiving some terrific entries for the Winter Antiques Auction (12th December) on the specific understanding that the event will be live.

The closing date for the catalogue is Friday 20th November if any column readers are interested.