FOCUS: A successful 'bid' for survival

Wednesday 28 October 2020

Lockdown could have spelt disaster for Jersey's largest auction house - but by evolving with the times and embracing new tech, Simon Drieu and Co is busier than ever.

Express met its eponymous principal to find out how life at Glencoe has not only survived the pandemic, but prospered...

A visit to Simon Drieu’s sale ground just north of Carrefour Selous, where auctions have been held since 1956, offers no evidence of seismic change. As usual, dozens of cars are lined up awaiting sale and the building is still a visual spectacle of random paraphernalia from spotted lampshades, to German Second World War uniforms.

It is only his company’s website that gives an indication of wholesale change, and it is a subtle one at that. On the right of the home page, there is a small grey button that simply says ‘Live Auction.’

But like the wardrobe into Narnia, that innocuous button has opened up an amazing world of possibility for Mr Drieu and his team.

The story, however, begins earlier this year, when life in Jersey ground to a halt.

“The crunch for us was lockdown,” said Mr Drieu, sat in an ornate chair awaiting its fate at auction. “We were one of the specifically named businesses that had to shut back in March and, as you can imagine, that was quite devastating because our whole income was derived from running a weekly auction.

“At that time, the general assumption for our business and many others was that we’d be shut down until September. We were obviously worried about the business itself, so my colleague, Karen Dillon, came up with the idea of going online with live bidding. 

“At that point, because we were unsure as to how things were going to pan out and if it would be a long shutdown, we decided to conduct auctions solely online, which a lot of auction houses in the UK opted for. So, we decided to join easyliveauction.com, which is an auction forum that accommodates around 300 auctioneers and offers an online facility.”

Mr Drieu launched the new online auction when his business reopened in June. The weekly live auction moved outside to ensure social distancing but that was the least of his worries at the time.

Pictured: For the first sale, 75% of all items purchased were bought online.

“For our first sale online, I had a computer screen in front of me while I was conducting the traditional auction outside. Obviously, I was taking bids from the few people we had there, but I also had bids coming in online via the computer, which was totally alien to me. I have to admit, it was quite frightening.

“The two forums were completely in unison, so I had to be switched on; and I also had to take account of written bids that people had left at the viewing. It was quite challenging, to say the least. 

“For that first sale, 75% of all items purchased were bought online. I was absolutely blown away; I just couldn’t believe it because I honestly thought that if I had three or four bids from the internet, it would be a good start. But to get 75%? I was gobsmacked.

“Since then, it has snowballed. Entries have shot up because what we are now achieving is considerable better prices for the chattels. And that’s simply because we now have a global audience.”

During the sale, the internet bids flash red and blue on Mr Drieu’s screen when they change. Just a few months in, he has already had successful purchases from America, Switzerland, the Continent, the UK, Ireland and other Channel Islands. 

“While I say prices have gone up, things are still affordable and I think the person selling the item is getting a reasonable return now; whereas, if I’m honest, pre-internet, prices for items, particularly furniture, weren’t great. 

“Now, prices have gone up, so I think the vendor is getting a reasonable return, but the purchaser is still getting a good purchase.” 

Pictured: German Second World War uniforms are one of the things sold at the sale ground. 

Despite the introduction of a global audience, Mr Drieu has not received any negative comments from locals, who might previously had just been bidding against the chap across the sale ground. 

“The feedback for this new system has been virtually 100% positive, because we now have a sale catalogue where every single item is photographed with a description. It also has the added benefit of an enquiry button, which gives you a direct email contact to us, so you can ask for dimensions, specification, whatever.

“That has been a big change. On our Tuesday viewing day, we get several dozen email enquiries through the button, asking for more photographs and other information.” 

Expanding the audience has presented other challenges to Mr Drieu and his team, including getting items to their new owners and ensuring that every buyer is legitimate. 

“What we tend to get with any initial international enquiry is a) do we handle shipping? and b) how much is it going to cost? This has created extra work for us, but it is still beneficial, so we’re posting items every week. I can’t say we match the volume that Amazon sends to Jersey but we’re trying our best to even things out.

“When it comes to the legitimacy of online bidders, through our database we can carry out various checks, and a list of banned bidders is pulled from all the auction houses that subscribe to the forum, so it is extensive. If someone is banned in Edinburgh, for example, they can be banned across the entire forum membership.” 

So, what are the most common items that go to the international bidders? 

“We have sold some cars to the UK, which is quite incredible. But, on the whole, it tends to collectibles, objet d’art, things like that, although we have shipped a Singer portable electric sewing machine to a gentleman in Seattle. When I asked him why, he told me that that model was apparently not released in America, and his friends would be very jealous that he now had one.”

Pictured: Simon Drieu has sold items online to people as far as America.

The success of the online auction, brought in as a response to lockdown, means that it will continue once life finds a degree of normality.

“We will definitely continue it,” said Mr Drieu. “Hindsight is a great thing, but it is probably something we should have done ten years ago. If I’m really honest, I was scared of it: while I am still in my 50s and familiar with technology, I had lots of reservations about internet bidding, but I think a lot of that was down to fear. 

“Having said that, a lot of the fear has been reduced by modern technology, which makes the process extremely efficient. It sounds a bit corny but this system was designed by auctioneers for auctioneers, so it tends to cover all the bases. We obviously had to make an investment, but it was reasonable and viable.”

That technology not only increases the audience but also adds new functions to the bidding process.

“You can now set up alarms to notify you of a particular lot that you might be looking for across the whole forum and you can visit each individual auction house and look at past results, which a lot of people find beneficial. 

“There is also an online historical record of what has been sold, which is one of the reasons why we are so busy. People are looking back at past results and seeing what items have achieved. They might have a similar item and are pleased with the hammer price, which is why we are getting so many chattels coming in now.

“The online platform allows fixed bids and also something called an auto-bid, which involves submitting a confidential maximum bid. The system will then start bidding as low as it can and buy for you at the most economical figure up to your stated maximum. It is a usual new function.”

Despite international customers, Mr Drieu doesn’t go online himself to source items. It remains very much a sale of Jersey items. 

“Everything that we sell is purely what people bring in. We also do a lot of legal work, which is probate, and what is now called delegation. This is when someone passes away or goes into care, and we will work for their representative to clear estates and/or premises. We also do a lot of work for the Government to dispose of vehicles or machinery, and we also sell number plates for them.”

During lockdown, the style gurus and life coaches of this world recommended that we should have a good declutter while confined indoors. Did Mr Drieu see any evidence that Islanders had taken their advice? 

“The volume of items now coming in has more than doubled and we are extremely busy. I think some of that could be down to Covid clear-outs but it is also because of an increase in the hammer price. 

“That means we are now a legitimate alternative to the likes of eBay. Also, if someone had something that was very specialist, that needed a broader audience than who we have locally, they would previously have to approach a big London auction house. 

“We are selling items, such as furniture, collectibles, silver, wine and objet d’art, that would have previously gone offshore because we have that global audience. The oddest thing we have sold offshore was a vintage blacksmith’s anvil. Traditionally, they reach £150-£200 but we sold this particular one for £900, and we had to ship it to a living farm museum in Dorset. That might not sound a long way, but it is when it’s that heavy!”

Pictured: "I have had to be a little more choice with some of my comments and political correctness!"

If there is one downside of going online, it is a slight dip in atmosphere on a Wednesday, not least because Mr Drieu has to be a bit more careful with the banter.

“I am microphoned up during an auction so when you go to the site you can actually listen to me selling. I must admit I have had to be a little more choice with some of my comments and political correctness. I am also minded that all the people listening can’t see what we might be having a bit of fun with. 

“But that said, it is interesting to see that some of the people who have gone online to bid are the last people I thought would. I find it amazing that many of our more mature local attendees, who are the real bastions of this place, have gone online.

“We sell a terrific amount of motor vehicles so we still get a couple of hundred people here but once we have gone through them, the physically live audience tends to peter away. We’re so busy that instead of a three-hour sale we are doing a five-hour sale but at the end we might be left with three or four people, yet the computer screen is still busy flickering away with online bids.

“We are now selling nearly 500 lots a week, with a waiting list and we use social media to ask our clients not to bring items in that particular week if we are full. If you’d told me that we would be this busy back in March, I would have thought you were mad.”

This article first appeared in October's edition of Connect magazine. Read it in full here.