Upcoming Auctions

Live Auction Internet Bidding Has Matured

December 23, 2009 | view archive

On December 8th 1998, I awoke from a dream in the middle of the night. I sketched out my vision (I have since misplaced the drawings, but I know they are somewhere in my office) of the future of the auction business. The sketches included bidders at home in pajamas, UPS trucks, satellite salesrooms, 3D imaging, and even electronic bid paddles (still to come). I spent a couple of years trying to develop my dream of providing these future services to the auction industry as a company called AuctionE. For many reasons, this company never achieved the goal of developing our business model. In 2001, I decided that I needed to create an auction house to use the systems that were later developed by other companies and, I knew, soon to be offered through eBay. Antique Helper Auctions was created to provide these sales services to the public. Antique Helper has confronted many hurdles through the following years, but has now emerged as the premier online consignment auction in the Midwest U.S.

Since 2001, we have seen eBay come and go in the live auction business. Several companies emerged with powerful business plans to fill the void left by eBay Live in 2009. Fierce competition drove these companies to align themselves with the major players in the live auctions arena. I have worked with all of them. I did not always take the most obvious choice and I now feel vindicated by these sometimes unpopular decisions. Our December 19th 2009 auction, exactly 11 years after my AuctionE dream, Antique Helper, an Artfact partner, produced my vision of the ultimate live auction. With registered bidders from 15 countries online and a/v streaming in place, the Antique Helper staff presented 500 lots from the estate of William D. Ansley, Topeka, Kansas. Online bidders submitted over 1700 bids and bought 50% of the auction. We were able to create this bidding bonanza 26 days after picking up the collection in Kansas. Every cataloged lot was presented with an artistic photograph, detailed descriptions and condition reports and displayed on the video cameras. Today the Antique Helper staff is providing direct shipping to over 69 successful absentee bidders.

I just want to congratulate my staff at Antique Helper, Artfact and our other Internet service providers, the antiques media and collector sellers (our clients) and bidders (our customers) for their diligent work to get us to this level in the auction industry. We, are looking forward to an outstanding year in 2010!

Dan Ripley, Owner