In 2023 we closed the in-person hall and moved every paddle, every block, and every reserve to the web. Here's what changed, what we learned, and why we're not going back.
For nearly a decade we ran the floor the old way — chalkboard ringmen, paper
catalogues, a parking lot full of trucks waiting their turn under the canopy.
It worked. It also limited who could bid to whoever could physically make it
to the yard on a Wednesday morning.
In 2023 we made the call: shut the in-person hall, rebuild the bidding
floor on the web, and run every event live from the camera bay. No more
travel. No more "you had to be there." A bidder in Atlanta has the exact same
look at the lot as a bidder across the country — because there is no room
anymore.
What changed
- Live video feed on every lot. Full walkaround, engine cold-start, and a
- Real-time bidding through the browser. No phone calls to a ringman, no
- CARFAX or equivalent on every car before it hits the block. Boats get a
- Buy Now option added on most lots. If you don't want to fight the timer,
- Lender direct-consign model. We pull straight from the repo desks at our
What it means for buyers
You can bid from a workshop in Macon at 7am or from a kitchen in Athens at
lunch. Every payment, every title, every pickup is routed through our office —
wire clears, agent calls, vehicle ships. The block runs Thursday, the unit
can be in your yard by Tuesday.
What it means for sellers
Lenders get a wider buyer pool than any local in-person hall could hold. More
paddles = better sell-through = fewer rollovers. Our average sell-through
climbed from 68% in the last in-person year to 84% in the first full
online year.
What's next
We're keeping the same flat schedule — weekly Thursday events, monthly fleet
liquidations, quarterly vault clearouts. Catalogue drops the first Wednesday
of every month. Onward.
---
Thanks to the bidders and consignors who took the leap with us in 2023. The
doors stay open online, every day, around the clock.
