Twice a month we ask experts in the field of horse auctions for their advice and know-how for the benefit of breeders and buyers. This time the focus is on Paardenveilingonline, one of the many newcomers that started in the Corona-lockdown era.
From 20-23 April the organization from Niels Mulder and Alwin Scholten will auction 17 young showjumping horses and six ridden sport horses, fully online. We have six questions for Niels Mulder.
1. What made you start the online auctions?
“When the Corona-pandemic started, all live auctions ceased to exist. We were not yet organizing any auctions at the time, but we were selling a lot of foals. On the basis of that experience, we started Paardenveilingonline. First with showjumping foals, for they were in high demand. Now we auction foals in the summer and in the winter and spring youngsters, broodmares in foal and embryos.”
2. What was the biggest challenge when organizing an online auction?
“People had not yet got used to the idea of an online auction. It was our challenge to familiarize everyone with that. It took some getting used to before you dared to buy a horse that you could only see on screen. During the Corona era online auctions boosted enormously and the clients got used to them. Besides, the demand for horses increased, people could not find a suitable horse themselves.”
3. How did you attract the interest from sellers and buyers in Paardenveilingonline?
‘’Trust played a major role here. After having organized two online auctions, buyers were really caught by our auction. The purchases were satisfactory and they started to trust us. In addition, we put the breeders first. We did this by keeping costs at a minimum (only regular registration costs, no further percentages for the sellers). We also keep the costs for the buyers low and transparant. This made it very attractive to buy or sell a horse via Paardenveilingonline.“
4. Every online auction gets them: clients that change their mind and make no payments. How do you handle this?
‘’We work with the principle ‘know your client’. We find personal contact with the buyers and interested people of utmost importance. Our team puts a lot of time and energy in this. Both before, during and after the auction. We check the registration and data of new bidders as best as possible. Fortunately, we did not yet have many buyers yet that did not pay, but it will unavoidably happen. In that case such a person is immediately locked out from the online bidding system and can no longer buy a horse via us.’’
5. What is your advice to breeders that want to sell via Paardenveilingonline?
‘’Nice looking and correct foals and horses with a good pedigree always sell well, of course. We are looking for the best, but in every auction collection we have something for everyone and for every purse. It does not matter if the foal is from a young stallion as long as it is correct and healthy and has quality”.
6. Any hints for the buyers?
‘’All the information about the auction horses is made transparent on our website. Video’s, photo’s, X-rays and veterinary reports. We sell healthy horses, but the buyers should study the X-rays and reports first before bidding. And our best hint is, of course, to press the button at our online auction. You got another chance on 23 April!”
Check the collection for 20-23 April here
