RM’s $13.6m online-only Palm Beach sale: A turning point for the industry?

The Canadian giant’s recent Palm Beach sale – conducted completely over the internet due to the coronavirus pandemic – grossed $13,619,165 at a sell-through-by-number of 67%. It marks a significant point in the evolution of the industry.  

Never before has an online auction in time-limited ‘catalogue’ format achieved such a total. The sell-through might not have been good by North American standards, and the top-selling 1996 Porsche GT2 (top) missed its $950k to $1m estimate by some $140k, but in today’s extraordinary times the event must be considered a success.

The facts alone are impressive: 900 registered bidders from 44 countries generating an average of 17 bids per car. Nearly 40% of the bidders were new to RM.

At a glance:

* Gross: $13,619,165
* Total number of cars: 259
* Number sold: 173
* Number of cars not sold: 86
* Percentage sold by number: 67%
* Top-selling car: 1996 Porsche GT2 $891,000 gross, $810,000 net (est. $950k to $1m)
* Average value of cars sold: $78,723    
* Average year of cars offered: 1972

The sale was ‘held’ over four days, with bidding eBay-style over the internet. There was no auctioneer, just a limited time per car per day. Last man standing wins and RM’s existing online sales platform stood it in good stead. The catalogue – broad-ranging; nothing too niche, pre-War or very expensive – plus a still healthy North American market undoubtedly helped. Try repeating it with a typical Goodwood or Amelia Island selection of older, pricier and more specialised material and things would likely have turned out different. Jaguar XKs, E-types, 1980s Ferraris, BMWs and most Porsches are safer bets over the phone and online.

Many of the prices would not look out of place at a regular sale in the US. And, despite many offered at No Reserve, there were few obvious casualties, though one might be the 2019 McLaren Senna that, at $847k with premium (10% across the board), was $100k down on the seemingly ‘market correct’ example sold by Gooding at Amelia Island early last month.

Delivered new to Japan, some 30,000km on the clock and market conditions held back the Porsche GT2, but it still sold. Elsewhere, though, there was a $25k Fiat Multipla, a $165k Jaguar XK 140 MC Roadster and three Ferrari Testarossas going for $100.1k, $126.5k and $77k – all pretty much business as usual. The 1963 Shelby Cobra 289 lacked its original engine and had been modded at some point. Prices have softened on these cars, so $682k gross was fair in the circumstances.

With just 175 miles recorded, the lurid Giallo Triplo Strato 2017 Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta hardly needed a specialist inspection, so should have been well set for an online auction. It did not sell, and like all 86 unsold lots, is still being marketed.

No news, yet, from RM on the status of its next big North American auction on 1-2 May at Elkhart, Indiana. That, too, could go online and it won’t be until Monterey Week in August at the earliest that we see some sort of a return to normality.  

Bonhams Goodwood Members’ Meeting Sale, 29 March 2020

Over in the UK, the Brits suffered from a last-minute cancellation of the physical event, then stop-start efforts to run a ‘virtual’ auction followed by a private treaty sales operation. Despite that, the quirky 1956 Lister-Maserati found a new owner at £575k. Other cars are marked simply ‘sold’, while the rest can still be bought.

Photo by RM Sotheby’s