An explosion of online sales in 2020
Posted by Pi-eX Research on 12th Jan 2021
The skyrocketing growth of online auctions at the top three auction houses will surely stay as a mark of the year 2020:
- The number of auctions arranged purely online increased by 214%, from just over 200 auctions in 2019 to almost 650 auctions in 2020.
- The revenue generated by auctions arranged purely online increased by 475% from US$165 million in 2019 to US$ 950 million in 2020
However, while online auctions represented 66% of the number of auctions arranged in 2020 by Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips, they only contributed to 13% of the combined 2020 revenue.
This is because the average revenue brought in by online auctions still remains far below the average revenue brought in by Live auctions.