A Changing Cultural Institution
This column is delivered in partnership with Moree Real Estate. Images by Amy Schultz.
Clearing sales are a cultural institution for regional Australia – always being seen as a farmer’s grand finale. Coinciding with retiring and stepping away from the farming game, where the day’s catalogue is a reflection of a lifetime of collecting and where generations of possessions are put up for display.
Everyone in the country remembers being dragged to a clearing sale, spending the day searching for treasures, standing around while dad chats to everyone he knows and indulging in a steak sandwich or CWA cake. But the mayhem that was COVID-19 re- ally changed the culture of clearing sales. With zero contact orders across most of Aus- tralia for a time, sales took to online platforms so trading could continue. For agencies like Moree Real Estate, transitioning to an online model became an essential element of their trade with their first online clearing sale proving the viablity of this method, generating a staggering $1.5million.
The second hand equipment market has seen an unprecedented increase in the last three to four years which has also contributed to the growth of online clearing sales. During a period where new machinery was becoming increasingly difficult to secure, producers turned to the second hand market to fulfil their demand for production essentials. Skyrocketing the price of second hand goods to the point of second hand selling for more than the initial purchase price in many instances. The online model enabled both buyers and sellers to access a wider pool to trade in. Giving sellers more opportunity to access potential buyers and giving buyers more opportunity to acquire the gear they desperately needed to continue their farming production.
“The online platform for conducting sales has opened up the whole of Australia to potential buyers,” says Sandy Bailey, agent and valuer for Moree Real Estate. “Five years ago it would have seemed insane for gear being sold in New South Wales to be purchased by someone from Western Australia. Now it’s very common to see machin- ery being sold here locally, going all across Australia. We’ve even sold some machinery internationally, last month we sold some cotton pickers and they’re currently on a boat to Greece.”
Nowadays, the team at Moree Real Estate estimate they spend 1/3rd of their time working on clearing sales, running at least one major online sale each month. And while they maintain that onsite clearing sales are still very successful, there is no doubt that the online sale is quickly becoming the new norm with a number of online sales facilitated by Moree Real Estate seeing 100% clearance rates with fully online sales.
Moree Real Estate is taking note of this new wave, expanding their team with a new full-time member of staff to focus on facilitating sales across the Dubbo and Central West areas, with the belief that the second hand gear and machinery market will con- tinue to stay buoyant in the coming years. Gone are the days when people needed to travel for hours to attend a clearing sale. Now we’re seeing people placing bids on their phones while still at home on the tractor.
While the rising populatiry of online clearing sales is certinaly changing the way clear- ing sales are taking place, the traditional onsite clearing sale certainly hasn’t seen its last days. Online options are simply bringing more opportunity for us all to do some great deals in new and dynamic ways.
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