Social and commercial life, as we know it, has been on \u2018pause<\/em>\u2019 since March, and now as we head into the summer, many countries are still not back to normal. And what does that \u2018normal\u2019 even mean now, because you don\u2019t have to look too hard to see that the phrase \u2018new norm<\/em>\u2019 has become part of our world\u2019s lexicon. <\/span><\/p>\n Does it mean we will never be able to \u2018physically\u2019 interact as we used to? Some say it does, others don\u2019t agree, and many just don\u2019t know.<\/strong><\/p>\n But what if I told you that we already know the answer to that question, and that this pandemic has effectively just pressed fast-forward on the \u2018remote control\u2019<\/em> of our world. The destination we\u2019re heading hasn\u2019t altered, it\u2019s just the speed at which we are going to get to that destination that\u2019s changed.<\/span><\/p>\n Let me explain. As the one of the world’s most successful philatelic auctioneers, David Feldman SA has for over 20 years, and especially in the last decade, been planning for a time just like this, when business as we know it won\u2019t exist any more. The \u2018physical\u2019 inevitably being replaced by the \u2018virtual\u2019, but what we didn\u2019t expect is the speed of change which we have witnessed in the last three months. In short, the COVID19 virus has accelerated the rate at which we will all have to embrace that \u2018new norm\u2019 – the virtual world.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u2018Rewind’ <\/span><\/em>30 years and it would be unheard of to be talking about online and mobile apps for bidding, and frankly you\u2019d be pretty hard pushed to find an auction house anywhere back then that didn\u2019t rely totally upon filling their auction room on the day. <\/span><\/p>\n And quite right too, because there is no getting away from the excitement and drama created by what we in the auction business call the \u2018theatre\u2019. It\u2019s what makes this industry unique and alluring. The auctioneer on his rostrum, the sea of buyers ready for battle, the bidding, the competition to win, the crack of the hammer. As A. Alfred Taubman, a famous, if not infamous auction house owner once said; \u201cGod help us if we ever take the theatre out of the auction business. It would be an awfully boring world\u201d. <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=\u00a0\u00bb1_3,2_3″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″ custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb||7px|||\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_3″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_image src=\u00a0\u00bbhttps:\/\/www.davidfeldman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/David-Feldman-mobile-phone-bidding.jpg\u00a0\u00bb title_text=\u00a0\u00bbDavid Feldman mobile phone bidding\u00a0\u00bb show_in_lightbox=\u00a0\u00bbon\u00a0\u00bb _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″ custom_margin=\u00a0\u00bb||1px|||\u00a0\u00bb][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″ custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb3px|||||\u00a0\u00bb]<\/p>\n Screenshot of the David Feldman mobile app, for veiwing and bidding using a mobile device<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb2_3″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″]<\/p>\n So if now, as a result of the pandemic, we\u2019re heading at breakneck speed instead of drifting to a destination called \u2018virtual\u2019, then the challenge isn\u2019t to preserve the \u2018physical\u2019 of our business, it’s to create the \u2018theatre\u2019 in the virtual world.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n And that is exactly what we\u2019ve been doing with the development of user friendly, and ever faster and slicker ways to enable our clients to be a part of the \u2018live auction\u2019 when they can\u2019t be \u2018physically\u2019 in the room with us, and from anywhere in the world – using our online bidding via the website or the David Feldman app (which is free to download on Android<\/a> and Apple <\/a>devices) and allows our clients to bid from their mobile phones or tablets. What has this meant? More people participate in our auctions than ever before. And crucially, more nail-biting drama. That\u2019s got to be a good thing. <\/span><\/p>\n This type of progress is nothing new though, take for example the telephone – which was a great invention once – this facilitated buyers to bid when they couldn\u2019t attend the auction, long before the Internet. That didn\u2019t alter the thrill and suspense in the room. In fact, it added a new dimension. The mysterious buyer hidden behind the mask of \u201cthe phone bidder\u201d injected even more excitement into the mix.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=\u00a0\u00bb3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″ custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb20px|||||\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb3_5″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″ width=\u00a0\u00bb100%\u00a0\u00bb]<\/p>\n Now these mysterious telephone bidders are being usurped by the avatar bidders on the mobile and internet platforms. At David Feldman we were the FIRST AUCTIONEERS IN THE WORLD to introduce live online bidding over 20 years ago.<\/strong> Sure there were doomsayers back then proclaiming the end of the auction world as we knew it, but that hasn\u2019t proved correct. In fact quite the contrary. It would be the death of the auction business if we didn\u2019t have all this Internet technology to support what we do. And has it detracted from the excitement and the thrill? No. It\u2019s added another channel to the set. Now you can select which \u2018channel\u2019 you turn to with a click of a button, from the comfort of your armchair, and even better you can sit back and enjoy the drama unfold – quite literally – live.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb2_5″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_image src=\u00a0\u00bbhttps:\/\/www.davidfeldman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Phone_bids-2.jpg\u00a0\u00bb title_text=\u00a0\u00bbPhone_bids-2″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″ custom_margin=\u00a0\u00bb||7px|||\u00a0\u00bb][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″]<\/p>\n Ricky Verra controlling the online bidding console and Marcus Orsi assisting a client to bid on the phone in one of our auctions [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″ custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb20px|||||\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb4_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″ width=\u00a0\u00bb100%\u00a0\u00bb]<\/p>\n Whilst it\u2019s a bold statement to claim there will be a day in the International Auction world when no one will attend the live auction in person, I\u2019d go even further and say it will happen sooner than anyone would believe possible. And as a result of this pandemic, it\u2019s made every business, large or small, take steps to confront the virtual world now, not sometime in the future. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=\u00a0\u00bb1_4,3_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″ custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb1px||1px||false|false\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_image src=\u00a0\u00bbhttps:\/\/www.davidfeldman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Auction_room_anonymous1.jpg\u00a0\u00bb title_text=\u00a0\u00bbAuction_room_anonymous1″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″ custom_margin=\u00a0\u00bb|-4px||-4px|false|false\u00a0\u00bb custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb|0px||0px|false|false\u00a0\u00bb][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb3_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″]<\/p>\n Sure the physical facility will be available even if on \u2018standby\u2019 mode, and indeed our upcoming auction on 30th June to 2nd July in Geneva will have limited availability for those who want to be, on stage, in the flesh; viewing will only be available by appointment in the two weeks prior to the auction and not at all during the auction. Why? Because like all businesses we can\u2019t escape the infectious nature of this virus, so restrictions on both the number of people and the type of procedures in operation physically will bring about the new norm, sooner rather than later. Things won\u2019t be the same, and maybe that’s a good thing too. And, in the same vein we can\u2019t avoid the inevitable spread of the virtual world, which even before the pandemic lockdown, was getting a grip on all our social and commercial lives.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb4_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″]<\/p>\n And thus we\u2019re witnessing changes here at David Feldman SA such as offering, for select clients, a \u2018bespoke auction viewing service<\/em>\u2019. And the rapid deployment of video-telephony to enable agents and others to bid as if they were in the room, coupled with additional resources managing telephone and electronic and mobile bidding platforms, the virtual world is taking hold of that remote control. We can\u2019t switch this thing off. The show must go on, and it\u2019s ok because all this emerging progress is adding to the rich backdrop of the setting for this production we call the auction \u2018theatre\u2019<\/em>, brought to you live, not from Hollywood, but from Geneva. It\u2019s a captivating, fly-on-the-wall, real life series and it’s free to watch.<\/span><\/p>\n To bring this into view here is another quote from A. Alfred Taubman, \u201cTo succeed, you have to look beyond immediate barriers and see opportunities.<\/strong>\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n So, this is your opportunity to take back the \u2018controls\u2019 <\/em>and press \u2018play\u2019, so we can<\/em> start watching once more, as our future unfolds before our very eyes. It might not be \u2018theatre\u2019 as we know it, but you\u2019ll be able to play a part in a global auction, that nobody knows what happens next or how it ends. You can choose what channel to view it on, and whether you play a bit-part or a leading role. The \u2018New Norm\u2019 is arriving. In fact, it\u2019s already here.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″ custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb||6px|||\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb4_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″]<\/p>\n Our June 30th-July 2nd auction series will be the first time that our new online bidding app will be available for clients to use. Designed for Apple and Android devices, this app allows you to bid live during the auction using your tablet or mobile phone from wherever you are in the world, and is available to download now in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=\u00a0\u00bb1_4,1_4,1_4,1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″ custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb5px||3px|||\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″ custom_margin=\u00a0\u00bb||-3px|||\u00a0\u00bb custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb10px||||false|false\u00a0\u00bb]<\/p>\n
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