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2009
October
14

Press Centre

Press Release

the-saleroom.com records over £1.2 million in sales in September - Leading technology and changing trends help site defy recession

London, 14 October 2009

The-saleroom.com, the UK's leading live online antiques bidding site owned by ATG Media, has bucked the trend of falling retail figures over the last 12 months and recorded an impressive £1.24 million in monthly sales during September 2009. The figure represents an increase of 111 per cent over the sales figure for September 2008.

Confounding critics and sceptics who question whether live bidding for antiques is really here to stay, internet bidders buying through the-saleroom.com accounted for over 7,500 of lots sold at auction in September 2009, representing over 15 per cent of the total lots sold. The equivalent numbers for September 2008 were 3,100 lots and just 8 per cent.

The-saleroom.com delivers over 100 registered internet bidders to every auction linked up to its service which, when added to existing bidders in the room and on the telephone, comes as a welcome boost to potential buyer figures. Auctioneers are able to monitor the activity on the site and receive live bids from collectors and private individuals sitting in the comfort of their own home.

While the average price of antiques bought on the-saleroom.com is around £500, September also witnessed the highest price ever paid for an item purchased by live bidding, when a set of Conspicuous Gallantry Cross medals was sold for £88,000 to an internet bidder. Prior to this, the highest internet sale price was £38,000 for a cello purchased in November 2008.

Anne Somers, Chief Executive of ATG Media, owners of the-saleroom.com, commented:

"Our statistics reflect the increasing trend of buyers to opt for convenience and efficiency over time and energy. Buyers no longer have time to travel to auctions around the country and view objects in person. Our platform is secure, stream-lined and user-friendly and we expect to see these numbers continuing to grow even more impressively over the next 12 months."

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Notes to editors

ATG Media Ltd

ATG Media's core business is the weekly publication of the Antiques Trade Gazette - essential reading for anyone involved in the art and antiques business. For nearly 40 years, the newspaper has been an integral part of the auction community, bringing together buyers and sellers of art and antiques. In 2006, ATG Media expanded its range of services in line with changing industry needs by launching an online service, the-saleroom.com, where bidders can view hundreds of catalogues and participate in live auctions using live audio and video links. This proprietary interactive platform designed exclusively by the team at ATG Media also powers a second site, ibidder.com, an online auction site of non-antique items. ATG Media Ltd was created in October 2008 following a management buyout from DMGT.

the-saleroom.com

the-saleroom.com provides a complete range of online services for buyers and sellers of art and antiques at auction, including the UK's leading facility for live online bidding. The site publishes a wide range of catalogues for upcoming sales, giving full details of the sale contents and highlighting star lots in each catalogue. The majority of catalogues are heavily illustrated. Using a market leading proprietary technology platform, the-saleroom.com dominates the UK market in LIVE online auctioneering, with over 110,000 regular bidders now using the site. Thesaleroom.com is a wholly owned subsidiary of ATG Media.