Christie's introduces buy-it-now button in bid to take on eBay
Christie's auction house has introduced a buy-it-now button to some of its lots as the 250 year-old company aims to modernise its business.
Christmas shopping just got easier - if you have the money
Taking a leaf out of eBay's books, the luxury outlet will let consumers bypass the bidding process so they can immediately buy products at a set price.
The site will offer a higher calibre of goods than eBay, with some items set to go for tens of thousands of pounds. A total 42 lots will be made available to wealthy consumers before the firm's interiors auction on 9 December.
The ‘Christie’s Buy or Bid’ campaign includes a fossilised deer and a set of elk antlers, each set to go for at least £10,400.
Christie's chairman Nic McElhatton said: “Christie’s Buy or Bid builds on the existing auction offerings at Christie’s South Kensington.
“For the first time at Christie’s, buyers can secure a handpicked item for a fixed price - they don’t have to bid; they can walk in and walk out of Christie’s with their purchase, or buy on our website. Outside the fixed timeframe to buy, shoppers have another opportunity to bid at the auction.”
Buy-it-now items will be set at a price considerably higher than the valuation, if consumers don’t want to risk losing the item at auction.
Earlier this year, Christie’s auctioned a series of 20th Century tourism posters created by illustrator Roger Broders with some of the designs going for thousands of pounds.