How’s Christie’s Doing with Those Online Sales? Just Fine

Christie’s CEO Steve Murphy has made no secret of his interest in expanding two areas of Christie’s business. One is private sales; the other is internet sales. Recently, the firm held its first online only wine auction. The event brought in more than $800,000 with 42,350 coming from a single bottle of wine. But the real question was whether Christie’s could bring in new buyers with online only sales.

Here’s what Bloomberg found out:

One quarter of the online clients were first-time buyers with Christie’s while many others, including an Asian client who bought the top lot, were existing customers buying wine for the first time, Per Holmberg, head of wine at Christie’s New York said.

The 444 registered bidders came from 29 countries, including Latvia and Indonesia. Brazilian bidders were also very active, mirroring the trend in other Christie’s sales, Holmberg said.

Lafite 1982 Leads $820,000 Christie’s Online Wine Auction (Bloomberg)