Shared-Platform Auction Project Tricky

LAS VEGAS – Getting major auto auctions together under one big cyber-tent is possible, but tricky.

Pierre Pons emphasizes that as he asks for patience and understanding from remarketing people who are pressing major auction houses to unite to stage interconnected online bid-a-thons on shared platforms or ones linked by modern technology.

“It’s complicated when competitors are working together,” says Pons, CEO of ServNet, a group of independently owned auctions. 

Supporters of cross-platform buying and selling include consigners who wholesale large numbers of used vehicles, many of them off-lease, and want as much bidding as possible.

Auction firms are working to meet the demand, yet they’re trying to develop something they can live with as rivals.

Cross-platform listings are one thing. They’re already around. But cross-platform buying and selling represent a big step. Affected parties need to resolve all sorts of issues, Pons says. Those range from technology to regulations.

Much collaborative work remains in developing an open-platform dubbed “the Hub.”

Pons likens it to the euro. It’s the common currency of European nations with different economies and political systems. Because of those differences, the euro has not been trouble-free. Greece teetering on insolvency is an example.  

“People wonder what’s happening with the Hub,” Pons says at the 2014 National Remarketing Conference here. “Saying that it’s stalling is a disservice. We need to work things out among competitors.”

That could take a while.

“The technology is complicated and the politics is insanely complicated,” he says. “Everyone has to have their say. When it comes out, it will be bullet-proof.

“But I don’t want the remarketing community to think nothing is going on. It is time for the auction community to bring the remarketing community in. That’s the next big step.”

Pons says members of the auction contingency have discussed the matter several times, including private talks at the remarketing conference. Because of those, he missed other conference doings, such as presentations and panel discussions. But the powwows are necessary if the Hub is to happen, he says.

Some conference attendees are skeptical.

“I still don’t know if it will work,” says Cheryl Munce, a consultant for Alteso, a remarketing service provider.

“One vehicle on various platforms at the same time creates lots of issues,” she says. “Is it a race to the bottom on fees? Could you sell the same car twice? Does it add new buyers? I don’t know that it does. It may just give buyers different sandboxes to play in.

“But don’t get me wrong, I’m not criticizing it.”   

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