Online pigeon auctions

Buying top-quality racers and breeders in ‘virtual auctions’ is easy, says Greg Miles.

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The most popular pigeon auction sites in South Africa are:

One advantage of an online auction is that ‘auction fever’ is limited. According to pigeonracingpigeon.com, the free food and alcohol at some auctions can lead to bidders going higher than intended. With an online auction, there is obviously no danger of this happening. “There’s a great need countrywide for fanciers to obtain pigeons of the highest quality,” says Ferdie Coetzer, co-owner of exclusivepigeons.co.za. Websites offering auctions are a convenient way of satisfying this need and are proving popular as a result.

Easy way to sell excess stock
Thomas Smit, Farmer’s Weekly’s own pigeon expert, has this to say: “Not all racing pigeon fanciers have dispersal sales. Occasionally, though, they find themselves overstocked with top genetic material. “Online pigeon websites act as agents to market this excess stock without the hassle of a public auction.” Mario Ferreira, the 2013 Stutterheim Club Champion, agrees. “Online auctions are often a cheap way to get good genetics without travelling,” he says.

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Costs and procedure
The sites charge a fee of 10% to 15%, which is cheaper than printing an auction catalogue, hiring a venue and paying an auctioneer. The pigeon being sold is sent to the relevant loft, where a photograph is taken. This is then placed online, along with the bird’s pedigree. It is the performance record, however, that largely determines the price eventually paid by the buyer.

At exclusivepigeons.co.za, the minimum bid on a pigeon is R1 000.The bidding increments are R200 (R1 200, R1 400 and so on). When the bidding exceeds R5 000, increments increase automatically to R500. The buying process is easy and efficient. Bidders are notified via email if someone raises their bid, allowing them to react quickly and keep the bidding going.

The moment an auction closes, the highest bidder immediately receives confirmation via email.