Antony Cribb | A Bidpath Case Study

ABOUT | Antony Cribb

Antony Cribb auctions, an arms and armour specialist auction house based in Berkshire, was founded in 2014 by Tony Cribb. Holding large specialist auctions three times a year, Tony and his wife Sarah work tirelessly to source, catalogue and auction these high-quality items. They go above and beyond to make sure they provide the best service possible to their client, therefore when looking into having their own bidding platform, they wanted to work with a technology company that would in-turn provide this same level of service to them.

THE CHALLENGE | Taking the Leap

As a PACTS client of many years, the introduction to Bidpath’s Online Bidding technology (SAM) happened organically through their strong relationship with the PACTS team. When discussions first began with the Bidpath team, Antony Cribb were listing auctions on a number of marketplace platforms but Tony and Sarah were adamant that they wanted to make the leap and offer online bidding via their own website, making the investment in building their brand. In light of this, their challenges and requirements were a little different to other larger Bidpath clients:

Minimal staff and therefore worry of increasing workload
Technical support
Financial commitment
Building own brand
Lack of control on marketplace platforms – including price rises

THE SOLUTION | Technology and Support

The transition from a reliance on marketplace online bidding solutions to a fully branded private label bidding platform was a big decision for Tony, however, when deciding to work with Bidpath, Cribb knew that he was not just choosing a technology provider, he was choosing a team of people who’d didn’t just understand technology but also understood auctions.

The main focus for the project:

Hands on support throughout the journey – The transition to having your own platform does not have to be a daunting one. The Bidpath team were available every step of the way to ensure the transition was as smooth and streamline as possible.

Training – Sessions were conducted for Tony and Sarah around all aspects of the auction process, from auction cataloguing to bidder management to running a live sale.

Marketing strategy advice – The Bidpath team are happy to assist with marketing strategies and give their advice and best practice knowledge to help auctioneers reach as many potential buyers as possible. From helping to set up a Mailchimp account, producing initial campaigns for the new bidding platform to continuous support around promotion of the platform to their bidder database, the Bidpath team went above and beyond to help make the client’s platform a success.

Fully branded private label – The Bidpath team built a fully mobile responsive, private label platform with the look and feel of the Antony Cribb website. Bidders can now bid from anywhere in the world, with full audio and video, direct through the client’s website.

Data ownership – The client had already done the hard work building relationships with the clients. Now was the time to offer them the best online bidding experience. On top of this, due to competitive pricing, Tony was able to offer online bidding at a much lower price than other marketplace platforms.

Launching in March 2019 with an impressive 500 lot auction of specialist items, the Antony Cribb auction platform has been a huge success. Not only does Cribb now have full control of his auctions, online surcharge and bidder database, he has also been able to take pleasure in the fact that he is providing the best possible online bidding technology to his loyal clients.

HERE’S WHAT ANTONY HAD TO SAY

“As a small business working in a niche sector of the auction industry taking on a private label bidding solution was a big step. The team at Bidpath made us feel like we were their top priority and their knowledge and support was, and still is, extremely valuable. Our clients love bidding online directly with us, now more than ever. ”

Antony Cribb, Founder