A NEW player is preparing to challenge AuctionsPlus’s dominant position in the online livestock marketing space.

AAM’s Stocklive business will next month launch regular online cattle auctions, to be followed later by sheep.

It will be a ‘soft’ launch for the business, with cattle sales to be held fortnightly on Thursdays from October 9, before moving to weekly sales. Sheep sales will be held on alternate Thursdays, starting during November.

Stocklive’s primary role up to now has been in the provision of a digital remote bidding interface for weekly commercial cattle sales and stud cattle sales held in selling centres and on-property across the country each year. The business started in 2017, having absorbed the former Elite Livestock Auctions interface business.

In preparation for next month’s launch, Stocklive has been running regular dairy cattle sales in southern Australia, via Dairy Livestock Services.

So what has triggered the company’s move into regular online store and slaughter cattle auctions?

“In a word, competition,” Stocklive manager Libby Tyrell told Beef and Sheep Central.

“Livestock producers are telling us they want to see alternatives.”

Ms Tyrell said the Stocklive platform had been in development for some time, gathering feedback from stakeholders including cattle producers, agents, buyers and processors, and testing the software.

“It was important to find out what users wanted to see in an improved online trading platform – not just assume what they wanted,” she said.

For vendors, a listing on Stocklive will be cheaper than AuctionsPlus.

The listing cost schedule on the Stocklive website shows:

Cattle

• 1-250 head: $7.80/head
• 251-500 head: $7.20
• 501-750 head: $6.80
• 751+ head: $6.50

Sheep

• 1-1500 head: $1.00
• 1501-2500 head $0.90
• 2501-3500 head: $0.70
• 3501+ head: $0.50.

One of the key distinctions between Stocklive and AuctionsPlus auctions is around time saving.

Stocklive is using a sale management method called staggered-lot closing, where each lot will close individually. A specific closing time is displayed on each listing once the sale is live. This means each lot closes individually, with bid extensions applying on lots that attract strong competition, giving all buyers a fair opportunity to participate.

For a potential buyer only interested in a single lot – say 100 Droughtmaster steers – they only have to sit there for the time that parties are bidding on that single lot of steers.

In contrast, in existing online auctions, every lot remains open, whilever someone is bidding on any lot in the sale, which can take hours.

The staggered lot closing principle more closely mimics the auction process seen in traditional saleyards, Stocklive says.

For convenience, bidders can also set a maximum bid – allowing them to ‘set and forget’ while reducing the time needed to be actively involved in the sale.

Thursdays have been chosen as sale day, to give agents time to arrange listings with clients and complete assessments at the start of the week, leaving Fridays free for other work.

Assessors for listings will go through an approval process managed by Stocklive to underpin the credibility of listings. Assessor accreditation has already started, in advance of coming sales.

AuctionsPlus evolved out of the pioneering, industry-owned Computer Aided Livestock Marketing platform established in 1987. Since 2000, AuctionsPlus has dominated the online livestock marketing space in Australia. Without serious competition, AuctionsPLus has at times attracted criticism for its listing costs, user-friendliness, and lack of flexibility. The business was originally sold in 1997 by the industry to an agency consortium including Elders, Primac (later RuralCo) and Landmark (now Nutrien). Elders later absorbed Primac, and Nutrien absorbed Ruralco.

Stocklive also makes the point that the business is not agency-owned, and is 100pc Australian owned and operated.

Listing numbers and descriptions for the first Stocklive cattle sale on 9 October should be available at the end of next week.

For people interested in placing listings or to find out more about the new platform, contact Libby Tyrell on 0400 265 915 or preferred agents.

Click here to access the website www.stocklive.com.au