RM Auctions, a division of RM Sotheby’s Group, today announces that its forthcoming Palm Beach auction, scheduled 20–21 March at the Palm Beach International Raceway, will be canceled and transitioned into an Online Only auction via rmsothebys.com. The decision to shift this live auction to the company’s online platform comes in light of the current guidance from public health officials regarding the global COVID-19 outbreak.
The auction house came to the decision to cancel its live auction as a precautionary step to safeguard the health and well-being of its clients, auction visitors, and staff. RM Auctions will do all it can to ensure the transition of the Palm Beach auction to an RM Online Only sale is as smooth and successful as possible for all parties involved.
“Based on the success of our Amelia Island sale this past weekend ($35.8M total sales with 94% sell-through rate) with the highest number of onsite registered bidders in our 22-year history at Amelia Island, contrasted by the developments in the market over the past three days, our leadership team extensively discussed the execution of our South Florida auction at the Palm Beach International Raceway next week,” said Kenneth Ahn, President, RM Sotheby’s Group. “Given the spreading virus in the U.S. over the past several days, and the concerns for the safety of our clients and our staff, we have decided that it is most prudent and responsible for us to cancel the physical auction where we anticipate more than 1,000 attendees. Further, given the success we have had on our Online Only auction platform over the past several months, and the captive global audience that engages with us digitally every day, we will leverage our technology to enable consignors to the Palm Beach sale to offer their cars online, and our collector clients to bid on high-quality collector cars from their homes without traveling to South Florida.”
Launched in 2019, the RM Online Only division has demonstrated great success thus far, providing consignors and bidders a platform that allows for faster transactions to take place while still harnessing the level of service and reach associated with the RM Sotheby’s brand. RM Auctions looks forward to showcasing this proven tool as an alternative option for its global roster of clients with the diverse offering of high-quality collector cars and automobilia originally set for the Palm Beach sale.
Will cars be available for inspection??