【France】”A Fridge for €50″: How to Find Good Deals at Auctions

by

Editor’s Note

The traditional auction house is no longer the only place to bid. As this article highlights, online sales now dominate the French auction market, allowing collectors to participate from the comfort of home. This shift reflects a broader digital transformation in the art and collectibles trade.

Réfrigérateur bleu dans une cuisine
Bidding Online Without Leaving Home

To buy? You can go directly to one of the 500 French auction houses if you want to experience the thrilling atmosphere of a live auction. Or you can stay comfortably on your sofa and bid online! Online sales now represent nearly 75% of the auction market in France (source: 2025 report by the Conseil des maisons de vente), compared to 34% in 2019.

On the Interencheres platform (a major player in online auctions along with drouot.com), 3.5 million items are put up for sale each year. Today, the vast majority of in-room sales are simultaneously broadcast live online. There are no geographical constraints for the buyer, no time wasted, and as a bonus, access to ultra-practical features.

“such as keyword alerts,” notes Maître Pomez. “As a watch collector myself, I am notified of all watches going up for sale at my colleagues’ auctions!”
Auctions Managed by an Algorithm

It’s important to distinguish between “live” sales and “chrono” sales. The former are sales conducted in a room by an auctioneer and broadcast live on auction platforms.

“The modus operandi of a live sale is therefore that of a classic auction, with the only difference being that the bidder attends and participates in the auction remotely from their computer, tablet, or smartphone,” explains Frédéric Lapeyre, president of Interencheres.

“Chrono” sales, still a niche (16% of Interencheres’ activity), are entirely dematerialized and take place over several days.

“These are sales in the style of eBay,” summarizes Maître Pomez. “No auctioneer runs the sale. It’s an algorithm that transcribes the bids in real-time.”

Frédéric Lapeyre clarifies, however, that

“unlike e-commerce sites that offer auctions, there is an auctioneer behind each sale, who appraises, guarantees the items, and responds to requests for additional information.”

On one hand, online auctions have multiplied the opportunities to find one’s dream object or needed equipment. On the other hand, they have opened the door to increasingly fierce competition among buyers.

“When an item is listed on Interencheres, potentially 1.4 million people will see it,” emphasizes Maître Pomez.
Compare Prices and Be Patient

So, can one still hope to find good deals? Yes, on common items, he confirms:

“A fridge for €50, you can still easily find that. All it takes is for three identical fridges to be sold on the same day at the same time, and you can get a great deal.”

For highly coveted and rare items, such as a signed piece of furniture, it’s a different story…

“With the digitalization of the profession, even if the auctioneer made a mistake in their estimate, the item will sell at the ‘right’ price, not below. Because bidders are well-informed and don’t get it wrong.”

Sometimes even paying more than the new price to secure the desired object!

Full article: View original |
⏰ Published on: February 23, 2026