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One effect of the novel coronavirus is the increase in retail goods being sold at auction.

Another is the increase in new auction participants since Able Auctions went to 100 per cent online auctions on March 28 in the wake of COVID-19.

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“It’s about three times our normal amount,” said Jeremy Dodd, owner and CEO of Able Auctions. “A lot of those people would have attended in person in the past, but still probably 25 per cent of that increase is first-time bidders at every auction.”

The auction company, which has been around since the early 1980s, began holding online auctions 15 years ago and as lately as two months ago sold 65 per cent of its merchandise online.

“This hasn’t been a difficult transition for us,” Dodd said. “But these are difficult times for everybody and it’s difficult for us, as well.

“There are more products to sell, but there’s less money out there.”

He’s not complaining, but he said staff are working twice as hard to bring in the same income as in the past.