Olympics furniture a 'loser' in competition for auction buyers
19/9/2008 16:43
The Olympics and Paralympics might have left many Chinese with fond
memories, but that isn't translating into buying interest at auctions for
memorabilia and furniture used during the events.
More than 60,000 pieces of
furniture used during the dual Games, as well as souvenirs, got the cold
shoulder at an auction yesterday, according to the Beijing Times.
The
newspaper reported today that the auction, the third of its kind, drew only 17
bidders for beds, mattresses, desks and refrigerators. The items were mainly
from two media villages -- North Star and Huiyuan -- and were offered in 18
lots.
Four lots comprising 13,000 items only sold after their asking prices
were slashed by 10 percent.
The buyers were Xing Guisheng of Zhangjiakou, a
city in north China's Hebei Province; Wang Xijun, who operates a website known
as www.dqccc.com; Liu Qiang, an employee of a trading company based in Jiugong,
Daxing, in southern Beijing, and Li Shanting, a businessman from Huirou in
northern Beijing.
The remaining 14 lots, involving more than 50,000 items,
went unsold, said the newspaper.
Xiong Yan, chairman of the Beijing Property
Exchange, admitted that the unsold items from yesterday's auction, hosted by
auctioneer Sheng Yanbin with ZhongHongXin International Auction Co Ltd, was
beyond expectations. Previous auctions held on Aug. 5 and Sept. 9 went
well.
"I think maybe each [lot] is too big, preventing individuals or smaller
companies from buying," said Xiong, who added he was not discouraged by the
result. He said more auctions were pending.
According the Beijing Times, the
largest lot had 5,304 items while the smallest had 1,064.
Xing Guisheng from
Hebei bought the no.1 unit, with 4,907 items, at a cost of 292,000 yuan (about
US$41,714). He said he would use the items in a planned guesthouse in his
hometown. He'll have to pay the costs of shipping separately.
Website
operator Wang Xijun, who bought 1,936 items for 115,000 yuan, said he would
resell the items after refurbishing them.
Liu Qiang, who said he made the
purchase of 4,132 items on behalf of his boss, for 249,000 yuan, said the items
could be used for commercial or private use.
Li Shanting from Huairou, who
spent 142,000 yuan, said he would use the furniture at a holiday village he runs
at the foot of the Great Wall.
"I am considering setting aside a number of
'Olympics rooms' at my village," said Li. "What I paid was one-third cheaper
than the market price. But I have to spend 70,000 yuan to 80,000 yuan to
transport the items, which will make it almost equal to buying stuff directly
from the open market."
Xinhua
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