Commercial property advisers QRE have launched new online bidding technology to replace the customary sealed bids procedure at the end of a private treaty sales campaign.

The newly devised BidX1 technology, which was developed by the Space Property Group, allows investors to bid against each other online in an open and transparent platform with contracts being executed at the end of the bidding and the financial deposit collected.

QRE's first such sale last Friday, of a modern glazed commercial showroom at 25 Rockhill, Blackrock, Co Dublin, attracted five qualified investors who bid competitively during a 60-minute period.

A legal contract was issued to the successful bidder at the end of the process.

QRE had handled more than 150 enquiries about the property during a six-week marketing campaign.

The initial guide price of €700,000 was soon exceeded, reaching €845,000 in private treaty bidding.

At this stage five bidders confirmed their willingness to take part in a final round of online bidding. Before that happened each of the interested parties was asked to upload a copy of their passport and a utility bill on to QRE’s website.

Each bidder also had to transfer a deposit on to the selling agent’s client account which, for the successful bidder, was to be held as part of a non-refundable deposit.

Each bidder had to comply with due diligence before the bidding process and give QRE the authority to execute contracts on their behalf if they were successful. The underbidders all had their deposits returned.

The selling process lasted over an hour with 14 bidding time extensions. The successful bidder, a private investor, paid €1,070,000 for the Blackrock property. Copies of the signed contracts were in the inboxes of the vendor, purchaser and their respective solicitors before the close of business on the same day.

The balance of the 10 per cent deposit was paid within 48 hours.

Conor Whelan of QRE said he was delighted with both the success of the selling process and the price achieved. He was also happy with the positive feedback from the various bidders.

“Bidders liked the transparency, fairness and ease of use of the platform in contrast to the sealed bids method. The comfort of signed contracts provides buyers, seller and agent with certainty and minimum delays.”