Catawiki

Catawiki is an online auction platform for buying and selling special items and collectibles. Catawiki was founded in 2008 as an online community for collectors. Since 2011, the company has been hosting weekly online auctions, in various categories such as vintage comic books, model trains, coins, watches, art, jewellery and classic cars.[1][2][3]

Catawiki
Type of site
Online auction platform
Created byRené Schoenmakers
Marco Jansen
CEORavi Vora
URLwww.catawiki.com

History

Catawiki was founded by René Schoenmakers, a Dutch comic collector, and Marco Jansen, a Dutch developer. It went online on 10 September 2008 as an online wiki-based compendium of collector's catalogues. First focusing on comics, the database later covered items such as postage stamps, coins and telephone cards.[2] The name "Catawiki" is a portmanteau of the words "catalogue" and "wiki".

Since 2011 Catawiki has been hosting auctions for thousands of different objects. The site was originally in Dutch, but was made available in English in 2011, in French and German in 2012, and in Spanish, Italian and Chinese in 2015.[2][4][3][5]

Business model

Catawiki has been curating weekly auctions since 2011, across a number of categories such as art, books, curiosa, model trains, stamps, wine and classic cars. Catawiki's auctions are online-only. Bids are open for all to see. Winners pay what they bid via a secure payment service to receive the object from the seller.[6] Catawiki operates a network of over 100 experts who value, authenticate and curate objects.[7][3] The site makes money by charging the buyer 9% and the seller 12.5% (ex VAT) of the sale price.[1][3][6]

Notable auctions
  • Star Wars Darth Vader helmet with Swarovski crystals, €3,000 (December 2020)[3][6]
  • Esquel meteorite, €4,900 (February 2014)[3][6]
  • DeLorean DMC-12, sold for €20,500 (September 2014)[3][6]
  • Jaw of a T-rex, €10,000 (November 2014)[3][6]
  • Macallan Anniversary Malt (over 50 years old), €14,500 (January 2015)[3][6]
  • Signed first Tintin comic book (Tintin au pays des Soviets), €30,000 (May 2015)[3][6][8]
  • A bottle of Romanée-Conti Grand Cru, €4,500 (May 2015)[3][6]
  • Lego Star Wars - Millennium Falcon set, €4,700 (June 2015)[3][6]
  • Oil on canvas by Aristarkh Lentulov, €24,000 (August 2015)[3][6]
  • Porsche 356 from 1960, sold for €165,000 (October 2015)[3][6]
  • Tintin book, one of c.10 exemplares, used by Hergé, £61,050 (September 2017)[9]

See also

References
  1. Internet auctioneer Catawiki raises $82m as Dutch start-ups take off, The Daily Telegraph, 30 July 2015
  2. Online Auction House Catawiki Scores €10M Series B Led By Accel Partners, TechCrunch, 24 September 2014
  3. Meet the entrepreneurs chasing eBay's auction throne, Management Today, 11 December 2015
  4. Online veilinghuis uit Assen verovert de wereld, Algemeen Dagblad, 23 June 2015
  5. Catawiki raises $82M to grow its online auction platform for collectibles such as dinosaur bones, VentureBeat.com, 29 July 2015
  6. Internet auctioneer Catawiki launches in UK to capture biggest collectibles market, The Daily Telegraph, 7 December 2015
  7. Holland’s Catawiki Raises $82M To Take On eBay In Collectible Auctions, TechCrunch, 29 July 2015
  8. https://www.catawiki.com/l/582449-tintin-t1-tintin-au-pays-des-soviets-zwart-wit-hc-1st-edition-1930
  9. Munbodh, Emma (28 September 2017). "Rare Tintin book sells for £61k - how to tell if your comics are worth thousands". mirror.

[1]


Further reading
  1. https://www.catawiki.com/seller/orders/19513183
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