A NEW online auction company patterned on eBay, has been launched by a private company headed by racehorse owner, breeder and trader Valentine Feerick.

Re-offer.com is offering listings of racehorses and breeding stock and syndicate shares of racehorses and stallions, as well as stallion nominations, following a two-week trial period.

As of noon yesterday, there were seven horses listed on the site, including a two-year-old Storm Cat half-brother to three-time Group 1-placed Duke Of Marmalade, as well as four syndicate shares in runners or potential runners.

Buyers and sellers can register online, and the former have the option of registering as ‘authenticated buyers’ by supplying additional proof of identity. Intended to give further assurance to vendors , the ‘authenticated’ stamp also allows purchasers to bid anonymously.

The auctions are set up in the popular eBay format, with a countdown bid time and a transparent listing of bids, although the bidders may be anonymous. As on eBay, users can track bids, and the number of trackers as well as number of hits each auction receives is posted. Sellers may also post a variety of photos, video footage and information on veterinary reports with their offering, and there is a link to a pedigree page from Weatherbys. Buyers may request to view a horse themselves or through an agent.

Bidding can take place in a variety of currencies, but all successful bidders will be charged in either sterling or US dollars.

Once a bid is closed, the successful bidder has five days to pay. The buyer pays a 3.5 per cent commission plus VAT, and the seller 2.5 per cent plus VAT, on a successful sale.

There are no fees for unsold items, and sellers who offer their horse within five days of buying him/her back at public auction do not pay any fees or commissions. The site has a calendar of major auctions internationally, and the operators aim specifically to make it an outlet for unsold lots from public auction.

Feerick, who has abundant experiencein selling in the conventional ways – he sold the record-priced 275,000gns St Leger sales yearling in 2006, and privately sold Racing Post Trophy runner-up Winged Cupid to Godolphin three years ago – says the idea for the exchange came out of his own experience as a vendor.

“In my experience, the number one errorwhich many vendors make is to set a reserve price which does not recognise the market conditions,” Feerick says. “For most vendors, making such a mistake is a commercial catastrophe.” Previous attempts at online trading, including a couple of well-backed sites devoted specifically to re-offering horses who did not meet their reserves, have failed.

Keeneland’s Internet RNA (reserve not attained) project and Equine Spectrum, owned by Ashford Stud, Eaton Sales, Lane’s End Farm, Taylor Made Farm, Three Chimneys Farm and Keeneland, both fell by the wayside. So did EquineCommerce.com, an equine stock exchange set up by Thoroughbred Daily News publisher Barry Weisbord in 2003.

Feerick is well aware of these failures. However, he says he believes the appetite for selling on one’s own schedule is at a peak, at the same time that internet trading has come of age. As evidence, he points to the growing number of ‘wildcard’ entries at some auctions and the popularity of the Dubai Carnival sale this year. He also has faith in the tried-and-trusted model of eBay.

“I’m well aware that some others tried something like this in the US previously, and I’m equally certain that some people will be queuing up to say ‘it can’t be done’,” he adds.

“I’m not going to stick my neck out and say that they’re all wrong, but I’m willing to try to be a pioneer for something so new and exciting.”

A half-brother to dual Group 1 runner-up Duke Of Marmalade (above), by Storm Cat, is one of the horses listed for sale on the new website