Thoughts on online mart purchasing

farm123 · 11-07-2022 11:20am #1

Title say's it all. What are peoples thoughts on buying cattle from the mart online using apps like Marteye? With the pandemic becoming a thing of the past (hopefully!), will people leave these apps behind and go back to the mart in person?

tanko · 11-07-2022 11:32am

Why would buyers want to waste their time hanging around the mart when they can look at the cattle before the sale, pick out which lots they’re interested in and keep an eye on the sale on their phone as they go about their days work. I suppose it’s different for dealers buying bigger numbers of cattle.

farm123 · 11-07-2022 3:57pm

I completely agree with you. I'm just curious as my father-in-law sells all his weanlings at the mart so for him as a seller Marteye and other online trading marketplaces aren't as convenient. He's also an older farmer in his late 60's, so theres the age barrier for him potentially. Just interested to hear other peoples thoughts.

patsy_mccabe · 11-07-2022 4:08pm

Dealers hate the facilities to buy sell at the mart on-line. All the sellers I've talked to think they are a great job. Nothing like a bit of competition.

Buyers seem to like it too, as they can bid anonymously. Here to stay, in my book.

Cavanjack · 11-07-2022 5:35pm

I prefer to buy at the ring. You can’t see them right when they are squashed into a pen with other cattle.

Saying that I’ve probably bought 50% of our cattle this last two years online without seeing them first. It’s here to stay alright

893bet · 11-07-2022 6:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119322508#Comment_119322508

nothing stopping him going to the mart and standing in the seller box. Personally I prefer my time doing other stuff and watch to online, calculate my price per kilo, assess it against other cattle on the day etc before deciding if she is sold.

The only thing missing is the “on the market” which often might get you a few Bob more but maybe you are getting it anyway.

bogman_bass · 11-07-2022 7:20pm

far better selling from home IMO. In the box you can only accept the “on the market price”

at home you accept or reject the selling price

WJL · 11-07-2022 7:22pm

I've often looked in on my brother's farm and found it hard to discern the make up of an animal like you would in person. The angles etc can make a narrow animal look better than he\she is.

Anto_Meath · 12-07-2022 9:03am

Its here to stay alright for a few reasons, I know plenty of part time farmers and they send their cattle off with a hacker in the morning, then watch them been sold as they work away, saves them taking a days holiday. It gives them more time to decide if they are happy with the price. People like that who wouldn't be in marts regular often fear they are given cattle away cheep if they have to make up their mind on the spot.

The reports from mart managers is that most of the cattle been sold are going online especially if they are anyway near fit, I was talking to one manager last week, he said most of the cattle in his mart are going North online. He said the lads around the ring are opening them low before the Mart-eye takes off, then once the online bidding stops the auctioneer looks at the lads around the ring but usually they are gone too expensive for them.

A dealer / agent I know has his sitting room set up with 3 screens, I would be often at his place on a Saturday, he would be buying in Ballybay, Carnew and Carrigallen or Dowra all at once, he would be talk some of the lads working each mart in the morning and get a report on what lot numbers would suit his requirements. He said it works out far better than having a man in each mart buying for him. But he said you cant do it with big group in the marts down South as you cant get a good view of all the animals in the group, so you will end up with a few ropey one.

It also suits part time lads buying cattle they don't have to loose time (or take a holiday) going to the mart picking out cattle and then only get 1 or 2 of them. They can sit at home or wherever and buy a few and it doesn't feel like a wasted day as they are at other things. Plus come the cold winter evenings it will be more appealing to be sitting at home bidding than in a cold mart.

MfMan · 12-07-2022 9:28am

It's here to stay but can be a double-edged sword. I'd prefer to see stock properly in advance, or at least give them a good scrutiny when they enter the ring, before buying. It's easier to buy purely round the ring as you may ...ahem.. be able to stop rivals going against you when bidding. However, if trying to buy against a competitor or someone you don't like, you can nip up the back and work away online with them usually none the wiser.

kk.man · 12-07-2022 8:00pm

I bought most of my cattle on line this year sitting at the back of the mart. Nobody knew my business..it's brilliant. I have heard the tanglers hate it.

Sheep breeder · 12-07-2022 11:22pm

Its here to stay, left cattle in the mart on Saturday and went home the daughter watched and wrote down weighs and price and worked out per kilo. Mart office rang twenty minutes later to confirm sale, a lot depends on the mart who is running it, be it privately owned or a manger. One problem we see with the pedigree sheep side is fellas selling has somebody outside the door bidding for their stock to the selling price then on the market straight away. A lot of buyers are copping on to this now and a lot will ruin the job.

_Brian · 13-07-2022 7:38am

Dont go to the mart much but have seen lads sitting ringside bidding online.

Stops dealers bullying lads I was told.

we bought a few against a dealer one day in Ballybay, he walked over and asked if we planned to buy many, “as many as we want” I said and turned away.

amacca · 13-07-2022 10:10am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119330068#Comment_119330068

I remember going down to Kilmallock and buying 40 calves years ago (unusual circumstances) .........Jesus christ they were on me like flies on a shite.....noncommittal answers all the way...

_Brian · 13-07-2022 10:18am

Chap who brings our cattle to the mart would buy stock and sell stock for lads.

he might be at the heifer ring bidding on heifers and online buying bulls up in the bull ring at the same time.

Bass Reeves · 13-07-2022 11:04am

Out of 65 cattle I bough last year over 50 I bought online. I seldom go to the mart now. It's mostly Friesians I but( about 80%). I find I can judge the animals online. As well you get to know the .arts and type of animals.

If you go to a mart dealers mess you around. Dealers now seem to be following cattle a bit further if it's an online bidder.

When I have a lot or two bought I start hitching up the box and head off. To buy the amount I buy would have entailed 10+ days in the mart before. Every day at the mart is 4-6 hours gone and 10-25 in diesel ya I pick up a few ropey ones, but price is cheaper. I no longer have to buy off farm.

farm123 · 13-07-2022 1:56pm

Very interesting comments here!. I agree that you can end up getting a few ropey ones online, and i've seen that before! I wonder is there any 'laws/rules' on bidding online while physically being at the mart?

J.O. Farmer · 13-07-2022 2:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119331850#Comment_119331850

What's the difference between letting the auctioneer know you're bidding by nodding or by tapping bid on your phone apart from the competition around the ring won't know your bidding when you do it online.

You sound like one of the unhappy dealers. Everyone else seems to like the system.

Dunedin · 13-07-2022 5:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119330822#Comment_119330822

As a matter of interest, why do you not like buying off farm.

when I was buying cattle over the years, I always preferred buying off farm -

Bass Reeves · 13-07-2022 5:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119332927#Comment_119332927

You could end up going to 3-4 farms to buy a few stock. Now that lads are weighing calves they weight the yearling as well. There is a huge difference between fresh and mart weight. And that is aside from if the scales has been calibrated

Finally most farmers check the mart prices and expect to get the top mart price. This can further be a problem in that they may have cattle are 400kg fresh weight but only 360 mart weight and there can be different prices for them as well

Base price · 13-07-2022 8:45pm

Online livestock selling is definitely here to stay as it suits so many people be them buyers or sellers.

Base price · 13-07-2022 9:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119333841#Comment_119333841

I just did a quick tot of the numbers that we bought online last year and this year - last year 167 and so far this year 61. They are a mix of calves, weanlings/runners, yearling heifers, suckler cows/incalf heifers and cull cows.