Leitrim man launches agri auction website

Leitrim man Noel McKeown has launched a new all-in-one agriculture auction website, Bidsell.ie

The website, which is free to use, is designed for the Irish market and aims to provide an easy and transparent way of selling produce, machinery, animals, and much more by online auction.

Noel explains more about how the site works: “The site is unique in that bids are placed and displayed. This can create a sense of competition among buyers, while also giving them a better sense of what they need to pay based on the market value. The vendor sets a reserve price for the product and, at the end date of the auction, the highest bid over the reserve price is the winning bid. The site then emails the vendor and the buyer each other's contact details and they arrange the rest of it themselves.”

Noel felt a lot of people within the agricultural industry were spending large amounts advertising their products online, so he says BidSell aims to offer a free alternative to this.

“I spoke to a man who sells parts for machinery recently who was spending €200 a month on other online advertising platforms. He said his heart was broken from getting error codes when he was trying to upload details of it. Other farmers say that a single ad for a cow could cost €20. It's dear.”

As well as being free Noel says there is no commission charged on listings.

“I want to create a community of buyers and sellers. I was talking to an auctioneer who said I'd need €200,000 to market it, but I just want a place where people can come to advertise their products and get a fair price for it. It's very simple and straightforward. If you want to go and look at it, then you can send the buyer a message.”

Noel fits his business interests in around two other time-consuming pursuits in the form of his other jobs: teaching and farming.

“I'm a part-time suckler farmer near Mohill in a place called Eslinbridge and a primary school principal in Scoil Mhuire Newtownforbes in Longford.

“I've always been a farmer. I was farming before I was a teacher and I'll be a farmer when I retire as well. It's in my blood, I love it. I've always spent my weekends and summers farming even when I was in college, and never had a job working away from farming during this time. I like being busy. There's an old saying that if you want something done you ask a busy person to do it.”