A new online bidding system for Tuam Mart will come online from the start of next week.
The online bidding tool which has been launched by the Irish Farmers Journal, will allow farmers to attend mart sales and bid in real-time from the comfort of their own home.
The app called Martbids, enables farmers to take pictures on their smart phone and advertise their livestock in advance of the sale – letting buyers across the country know when their livestock will be available for sale through the mart.
The app is free to use and and farmers can register their details at www.martbids.ie to watch the live sales and bid on animals.
Speaking on Martbids, central auctions general manager Michael Harty said; “We’ve been through a lot over the last few weeks, but we’re delighted to be able to facilitate online sales for local farmers. We tried tender sales as we had no other option at the time, but they were torture and a lot of work for mart staff. The MartBids app is a gift and both sellers and buyers love the simplicity of it.
“It’s very transparent for both the buyer and seller and it’s also very easy to use for our auctioneers, which is very important for the smooth running of a sale. We have a lot of buyers still coming in to look at the cattle and I think that will still be the way a lot of people will do business. We are looking forward to getting back to some form of normality next Monday when we will welcome farmers back around central auctions rings.”
