The hammer will come down at 1600 GMT on Saturday, 19 December , to open the sale of historic Ferrari cars and memorabilia with potentially more people watching the bidding on the Net than actually witnessing the sale in the Palace Hotel in Gstaad.

Andy Billington on the auction technology

The company's new technology called NetBidLive opens up channels for registered users to bid over the Net. Andy Billington, IT director, says someone bidding on their home pc may be better informed than a bidder in the saleroom.

"They know the status of their bid, whether it has been accepted or not, they will know the current value and also what the next bid increment is. We can also tailor the screen to the client's profile so they can see the value in their local currency," he says.

Webwatchers get grandstand view

Bids can be made in a split-second because registered bidders are separated from those just watching the sale on the Net, giving them faster access.

Auction Channel chairman Jason Gleave

The Net observers are corralled in a grandstand area and can view the lots in an online catalogue. The Auction Channel's chairman Jason Gleave says the Net bidding is better than telephone bidding and will be part of developing interactivity.

"The advent of digital tv is very exciting, auctions are made for interactivity. The advantage to the auction houses is that we are widening the audience for them, the advantage to us is that we are bringing a lot of comfort to the buyer in dealing with such well-known names," he says.

Audio and video is not yet available on the site, but bidding can be done in tandem with television broadcasts of the sales. The Auction Channel plans to host daily auctions from January, building up to 10 different auctions a day by mid-1999.

• QXL (formerly Quixell) is launching what it says is the first European person-to-person auction service on January 1. Furbys, Beanies, Playstation games and even cars have already been sold by individuals on the Beta site of QXL Exchange to buyers seeking bargains or hard-to-find items.