You've heard of ALLBIDS.com.au, now there is EHVA.com.au.
The man behind ALLBIDS - Rob Evans - has carved off the art, antiques and collectables part of the online auction house to create Evans Hastings Valuers and Auctioneers aka EHVA.com.au.
With general manager Ben Hastings and other partners, Mr Evans has assembled a group of experts to appraise and sell everything from Middle Eastern antiques to mid-century furniture.
Mr Evans said it was about creating a prestige auction house that could sell to anywhere, not just Canberra.
He said Canberra was uniquely placed for turning up premium and out-of-the-ordinary items, not least because of the former diplomats who live in the city.
"Canberra's a treasure trove," he said.
And there was an appetite for the collectible, the unusual, the covetable.
"The level of demand always depends on the item, but there is always a demand if something is unique," Mr Evans said.
Mr Hastings, the group general manager of ALLBIDS.com.au, said there had been value in the business starting to hone in on speciality areas.
"Our business has been around for two decades and has gone from strength to strength over that time," he said.
"A bit over a year ago we launched carbids.com.au and we have in the past 12 months expanded our operations into Sydney. It is an understatement to say that venture has been overwhelmingly successful."
As part of the ALLBIDS family, the EHVA business also operates from a warehouse in Wiluna Street in Fyshwick.
The son of pharmacists the late "Yorrie" Evans and Jeanette Evans, who ran the Manuka Pharmacy for years, Mr Evans enjoys the fact he runs his business from Fyshwick, close to familiar inner-south territory.
An accountant by trade, Mr Evans has assembled specialists in their field to help run the new auction house.
The general manager of EHVA is Adam McDonald, a "picker" his whole life.
Mr McDonald appeared on two seasons of Aussie Pickers, travelling the nation searching for the latest find. He was also the head auctioneer and valuer at Lawsons in Sydney, Australia's oldest auction business, for the last 16 years.
The business' art specialist is Caroline Jones whose career includes working for two major fine art auction houses, managing commercial gallery and practicing as an art valuer with the Auctioneers and Valuers Association of Australia.
The antiques specialist is Angus Bowers who joined ALLBIDS in 2017.
He has presided over some of Canberra's most prestigious antiques auctions and has expertise in sterling silver, Australian coins, decorative arts, and antique furniture.
Mr Evans, meanwhile, came to the auction game after finding banking boring.
After working in London, "galavanted" around Europe, spent a stint in India teaching cricket to street kids and worked in sports management, including a year with the Australian Olympic Committee, before discovering the auction industry in 1998.
Twenty-five years later, he welcomed the creation of EHVA.com.au recently with friends, family and supporters at the Marion function centre overlooking Lake Burley Griffin.
