How will you describe auction business in Nigeria?

It’s a difficult market but we believe we have the grace to push. We’ve spent years doing our research, meeting with people and gathering information. We believe the information should help us sail through easily.

Have you tested the waters to see how it pays off?

We kicked off the business few weeks and we’ve connected few people, gotten few sales and items. I can classify that as testing the water. Now we are going full swing.

One of the items you got was a private jet, how did you come about that?

Someone came to our office at Ikeja and said he wanted to sell it and that someone recommended us to him. We talked, drafted an agreement and sent it out, sat down and signed a contract: meaning he gave us sole authorisation to sell the jet on his behalf in auction.

The federal government is selling out some jets. Do you find it a good auctionable item?

We do. Auction is always a place to move things as fast as possible. The people buying also get it at a good price. To get it done smoothly without any shady stuff, the best is to bring it into an auction and let’s showcase it to Nigerians since it’s coming in from the federal government. Let people have open arms and bid.

Someone came to our office at Ikeja and said he wanted to sell it and that someone recommended us to him. We talked, drafted an agreement and sent it out, sat down and signed a contract: meaning he gave us sole authorisation to sell the jet on his behalf in an auction.

How would you sell a jet coming from the federal government?

When we get an agreement, we start marketing it. We have an aggressive marketing campaign and we have different database targeting different people. We have people we can sell it to in our database that are specialised in that area. So we basically bring them in to negotiate and make it public.

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How do you fund this project given the financial constraint prevalent in the country?

People say there is a downturn at the moment, I honestly wouldn’t say so. There are people that still have this money and it’s sitting somewhere not spending. And they want to basically buy. And recession times are always the best to buy properties, assets because you are buying at below market value. Once Nigeria picks up again, these things would cost you so much more.

What’s 3A Auction house all about?

It’s a platform in which buyers sell their lot to a large crowd and buyers also come in and buy at below market value. We bridge the gap between buyers and sellers, giving them a better deal which we believe are a win-win.

What’s the future of auction in Nigeria?

I really believe the future is really bright reason being that we came into this market to make a change. Truth be told, now that we’ve kicked off, many other people would follow, market would pick up and people would understand more about auction houses.

What’s your mission for 3A Auction House?

To make the lives of Nigerians easy; at the moment, people tend to buy stuff at outrageous prices. We believe this platform can make things cheaper, acquiring more and saving more at the same time.

The role technology in advancing your reach?

One thing we are doing is taking advantage the social media. We are doing so much, making noise on many social media platforms. This would create much buzz and energy. By doing so, people would now understand there’s a better way to buy and sell in Nigeria.

What impact would your activity have on the nation’s economy?

We are here to create jobs. We’ve been through our plans and we have to employ a lot of people to function. Any country that creates jobs functions easily.

Are you spreading to other states?

We are starting in Lagos and Abuja, but if people have properties in other states, we take those properties into the catalogue. We are trading now from Lagos and Abuja but spreading to other states.