Changing mindsets, wider audience and continued response to feedback makes 2025 a watershed year for bidr.

New Zealand’s most used online livestock sales platform and the sector’s predominant auction technology, bidr experienced phenomenal growth during 2025. More than 14,000 people have signed up to bidr; a user base that increased 23 per cent on 2024.

Now offered at regular auctions from 16 saleyards across the country, from Kaikohe to Balclutha, the bidr team also delivered more than 400 on-farm auctions in the last year, plus more than 70 online only sales.

General manager Liam Beattie says the growth of the platform is due to several factors. 

“While our core business is supporting the genetics and dairy sectors, we are increasingly growing our presence in commercial sheep and beef auctions. In sales at saleyards, bidr users now account for one in every four bids.

“We always listen to feedback from users and endeavour to improve our service based on what will deliver a better online buying experience,” says Liam.

Making a significant impression in many regions, of particular note during the prolonged dry Hawke’s Bay is going through, bidr’s presence at Stortford Lodge makes it easier for farmers to present their stock to buyers outside the region, as opposed to being limited to the local buying bench. Meanwhile, Wellsford saleyard north of Auckland is receiving a boost from Waikato buyers who prefer to stay at home and purchase stock online, avoiding the Auckland traffic in the process.

One of bidr’s most notable achievements this year was livestreaming all sales at the South Island’s largest saleyard, Temuka, which started in September. This has resulted in a marked increase in buyer interest from beyond the region: one in three bids at Temuka sales now comes from online, particularly in store sales, though also prime livestock, where many North Island purchasers are now buying from Temuka.

Liam says attitudes to transacting livestock online are evolving.

“People’s mindsets are changing. For every comment I hear from agents and farmers about needing to see stock in the flesh, I have two comments from online buyers who value the convenience of being able to participate in a sale without having to travel, so they can spend time on farm, or at their leisure.

“We have opened up a wider audience, particularly for the more isolated sale locations. Frequently, people buying online might still talk to an agent at the yards and if they’re interested in a line of stock, might ask a second opinion of someone on the ground.

“As online sales have become more common, people have grown more comfortable using bidr, and 2025 feels like a watershed year for the business,” he says.

Listen to the Farmers Weekly Podcast where Bryan chats with AgriHQ senior analyst Suz Bremner about the path online bidding platforms have taken – from starting out as a “solution without a problem” to becoming the innovation that kept the lights on during the pandemic.

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