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Critical Analysis:
When you’re selling your property, it’s of vital importance to know who you’re working with.
In here, you’ll find everything you need to know about Seel & Co Auctions and whether you should trust them to sell your property quickly.
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Auction houses such as Seel & Co Auctions offer a quick and easy way to sell your property. This sits somewhere between selling at full price with an estate agent, which can take six months or more, and selling to a fast cash buyer, which will be quicker than an auction sale, but may get you a lower price.
Auctions will charge commission, plus you will also have to pay legal fees for the preparation of documents both prior to the listing and following the sale. There is no commission or legal fees to pay on a quick cash home sale.
Auctions can generate a higher selling price for your property if there is competitive interest, however there are no guarantees. You may not sell at all if there is no bid matching your reserve price and you may have to withdraw your property or postpone the sale. This can delay your sale until the next auction or beyond. A cash home buyer may not give you as much as you could get at an auction, but your sale will be swift and guaranteed.
Company
Established in
1898
Members of RICS
Yes
Members of Propertymark
Yes
Trading standards approved?
Not stated
Members of TPO
Yes
Registered with ICO
Yes
How often are auctions held
Every 4 – 8 weeks
Online auctions
Yes
Fees
2% + VAT (min £2000 + VAT) £350+ VAT upfront listing fee
Complaints procedure
None shown
Customer service
4 / 5
Google rating
3.8 / 5 (44 reviews)
Seel & Co auctions is a small regional auction house based in Cardiff and serving South Wales. They are a traditional, family run business that also covers lettings and estate management, as well as chartered surveying services. They claim to be the leading auction house in Cardiff and Wales.
4.2 / 5
(source: Companies House)
Seel & Co Auctions is a small, provincial auction house serving Cardiff and South Wales. First established in 1898, their business is ‘built on traditional values and delivered with a modern approach and great service’.
Their operation is small scale, featuring an average of just 30 properties per auction, and their focus is very much on the local area. They handle both residential and commercial properties, as well as land, using an online auction platform featuring the traditional auction method.
Seel & Co hold auctions regularly, every four to eight weeks, and claim to consistently achieve over-estimate sales prices. They say that they ‘break records in the process’ though it is not clear what records this refers to. They also say that they like to ‘shake things up’ but again it is not entirely clear how.
Their average auction has 30 lots and an average sales rate of 63.5%, which is a reasonable performance but not as high as some of the larger, national auction houses. Their last auction (at the time of writing) had 34 lots and a sale rate of 64%.
However, their website is very basic, with limited information for potential buyers or sellers. They are also limited in their reach, serving their target area of South Wales well, but not offering much for buyers or sellers from further afield. In this respect, they are a good choice for local property sellers, but not so much for anyone else.
Seel & Co website shows two Propertymark logos for their business, namely ARLA and NAEA. While these are for other parts of their operation, it is reasonable to assume that the auction business is similarly protected.
By using a Propertymark Protected member you are guaranteed to be consulting with a professional who will give you up-to-date advice and guidance. Propertymark regulates members’ activity according to a code of conduct and rules, with disciplinary action for instances of non-compliance.
NAVA Propertymark members adopt RICS’ Common Auctions Conditions for auctions of real estate in England and Wales. These are designed to set a consistent practice for auctions across the industry.
Yes, Seel & Co Auctions are members of the Property Ombudsman. This means that they have agreed to work to a strict code of practice and to accept TPO’s independent mitigation in any disagreements with clients.
TPO is a government-approved trade body that protects property sellers. If your auction house is a member of the TPO, this gives you the peace of mind that you will have access to a way of resolving complaints and grievances that cannot be resolved between the existing parties. TPO offers independent adjudication on disputes via a complaints enquiry telephone number 01722 333306 or by completing a form online on the TOP website.
Seel & Co Auctions are members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and have agreed to follow their code of practice and the Common Auction Conditions contained within.
Using a RICS member gives you further peace of mind that your auctioneer will provide you with terms of engagement that are fair and clear, and which meet all legal requirements and relevant codes of practice, including reference to complaints-handling procedures and, where it exists, an appropriate redress scheme.
Yes, Seel & Co Auctions has been registered with the Information Commissioners’ Office since 2020.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent regulatory body set up to uphold information rights. Membership demonstrates that a company takes their data gathering and storage responsibilities seriously and has put steps in place to protect your information.
The Seel & Co Auctions website has a thorough privacy policy which explains in detail how your data will be collected, stored and used. This strongly suggests that the company is GDPR compliant and will work hard to protect your data and make you feel safe.
Unlike many privacy and cookie policies, which assume consent for marketing and advertising, the Seel & Co policy states that they will ‘only contact you in these ways if you ask us to do so.’ It is important to look out for such agreements, and only click your approval if you are sure that you want to receive marketing messages.
Seel & Co can trace their history back to the 19th century, and they are a well-known and established local property company. As a family run firm, many of their team have been with the company for a considerable time, and some can trace their involvement back several generations.
We use the ‘over/under 5 years trading time’ as a rule of thumb to gauge whether a company is an established entity with a lot of experience under their belt, or just a newly founded business that may not have the expertise or reputation you can rely on. Seel & Co Auctions have clearly shown themselves to be a solid and longstanding local company and potential customers can trust that they are in experienced, expert hands.
Seel & Co Auctions hold property sales online roughly every four to eight weeks, featuring around 30 properties per sale.
Auctions are held online, with bidders able to take part online or by telephone, or by placing a proxy bid with the auctioneer. You are not able to attend the auctions in person.
To place a bid, you need to have registered in advance and provide compulsory information such as proof of identity and your source of funds, in order to comply with money laundering regulations.
While auctions are held online, they are still traditional auctions, with bidders placing bids competitively at the time until the virtual hammer comes down. At this point the sale becomes legally binding and contracts are immediately exchanged. The buyer must then pay a deposit of 10% and agree to complete the sale in a maximum of 28 days.
Seel & Co Auctions do not list their charges online, however our sources state that they charge a seller’s fee of 2% + VAT. This is around the average for the auction sector. Sellers also have to pay a non-refundable deposit of £350+VAT upfront to enter an auction. This will not be returned if the property is withdrawn or goes unsold. This entry fee is less than many auction houses charge.
Naturally, the fees will vary depending on a number of factors, including the type of property, the property value etc. Prospective sellers are advised to contact the auction house directly for an up to date quote on your property or properties.
According to their own sales figures, Seel & Co Auctions have a reasonably good success rate when it comes to auction sales. On average, 63.5% of properties were sold at auction in the last year.
If your property is sold at auction, then the deal is done and there is no risk of the sale falling through, as there is with a sale through an estate agent. This process provides you with a very fast and certain sale, which will not be affected by surveys, cold feet or the countless other issues that mean as many as one in three estate agent sales fail.
However, Seel & Co’s industry average success rate still means that more than one in three properties will fail to sell. If this happens with your property, you will have to wait for the next auction, which could be as long as two months away. By this time, you have lost the speed advantage of an auction sale and your property sale could end up taking as long as it would with an estate agent, while achieving a lower price.
One of the reasons that properties do not sell at auction is that the four-week completion deadline does not give residential buyers time to arrange a mortgage. This can limit potential buyers to developers, investors and cash buyers. Less buyers in turn means less competition and so lower sale prices.
This is where a quick cash sale could be a better option. You may get less for your property, but you will get a guaranteed sale in as little as seven days, with no risk of your property going unsold or not achieving the price you hoped for. A cash sale is clear and quick.
We didn’t find anything that raises suspicion during our thorough research of Seel & Co Auctions. Our investigators sifted through all of the data and legal records of Seel & Co Auctions and everything was clean.
However, we’ll redact this paragraph at the first glimpse of dodgy practices.
We never stop researching and our unbending commitment to excellence doesn’t waver. This paragraph is only valid up until the ‘Last Updated’ date of this review, which can be found at the top of this page.
As far as we are aware, Seel & Co haven’t received any additional awards or prizes.
There’s nothing more we could add.
To assess the overall user experience (UX) of seelandco.com we first analysed their website for ease of use and intuitiveness.
Beyond the rather odd image of former international rugby referee, Nigel Owens, on the home page, the Seel & Co Auctions website is rather basic and uninspiring. It takes a bit of searching around to find any information (click the auctions tab top left to find additional features).
There are basic pages with an auction buying guide, auction advice and auction conditions, as well as information about future auctions and past results. The site also introduces the whole team, although information about the company itself is sparse.
There is a click through button to enable potential auction customers to get an instant valuation or an auction appraisal and an online contact form to complete for more information.
We calculated their First Response Time (FTR) by messaging them at approximately 10 AM on a non-holiday weekday (on a Wednesday to be exact) and used a stopwatch to estimate how long it took them to respond.
Seel & Co Auctions responded in 1 minute 42 seconds.
Which is much faster than the industry average. And a fast FRT is something we consider highly important, especially in this sector.
A faster response time suggests that the auction house is better equipped to deal with customer queries.
And if they’re better equipped to deal with customer queries, then it means they’re investing their resources where it matters the most.
We also asked if they offer some sort of ‘Client Satisfaction Guarantee’, and if yes, what would that guarantee consist of.
Seel & Co Auctions don’t offer a formal Client Satisfaction Guarantee but they are well known across South Wales for their property services and have over 125 years behind them, so customer satisfaction is perhaps a given.
Most reputable companies will have a formal complaints procedure on their website, where clients can express any disagreements, issues or just plain dissatisfaction with the overall service.
By having such a procedure in place, the company shows that they are willing to listen and if possible, rectify any problems that may arise.
Seel & Co Auctions does not have a published complaints procedure on their website. However, they are members of the Property Ombudsman service, so customers have the extra protection of independent mitigation for any disagreements that cannot be solved directly with the company.
As a family run firm, Seel & Co may not feel that they need a formal complaints procedure. They may prefer to take a more personal approach and deal with customers and complaints on an individual basis. To find out about how complaints are handled, you should contact the company directly.
A legitimate auction house that does what it promises shouldn’t have a problem letting you speak to their past customers.
Of course they need to have the permission of the individual involved and provide some kind of proof that it is a genuine past client of theirs.
We strongly encourage all our readers to ask to speak to a past client.
In this section, we’ll discuss what the public thinks of Seel & Co and what online reviews the company has received.
Keep in mind that online reviews can be easily faked. The company in charge might hire fake review writers to write positive reviews. Or on the other hand, their competitors might hire fake review writers to write negative reviews and tarnish the said company’s reputation.
Also, social media followers can be artificially inflated.
That’s why we deem this section as purely anecdotal.
Given their long standing in the local area, and their family-run business model, ‘built on traditional values’, their average Google ranking of just 3.8 is a little disappointing. Potential customers are advised to read through these reviews in detail to see the issues previous customers have had, as well as the many positive reviews, before making their choice of auction house.
We didn’t find anything suspicious with Seel & Co Auctions’ social media or online presence, nor with their customer reviews.
We also didn’t find anything suspicious with their domain rating and backlink profile nor their unique monthly search traffic.
We didn’t find anything suspicious with Seel & Co Auctions’ social media or online presence, nor with their customer reviews.
We also didn’t find anything suspicious with their domain rating and backlink profile nor their unique monthly search traffic.
Seel & Co Auctions is a typical small, provincial auction house that deals with properties in their local area of Cardiff and South Wales. They have a long history, yet they also incorporate the latest technology in their online auctions.
Local auction houses can be a good choice for local property sellers, as they will have the kind of experience of the local market that a larger, national company simply will not have. Their auctions are held online and are open to the whole of the UK and beyond, however choosing a smaller local company often restricts the number of potential buyers to the local market.
While Seel & Co claim to ‘stop at nothing to make the world of property that little bit different’ and are ‘keen to challenge the status quo when it comes to auctions’, their website is rather simple and feels a bit dated.
On balance, Seel & Co have been serving the South Wales area for over 125years, and this speaks volumes about their experience and their level of customer care. If you are in this area and need a local company with local focus, then Seel & Co could be an excellent choice.
We will be continuously updating this review as we do with all of our other content. If Seel & Co decide to alter, amend or modify something, then we’ll make sure to adjust our critique and score accordingly.
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Seel & Co Auctions is just one of the many fast home-buying companies in the UK.
In order to make sure you choose the right one, it’s best if you compare them all.
Look at their strengths & weaknesses, their pros & cons and make an informed decision.
It’s essential to know you’re in safe hands, that’s why we’re here to help.
Use our company comparison table to find a reliable and trustworthy service, and decide whether expediting the sale of your property is the right thing for you.
This review is being constantly screened by our investigator team and will be corrected in line with the emergence of new evidence.
If a company contacts us with a genuine and verifiable piece of information which supports their cause, then we’ll immediately redact the review and point to the new information.
On the other hand, if we discover that a company which we’ve previously praised for a certain industry trait, starts to dabble in dodgy practices, we’ll also redact the review immediately.
We’ll point to our new findings and we’ll adjust the table metrics and scores accordingly.
For this reason, make sure to take notice of the ‘last updated’ date at the top of this page.
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