LSL Auctions has issued an updated statement on its decision to introduce a charge for farmers who are using its services to view and bid at marts online.
A statement from LSL Auctions CEO Brendan Hannigan to Agriland today (Monday, August 19) stated that LSL has “amended its membership options” and that the changes were made “to ensure greater value to its members”.
According to the LSL CEO, the updated offering has come “further to ongoing discussions with mart managers / auctioneers and users over the past week“.
The two membership options are listed below and were updated on the LSL platform:
- Option 1: View and bid membership + LSL Herd Management app – €5/month (30 days). €50 if paid annually (two months free);
- Option 2: View and bid membership + LSL Premium On-Demand Replay + LSL Herd Management app – €10/month (30 days). €100 if paid annually (two months free).
The statement explained that “both membership options will include the “LSL Herd Management app” which is linked to AgFood and synchronises farm herds, remedy, audits and reporting.
“Some herd management app providers in Ireland charge €27.38/month for farms with herds up to 200 animals,” the LSL statement outlined.
“Anyone who is currently a ‘LSL Premium On-Demand Replay ’ member will receive the ‘view and bid + LSL Herd app’ free until the end of their current subscription. They can then choose one of the above two membership options to renew.”
The LSL CEO Brendan Hannigan said: “Many users of LSL (buyers and sellers) are already ‘LSL Premium’ subscribers with on-demand video playback facility and therefore the new membership introduction will not affect them in any way.”
The CEO added: “Option 2, includes ‘view and bid + LSL Premium + LSL Herd app’ for €100/year which we believe offers great value. This is the equivalent of €1.92/week or €7.69/month if paid annually.
“Option 1, includes ‘View and Bid + LSL Herd App’ for €50/year which is the equivalent of €0.96/ week or €3.84/month. This is compared to €27.38/month for other Herd App subscriptions.
“LSL has the highest bidding and viewing audience of any online livestock/machinery platforms in Ireland and with that comes the ever increasing running costs.”
The statement added: “LSL was the first innovative online platform for the livestock marts in Ireland introduced in April 2020 during the first Covid lockdown.
“Since its introduction the audience and bidding on LSL has dramatically increased. In addition, cloud server costs have increased by over 300% in the past five years. Due to the ever increasing energy and overhead costs of running and broadcasting on the LSL platform, it is now necessary to introduce this nominal membership.
“This is to ensure the continuing development and services offered on the LSL platform and its sustainability into the future. LSL is the only platform in the sector offering a (zero latency) no delay live video broadcast. “
The company said that the changes will allow LSL to link a nominal income to cover the audience which drives overheads and costs.
The auction platform also outlined that due to it hosting the “highest audience of any other platform in this sector across the country”, LSL in incurring unsustainable increases in cloud server and operating costs well before other platforms.
“LSL has therefore taken action to counter this increase in operating costs in a responsible and reasonable manner to ensure its sustainability long-term for all users and clients,” the statement added.