Wine dominates online auctions in Italy: in 2025, on Catawiki, it was the most purchased category

It was the most purchased category by volume in 2025 on Catawiki, Europe leading online marketplace for premium items, with 54,000 lots and a total of 300,000 bottles sold. Wine - alongside prestigious categories such as watches, jewelry, art, and collectible cars - once again confirmed itself as one of the most popular categories among Italians thanks to its prestigious and collectible labels. From a vertical tasting of the Bolgheri icon Sassicaia by Tenuta San Guido, featuring 37 bottles, one for each vintage from 1982 to 2018 sold for 16,100 euros, to a bottle of Romanée-Conti Grand Cru 2004 auctioned off for 10,500 euros, from a Methuselah (6 liters) by Masseto, a jewel of Italian wine now part of the Frescobaldi Group, sold for 8,700 euros, to a case of Bordeaux Prestige Collection by Groupe Duclot for 8,000 euros. Italians are not only buying, but also selling, with Italy standing out as Catawiki leading European market: the same Sassicaia 1982-2018 vertical by Tenuta San Guido was a transaction between Italians, as well as the three lots listed by Italian sellers, each consisting of a bottle by Romanée-Conti Grand Cru vintage 2004 at 15,000 euros, vintage 2005 at 14,500 euros, and vintage 1995 at 12,500 euros.
Overall, in 2025, 750,000 lots (+10% compared to 2024)were sold on the platform generating a total spend of 100 million euros, while the number of users participating in auctions on the portal also continued to grow (+20%): the most expensive item was a Ferrari Testarossa 1991, purchased by an Italian buyer for 130,000 euros. In the watches category, the “top lot” was a Rolex Daytona 116505 sold for 37,500 euros, in art, painting “Asparagi - Asparagus” by Giovanni Segantini was auctioned for 31,000 euros, among jewelry, an 18 kt white gold ring with a 5.01-carat natural diamond was auctioned off for 25,428 euros, and in interiors, an 84-piece Cartier tableware set in gold and silver was sold for 10,000 euros. Alongside traditional luxury categories, 2025 on Catawiki also saw strong growth in new forms of collecting linked to pop culture, such as Disney memorabilia (+150% in the number of lots sold compared to 2024), videogames (+67%), and Pokémon items (+56%). At the same time, football memorabilia also grew (+50%) while gold further consolidated its position as a tangible safe-haven asset (+56%).