Buyers want to visually appraise wool before they buy. Textile makers say they would not purchase from the Australian wool auction if visual appraisals are abolished. They refuse to support a selling system that doesn’t allow them to touch the wool before putting a price. Since they buy the wool fiber based on the style of the wool, they are in favor of physical inspections of the lots.

Their big concern with an electronic portal is the loss of the emotional aspect in the bidding room because a buyer might change their own limits after looking at the reaction of their competitors.

The auction system is seen as the most transparent market since it is clear to everybody what the value of the goods sold in the auction is. Fine Italian fabric makers will only pay the current high premiums for certain types of Australian wool if there are visual assessments. They say the whole Australian wool clip can’t be treated like a commodity. Since they buy the wool fiber based on the style of the wool, they are strongly in favor of physical inspections of the lots.

There are fears the system of using numbers in the auction system over visual appraisals would dumb down the auction system.