UK - Eastbourne Auctions - May 2024 - Tek/HP and other test equipment

[switcher]

www.eastbourneauction.com

It looks like a workshop has been cleared; Tek Scope, HP distortion meter, signal generators, voltmeters, Weller soldering equipment, Variac, isolation TX, more solder than you can shake a stick at, transistors and wire and parts, etc.

Masses of stuff, click on the link and scroll down a bit..

https://www.eastbourneauction.com/catalogue/F5F2D5CBBD9115BA6E0E715D27B44255/1DAD09680FE122841B8E6C1F4CC703F8/may-live-online-auction-to-include-antiques-collectables-an/?categoryFilter=%2CELEC&currentPageNo=1

[HobGoblyn]

I’ve never bid on an online live auction before.

I see in their T&C

When bidding in the room, or via the telephone the auctioneers charge a buyers premium of 32.5% inc VAT (minimum £2.40 per lot) for bidders that settle their invoice within five days of the sale or 42.5% inc VAT for bidders who pay after this date. All future purchases in future auctions will be invoiced at 42.5% if the bidder pays late in one sale, and a higher deposit may be required for at registration.

When bidding online at eastbourneauction.com or easyliveauction.com the Auctioneers charge a Buyer’s Premium of 30% inc VAT (minimum £2.40 per lot) for bidders that settle their invoice within five days of the sale or 40% inc VAT for bidders who pay after this date. All future purchases in future auctions will be invoiced at 40% if the bidder pays late in one sale, and a higher deposit may be required for at registration.

When bidding via thesaleroom.com the Auctioneers charge a Buyer’s Premium of 38% (minimum £2.40 per lot) for bidders that settle their invoice within five days of the sale or 48% inc VAT for bidders who pay after this date. All future purchases in future auctions will be invoiced at 48% if the bidder pays late in one sale, and a higher deposit may be required for at registration.

All bidders failing to pay by the Wednesday following the sale (i.e. withing 5 days) will be charged an admin fee of £12.00.

VAT where payable on the hammer price of a lot will be refunded on receipt of proof of shipping from the winning bidder that the item has been shipped to a non-EU country. VAT on buyer’s premium will not be refunded. Please note: Cash deposited directly into our bank account will be subject to a surcharge - currently 1.5%, as levied by our bank, Lloyd’s bank.

Note: Where a lot is zero rated for VAT purposes the full buyer’s premium as quoted above is still payable by the bidder.

With shipping on top, buyers need to be very careful how much they are actually spending.  I presume this is normal for all live auctions?  I would have thought the seller would pay auction fees rather than the buyer.

[grumpydoc]

I would have thought the seller would pay auction fees rather than the buyer.

No, it's normally the buyer - typically 20% VAT and 20% "buyers premium" (the cut that goes to the auction house) are added on top of the price at which the hammer falls.

[George Edmonds]

NO

Nowdays they charge both the seller and the buyer, what a rip off

G Rdmonds

[tggzzz]

I’ve never bid on an online live auction before.

I've used thesaleroom.com and others. The key point is to realise that when you click the button, that is the bid; there is no "confirm" state/action in the FSM.

If in doubt, have a look at any auction on thesaleroom.com, as a guest.

Assume 30s per lot.

If interested in bidding, you would be wise to create an account on the relevant platform a few days in advance. Then register for the specific auction. If you haven't been "seen" before, there may be a delay of a day or so before you can bid.

I've never left a bid with an auction house, since it is difficult to be sure that doesn't become the minimum you will be charged.

I see in their T&C

When bidding in the room, or via the telephone the auctioneers charge a buyers premium of 32.5% inc VAT (minimum £2.40 per lot) for bidders that settle their invoice within five days of the sale or 42.5% inc VAT for bidders who pay after this date. All future purchases in future auctions will be invoiced at 42.5% if the bidder pays late in one sale, and a higher deposit may be required for at registration.

When bidding online at eastbourneauction.com or easyliveauction.com the Auctioneers charge a Buyer’s Premium of 30% inc VAT (minimum £2.40 per lot) for bidders that settle their invoice within five days of the sale or 40% inc VAT for bidders who pay after this date. All future purchases in future auctions will be invoiced at 40% if the bidder pays late in one sale, and a higher deposit may be required for at registration.

When bidding via thesaleroom.com the Auctioneers charge a Buyer’s Premium of 38% (minimum £2.40 per lot) for bidders that settle their invoice within five days of the sale or 48% inc VAT for bidders who pay after this date. All future purchases in future auctions will be invoiced at 48% if the bidder pays late in one sale, and a higher deposit may be required for at registration.

All bidders failing to pay by the Wednesday following the sale (i.e. withing 5 days) will be charged an admin fee of £12.00.

VAT where payable on the hammer price of a lot will be refunded on receipt of proof of shipping from the winning bidder that the item has been shipped to a non-EU country. VAT on buyer’s premium will not be refunded. Please note: Cash deposited directly into our bank account will be subject to a surcharge - currently 1.5%, as levied by our bank, Lloyd’s bank.

Note: Where a lot is zero rated for VAT purposes the full buyer’s premium as quoted above is still payable by the bidder.

With shipping on top, buyers need to be very careful how much they are actually spending.  I presume this is normal for all live auctions?  I would have thought the seller would pay auction fees rather than the buyer.

The actual fees vary, so you have to look at every auction individually. A hammer price of £100 might mutate into £155, i.e. £100*1.30*1.20 (commission, VAT).

Some auction houses do packing and shipping in-house for "small" items. That's likely to be £15-£20. If you send in an external company then I suspect you would be starting at £40.

All that means is that you fix your max price, and work back to your max bidding price.

[tggzzz]

Nowdays they charge both the seller and the buyer, what a rip off

Typical sellers uplift is 20%. For buyers that is irrelevant and invisible.

A decent auction house will spend some time photographing and researching the price, and will provide good descriptions, proper cataloguing, and specialist auctions. When selling, I like such auction houses; the 20% is money well spent.

A poor auction house will just take one picture and say "electric stuff", with the next lot being an incomplete set of dinner plates. When buying I like such auction houses.

It is rare to find an auction house that will show equipment powered up and working.

[switcher]

Well, I guess you pays your money and makes your choice.

The alternative is ebay, where auctions seem to have died a death in recent years in favour of buy-it-nows at grossly inflated prices.

IME, with an auction sale such as this, you stand a very good chance of getting something a lot cheaper (even with fees taken into account) than ebay.

[tggzzz]

Well, I guess you pays your money and makes your choice.

The alternative is ebay, where auctions seem to have died a death in recent years in favour of buy-it-nows at grossly inflated prices.

IME, with an auction sale such as this, you stand a very good chance of getting something a lot cheaper (even with fees taken into account) than ebay.

In an auction the price is set by the other person, the one that didn't want it too much. That's true for any auction where the price visibly increases. Dutch auctions and tender auctions are different.

Increasing price auctions make sense if you can't wait to sell, and

• you don't know the market price, or
• you are sure there are N>1 people competing for <N items

Otherwise if you can wait and the cost of not selling is low, then it is better to have a fixed price or to start high and gradually decrease the price (i.e. a Dutch auction).

[switcher]

Well, I went and had a look (in the rain!) The HP-stuff looks very nice, virtually pristine. Very clean. In fact all of the test equipment does.

If you look closely, there are a few hidden gems to be had; Lot 1411 - Peak transistor tester, and an AVO LCR meter. The AVO LCR meters like this are very good, very accurate (I've got one myself) Plus something for Heathkit fans.

Lot 1439 - illuminated bench lamp, and Herbert Terry anglepoise, ideal for the bench.
Lot 1456 - one of those high-impedance AVOmeters that are highly regarded (forget the model no.) Plus a Capacitor Wizard, and what I think is a Cyril Bateman meter.
Lot 1457 - Levell transistor tester, plus two Quad 405 boards.
Lot 1476 - in amongst all of the components, is the very rare Leak Hi-Fi book.

A couple of other lots of note are lot 1248 - a Quad 405, with the Ken Kessler book - estimate £40 - £80!! The book alone must be worth £40.

And finally lot 1254 - a Hacker Sovereign III (the later model, goes upto 104MHz) and a Roberts R707. Both look very clean and tidy.

I placed a couple of bids (I won't say on what!) and drove home in the rain...

[Brumby]

A couple of other lots of note are lot 1248 - a Quad 405, with the Ken Kessler book - estimate £40 - £80!! The book alone must be worth £40.

This is the unknown with auctions.

If you have at least two bidders with an interest and a budget to match, then you can certainly look at some impressive results - but they have to be engaged with the auction when it is running.  Otherwise, a single bidder can often get the lot for a maiden bid.

I'm sure we've all seen bidders who will drop a minimum amount on a fistful of lots - and how many times have we seen auctions that have escaped the attention of somebody who would salivate over the catalogue?

You just never know who is out there, ready to bid.

[tggzzz]

Thanks, switcher, for the report, and good luck.

If you have at least two bidders with an interest and a budget to match, then you can certainly look at some impressive results - but they have to be engaged with the auction when it is running.  Otherwise, a single bidder can often get the lot for a maiden bid.

Precisely.

I like to phrase it as being the price is not determined by the top bidder's maximum price, it is determined by the second bidder.

Fortunately my repair queue is too long for me to be interested in any of that. It helps that two days ago I picked up a Quad 405-2, 303 and FM4 last week - including a receipt indicating it had been thoroughly repaired in 2019 Shame my wooden ears won't let me appreciate it anymore