How do you have your auction lots sent to you?

Buffin · March 05, 2019, 11:22:02 AM

I put in a silly (very low) bid on a lot in an auction some distance from me (still in England, though). Then I forgot about it until the auctioneer's invoice arrived.

That's good so far, but the auctioneer doesn't ship, and now I have to get the lot sent to me. Anyone I use will have to go to the auctioneer and box it up.

The box could come by Parcelforce, but Mailboxes Etc want to courier it to me as well, which will cost a bit. So I was wondering do any of you have any suggestions?

(Apart, obviously, from don't bid for something before you know how you're going to get it sent to you!)

rhysapthomas · March 05, 2019, 11:39:25 AM

It might be worth saying where the lots are in case some kind person might send them for you?

njee20 · March 05, 2019, 12:04:58 PM

Do the auction house not have a tie up with a local courier? Most that I've seen do, even if it's outsourced. Have you phoned them and asked? You won't be the first person this has happened to.

That said, last time I won something the price to send it was so prohibitive that I re-entered the item for sale! I was rather hedging my bets on winning at least one item of a significantly higher value to offset it, only to lose them all. Ended up costing me about £20, which was a bit of a pain, although could've been worse! Cool story, huh?!

Buffin · March 05, 2019, 12:44:35 PM

Quote from: rhysapthomas on March 05, 2019, 11:39:25 AM
It might be worth saying where the lots are in case some kind person might send them for you?

Fair question, but I just couldn't in all conscience pay someone from here less than the local couriers want to charge me.

Quote from: njee20 on March 05, 2019, 12:04:58 PM
Do the auction house not have a tie up with a local courier? Most that I've seen do, even if it's outsourced. Have you phoned them and asked? You won't be the first person this has happened to.

That said, last time I won something the price to send it was so prohibitive that I re-entered the item for sale! I was rather hedging my bets on winning at least one item of a significantly higher value to offset it, only to lose them all. Ended up costing me about £20, which was a bit of a pain, although could've been worse! Cool story, huh?!

Yes, their recommended courier wants similar money. I did actually think about re-entering it! But I've been luckier than you were (no thanks to my foresight), the courier charge just moves it from being a very good bargain to good value. So I am going to get it delivered, partly for experience of the process.

njee20 · March 05, 2019, 12:55:54 PM

Quote from: Buffin on March 05, 2019, 12:44:35 PM
Quote from: rhysapthomas on March 05, 2019, 11:39:25 AM
It might be worth saying where the lots are in case some kind person might send them for you?

Fair question, but I just couldn't in all conscience pay someone from here less than the local couriers want to charge me.

Why not, out of interest? If a courier wants £30, and someone lives just around the corner and can stick it in a box and send it via Royal Mail for £10, why wouldn't you pay them £20 as a favour? Everyone wins! I'd help out were it local.

Dancess · March 05, 2019, 01:26:54 PM

Think yourself lucky, there is a Peco wagon on *bay that I want with a reasonable price for buy it now, delivery to UK is £3.50 but here to France it's £22 - more than twice the cost of the wagon!

Guess I'll just have to wait until I find another one.

dannyboy · March 05, 2019, 01:38:36 PM

Here in Ireland the postal service runs a service whereby I can avail of cheap or free postage to a UK address. The item is then forwarded to my local Post Office for a fee of €3.95. All I have to do is go pick it up and that is no hardship, as the Post Office is a few hundred yards from where my Wife works. Sometimes UK companies ask silly money for posting to Ireland, so, over the last 3 years or so I have been using the service, I have saved a fortune in postage costs. Is there no similar service available in France, or maybe a friend or relative in the UK who could assist you? I would like to help you out, but you would probably not save much once you add the postage from Ireland to France to the other postage costs.
@Dancess

AndyT · March 05, 2019, 02:17:38 PM

Aha here's one I should be able to answer as I'm a subpostmaster. Basically all down to value and weight, if value is £500 then I'd do special delivery Royal Mail, if however its large in physical size or heavy then ParcelForce. They do £100 coverage (with various increases in cost thereafter) NEVER post anything on a Friday for Saturday delivery as it'll cost you the earth. As for mail forwarding centres great if you're getting something delivered to you, but caveat emptor if sending the other way. I've had about six customers lose out due to that (someone wins auction overseas, uses a mail forwarding serviced then claims item never arrived, so they end up with the item and a refund too and I get an upset customer)

njee20 · March 05, 2019, 02:22:13 PM

Dancess's example sound like someone using the eBay Global Shipping Programme, which has a number of advantages, but cost is not one of them!

Andy's advice is generally useful but doesn't really apply here, as the issue is that auction houses don't just nip down the post office with your item (and thus the question isn't simply which service to use). Additionally, they're used to posting high value, fragile goods (is the only thing I can surmise), so they often have minimum postage charges of £25+. The last lots I did get posted must have had about 3kg of bubble wrap on them. Not specifically complaining, but it did feel like overkill, and I'd rather they'd just lobbed them in a big Jiffy bag and charged £10!

Ultimately, conventional auction houses just aren't really geared up for selling small, comparatively low value lots to remote bidders.

Buffin · March 05, 2019, 02:24:27 PM

Quote from: njee20 on March 05, 2019, 12:55:54 PM
Why not, out of interest? If a courier wants £30, and someone lives just around the corner and can stick it in a box and send it via Royal Mail for £10, why wouldn't you pay them £20 as a favour? Everyone wins! I'd help out were it local.

Well another fair point. The auction house is Stacey's, in Rayleigh SS6. Anyone interested then?

njee20 · March 05, 2019, 02:34:56 PM

No good for me I'm afraid! I assume you've asked the 3 couriers they list on their site? Looks like one is more for larger things. I wonder what the postage would be on this, but we digress!

Leon · March 05, 2019, 02:56:44 PM

I've had lots of experiences with auctions of all kinds. If you're not there to remove your purchase, you're not likely to ever get a bargain. If you buy something at a really low price and are willing to deal with the hassle of arranging shipment, you could end up paying the market price. In my opinion, it's not worth it!

eBay has been wrestling with the problem of shipping overcharges from the beginning of (their) time. They've tried to help the buyer, and their international shipping arrangement must work for some buyers. I buy regularly from the UK (as I'm modelling British), but try to never buy a single lot from a seller. By combining purchases the shipping charges are not unreasonable. I also try to buy as much as possible from the same eBay seller, so I've established trust and he allows me to purchase over a 30-day period before shipping. The main reason prices for pre-owned items are so ridiculous is because of our determination to have that rare or illusive wagon, coach, or loco. Paying top dollar (pound, euro, etc.) and excessive shipping charges just doesn't make sense, yet I see people everyday buying wagons for 50p less than I can buy them at Hatton's (when I can get them there). Many of these buyers are maybe collectors rather than modellers, but if we'd all use a little restraint and limit our purchases of pre-owned items to 50% of the current retail price of the new item (or similar) we could afford to pay the postage (over which we have NO control).

Finally, there is a lot to be said for dealer loyalty. I buy from one dealer, regardless of the price (it evens out, believe me) and would NEVER consider buying from a dealer auction (if I can identify the seller), if I can purchase from that dealer directly.

Leon

njee20 · March 05, 2019, 03:12:41 PM

But at risk of being mercenary I'm happy with the shipping charges I face (or I don't buy the item), the fact that those in foreign lands have to pay more doesn't make me want to spend less on an item to offset that. Prices for pre-owned items are high because production runs are small and items can be desirable. The market is certainly fickle, and things that sit around on shelves for a long time when new can inexplicably go on to become highly desirable second hand, but the price is just dictated by market economics, where shipping costs are simply a part of that.

At least eBay is very up front with charges, I freely admit that I was seriously taken aback by the fees (not just shipping) associated with a conventional auction the first time I bought something. It's easy to think online auction = eBay, but commissions on hammer prices and huge shipping fees (even domestically) did come as a nasty shock!

Leon · March 05, 2019, 03:23:19 PM

Quote from: njee20 on March 05, 2019, 03:12:41 PM
... but commissions on hammer prices and huge shipping fees (even domestically) did come as a nasty shock!

You're right about that! The last time I used an auctioneer to dispose of some art items, I didn't even clear my investment.

The market does rule! But, we ARE the market and we buy foolishly. No pre-owned item should ever cost the same (or close to the same) as a comparable new item. Just because it's desirable? Come on!

Lack of restraint feeds inflation which often leads to economic catastrophe.

Leon

njee20 · March 05, 2019, 03:29:59 PM

But if the item is no longer available new, then that's moot.

If you can get it for 50p less than new, as per your example, that's still cheaper, and perhaps one is making other purchases to spread the cost of the shipping, as per your example.

I do agree that people can get caught up in a bidding frenzy and pay over the odds, but it's not really about restraint - if I want an item I'll pay what I think it's worth, and the new price, whatever it may have been, isn't really a factor in that. You may disagree with 'my' worth, but that doesn't change it. I've just bought some wagons, I probably did pay a bit more than I should have, but I wanted them. I bought new ones for £20 as recently as 2 years ago, and I just paid £28 each for 5 used ones. Like I say, I'm happy with that, even though many would probably consider it "too much".

The frustration you personally suffer is that, assuming we have the same 'worth' in our head then you will consistently lose out on items because of the higher shipping fees. But IMO considering the postage as a separate cost, and one that can be offset it we all just exercised some "restraint" is the wrong way to think about it.