eBay and Craigslist finds

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-PHILBROOK-TRACK-PISTA-BIKE-FRAME-23-58-4-Cm-FIXIE/123765354208?hash=item1cd0fd6ee0:g:CQ4AAOSw~dVc2D7H

Nice track frame from a top builder

Lovely Hobbs but high starting price.
Ad states that it has original paint and it certainly looks like it -
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F264321498206

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I seem to remember the last time there was an auction like this people stayed away as it's a 'proper' auction so after the sale price you pay a percentage on top to the auction house too. With the last one the 'bargains' became distinctly non-bargainous once you factored that in.

You had to pay 20% VAT on the final bid amount + 15% commission.

I saw items going for more than you would pay from Wiggle or even your local bike shop. Made no sense.

Bargain fever, isn't it. There was one a while back doing job lots of bar tape etc and I really had to have a word with myself about even considering bidding. 10 rolls of bar tape at what ends up being the same price as Wiggle.

In the last one posted on here I did a few bids and it worked out worth it for me but only because I was the only bidder on the 2 lots I bid on. Even close to retail price and you'll end up paying more.
They also tend to quote a bomb for shipping ie £15 for a box regardless of how much is in it.
I got a Ritchey classic seatpost, 5 ritchey stems and 2 easton stems for about £50 total

You had to pay 20% VAT on the final bid amount + 15% commission.

Wait what?? It's legal to show a price without VAT? Not making the 15% commission crystal clear is decidedly dodgy too.

Only dodgy if you’re not “in the trade”.

Local auction house, like most others, are so old-school that the online thing is still relatively new to them, and their business model caters for people being in the room. Anyone in the room is kinda expected to know the rules since time began, etc. Sites like ebay have spoiled people, certainly.

Not entirely sure how seeing the actual price you'll be paying in the end is 'spoiling' people.

For clarity, the seatpost I won was £10 and the stems £15. I think it was £55 total so considerably more in the end but as I said, still worked out as an ok price for me if I can sell some of the stems on ebay

Not entirely sure how using some initiative to read up on the auction house rules and do a bit of arithmetic whilst bidding is ‘decidedly dodgy’, either.

I’m not saying I agree with that auction house, I’m saying it’s a different beast to what people assume. It’s not ebay, it’s an auction house.

It’s not ebay, it’s an auction house.

That's entirely irrelevant, not being very upfront about the end price of things should just not be legal, especially when we're not talking about a 50p card fee, but stuff like "oh there's 20% VAT and 15% fees on top of that".

Worth remembering that businesses (ie the main people that would be buying up job lots at auction) don't pay VAT, so it's not just a case of them being sneaky.

15% fees on the buyer's side is pretty steep if they don't mention it clearly upfront, though.

If this is the Southampton auction, then I did something very similar. Bought 2 pairs PDW mudguards and crest rims for £90, knew about the Vat + markup, but the postage was very high, so the whole lot ended up being £150. The PDW guards turned out to be the 45mm ones, not the road ones advertised, which I already have, so shifted them on ebay and was left with a pair of crest 29er rims for £20. So I did well, but for the hassle, I wouldnt use that format again.

No, it’s entirely relevant. See my remark about being “in the trade”.

An auction house is not a shop, and certainly isn’t an end-user-oriented online marketplace like amazon or ebay. An auction house is an auction house, and you’d be wise to read the terms and conditions of sale before placing any bid.

Oh wait, look, wow, that’s strange... it’s right here in red at the top of the page!

https://www.bidspotter.co.uk/en-gb/auction-catalogues/eddisons/catalogue-id-eddiso10467/terms-and-conditions#important-info

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Nope, it is entirely irrelevant. "We have always done things differently" is not a good excuse, it's just bullshit.

As an aside, using a third party like bidspotter you all are often paying way higher than if you went in person, or used the auction house directly with a telephone bid.

Not showing up for me: https://www.bidspotter.co.uk/en-gb/auction-catalogues/eddisons/catalogue-id-eddiso10467/terms-and-conditions#important-info

See my post directly above yours. It’s in the important information that all bidders should read before bidding.

And so on, and so on

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I just told you, it's not showing VAT and fees for me.

Edit: Oh I see, it's far further down.

Well, I stand by what I said - it's complete bullshit. Especially VAT not being automatically added, how is that even legal when shops have to show the end price?

Bro, do you even terms and con-....... oh forget it.

do you even terms and con

No. Again: I shouldn't be expected to go digging in case they just might add substantial amounts of money to the price they're showing.

As if you actually went to go read the terms and conditions of every shop you buy stuff from in case they hide a 35% price hike somewhere.

Under the current bid it states there are additional fees applied on each auction.

I’m not sure how you could miss that.

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