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"Presenting information with greater accuracy -
reduced hype, correct measurements and improved grammar!"
Most Recent Amendment : 24th July 2008
(Malton, Solent, Stoneleigh & Templecombe Results / Quainton Road Preview)
With ever more events in the 2008 Auction Season, some selective choices must be made by collectors set on attending in person. The cost of travel and accommodation continues to climb inexorably, hence the appeal of auction sites accessible "on-line". Whilst some specialist auctioneers appear to be grasping the necessity of improving their catalogue quality and distribution, others lag woefully behind. We would recommend serious study of what is on offer through our "Auction Scene" links before setting off on yet another expensive foray to all points of the compass. And apart from the well-publicized "Premier League" events, collectors should be aware of many other opportunities to add to their collections. EBAY has been offering up some plums over the past year - obviously along with much dross (caveat emptor etc.) - including the surprising re-emergence of brand new replica shedplates (as if there weren't already enough of them around!).
You have already reached the ONLY SITE ON THE WEB where you will find the latest railwayana auction results from all the specialist events. ALL IN ONE PLACE, with prices against catalogue descriptions - corrected where necessary - and stripped of hype!
| CLICK ON BUTTONS FOR LATEST RAILWAYANA AUCTION PREVIEWS & RESULTS |
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Stoneleigh
12th July 2008 |
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Wickham
28th June 2008 |
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Malton
21st June 2008 |
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Derby
14th June 2008 |
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Pershore
10th May 2008 |
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Quainton Road
27th July 2008 |
In the "User Zone", you get the whole story with a simple mouse click - from GCR STONELEIGH / GWRA / MALTON / SHEFFIELD / SOLENT / STAFFORD etc. "Sign In" is necessary to access this subscription service but for less than £1 per month you will get great value from the information provided. Discounts on purchases made from the site are also being introduced - covering books & magazines, photographs, postcards, railwayana, tickets etc. More details to be released soon.
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LATEST AUCTION NEWS & VIEWS
The "Five-Eighths Boys" - and the "Professionals". In the late 1950s, apprentices from the BR Works at Swindon spent one day each week in classroom study at "The College". There they would be joined by other trainees from local employers, such as Vickers Armstrong and Garrard (the makers of hi-fi turntables). In such company, friendly banter led to the railway lads being known as the "Five-Eighths Boys" - because we worked to the nearest 5/8ths of an inch! And for readers unfamiliar with the size of tools used to adjust spring hangers on steam locomotives, that epithet is quite understandable. But, in getting the balance right, heavy engineering requires accuracy - and even the veritable 5/8 is important. So it is when describing items for a railwayana auction and placing it on your on-line web catalogue - an imperative in today's internet environment - not a mere afterthought expected to be delivered by an unedited distillation of the print media version.
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Following a clear preference shown in our recent Survey, from the beginning of 2008, prices reported from Railwayana Auctions published on this site will be INCLUSIVE of all additional charges applied to buyers' invoices - whether they be called admin fees or Buyer's Premium - and VAT will be incorporated where applicable. [The rate of Buyer's Premium and a simple ready reckoner that we call "Bidder's Square Deal Factor" has been provided on all the Auction Scene and Events pages.]
The two auctions already held in 2008 have been reviewed; Malton did not require any amendment since Cundalls do not apply such charges to their Railwayana events but the Stoneleigh results have now been updated with the additional 11.75% applied to the Hammer Price. It is not intended to rework any of the results published before the beginning of this year, as most include a comment at the beginning indicating what additional charges should be calculated.
This unique service is available to subscribers in the "User Zone" and will allow comparison between actual price paid and the Hammer Prices reported on the auctioneers' own websites (linked from this site for your convenience). Yet another reason to Sign In - if you have not already done so!
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"Hype and Tripe" is alive and well and oozing from the pages of Railwayana Auction Catalogues. What moronic readership is being targetted by their compilers as they ladle out the alphabet soup? The problem is that too many people BELIEVE what they read, treat it as gospel and then quote it for future reference!
Dreweatt Neate - April 2008 If you missed the first of their "Transport Sales" this year at the Bristol Saleroom, where a wide selection of loco whistles was on offer, the priced catalogue for sale 20255 is available Bristol 1st April 2008
Cundalls and Great Central - January 2008 The realizations from the first railwayana auctions of the year have now been posted in the User Zone, where subscribers will find our comprehensive auction results from 2001 to date - including SRA and Solent in March 2008.
The results from an outstanding sale by GWRA at Pershore on 24th November are now available in the User Zone. With 94% of lots on offer sold, more record prices achieved and soaring overall sale value puts them firmly into the top division.
Bonhams held another of their biannual Mechanical Music & Railwayana Auctions at the Knowle Saleroom on Tuesday 16th October. Amongst a number of interesting posters and some run-of-the-mill material were a pair of outstanding GWR single-line keys from the Hatch area of the erstwhile Taunton to Chard branch. They sold for an impressive £1500 each (plus Premium) and should be prized by their new owner. For a full priced catalogue of sale number 15198, click on the following link and start your search at Lot 204 (Truncheon) then 226 - 328. Bonhams Catalogue
Has the bottom really fallen out of the nameplate market? A crestfallen auctioneer, visibly shaken by the lack of interest in his A4 offering (later to be sold at £10,000 below estimate - and then only when reduced Buyer's Premium had been negotiated) might provide some indication of the present state of the market.
Auctioneering Ethics under the Spotlight. It really is about time that auctioneers confined activities to their own events and avoided the confusing messages being sent out when appearing at competitive locations.
Buyer's Premium offers hidden benefits. The introduction of free catalogues was a welcome, albeit limited, offset against the extra cost to buyers - yet not every event offers even that. The opportunity for vendors to negotiate a reduced (or even FREE) commission rate in today's competitive environment heralds another ball-game altogether!
Ready to pay to attend a Live Auction? Following reluctant acceptance of Buyer's Premium, will railwayana collectors be equally tolerant of the introduction of Admission Charges?
You should Sign In to visit the User Zone for further Editorial Comment.
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DOUBLE WHAMMY AT DERBY
After two years of anticipation, the Sheffield Railwayana Auctions team has finally conceded the inadequacy of the spiritual home at Myers Grove School and will be re-opening for business in the Gateway Centre at the Derbyshire County Cricket Club. But it is not only the unfamiliarity of the location that collectors will be faced with on Saturday 15th September, they must also be ready to acquire a taste for the new recipe on offer "Now with ADDED Buyer's Premium"!
RCJ had been a lonely champion for the introduction of such charges - against the entrenched view that they were simply "enthusiast run" events - provided that "Added Value" be returned to collectors, by way of investment in improved service, professional advertising and promotion, developments aimed at widening the appeal to younger collectors etc. What galls in this case, is the way in which the B.P. has been introduced. Not a word of advance notice appeared in the advertisement that we were asked to publish (which was otherwise, as usual, extremely verbose), just the unheralded appearance of a new clause in the conditions of sale in the catalogues. Indeed, the previous catalogue was still extolling the attraction of no B.P. being payable - and the SRA website was only amended with the release of the latest issue. SRA has sat on its hands for two years, allowing its competitors to draw the flak for bringing in the charges. But those competitors, who might have been less well placed to lose business, did offer some trade-off at the time of its introduction - such as eliminating the subscription charges for printed catalogues. One assumes that the facilities in Derby will be better than in Sheffield - and certainly more expensive to hire - but not to the extent of the extra revenue being generated. We will be interested to watch future developments once the first event has been held.
And just what has brought about Ian Wright's "Conversion on the road to Damascus"? His outspoken opposition to Buyer's Premium is legendary - both verbally and in letters to the magazine that we have on file. We disagreed on this matter numerous times - and agreed to disagree. In Britain, we respect the right to hold a contrarian opinion to ones own. Surely he can't expect to disassociate himself from the decision - he is acknowledged as both "Consultant and Auctioneer"? If his genuine conviction is as strong as ever, how can he continue to be associated with this new policy without losing the respect and goodwill that was built up over many years. [As an aside, why do specialist auctioneers retire/sell their businesses - then stick around as if nothing has changed?]
Why the move only 30 miles down the road to Derby - and not more positively towards the South East where the Directors are based? The Midlands now hosts all the main events - from Stoneleigh, Knowle and Rugby to Pershore, Stafford and now Derby. Perhaps in another couple of years Milton Keynes will begin to figure in the diary?
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