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Have I been robbed? Holts


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A chap at Monmouth got an absolute bargain at an auction for a S & B scope so I had a look at Holts as I could do with a spotting scope for my my LE .303. I put a bid of £40 on one that was 20-60 x 60 and won it happy daze ?

They emailed me to say I had won it and wanted £20 + VAT to post it to me + myriad other costs bring the £40 to £76 FFS!

I remonstrated that £20 + VAT was taking the piss and they very generously dropped it to a mere £15 + 20%. I explained that I have an online shop and send stuff out on a next day service with DPD for £7.99 +VAT.  

After a good week a very dishevelled looking box arrived via Parcel Farce and I removed the contents. The scope has something nasty inside that is partially obscuring the view at lower magnification that moves around and the zoom control doesn't feel right. The brand is Adventuridge which is clearly not a top brand. It seems clear enough at 100 or thereabouts, but isn't very clear at all at objects further away and I'm not convinced I'll be able to see the rosettes and 600 metres at Warminster IR2 on Saturday. I've never bought anything at this type of auction before so have no idea if I have any comeback for the defects.

Anyone have any idea how much I need to part with for a spotting scope suitable for up to 600metres? I am more than slightly dicky mint currently so am on a shoe string budget :(  

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Anyone buying from Auction needs to check the fees before they bid and work out what your bid will cost. Typically they are between 28% and 35% depending on auctioneer.

As for posting, you aren't just paying the cost of postage, you are paying for the time it takes an employee to get the item, package it, address it, get the postage sorted and dispatch it. Employees cost a lot of money to employ.  Most auctioneers use external packaging and posting companies, they will have cost you kore than £20 + vat. I just paid £40 for an item to be collected, packaged and posted.

VAT is VAT, they can't not charge it.

As for if the item works, it's a case of caveat emptor. If it is misdescribed then you have recourse, but buying unseen from auction, you pay your money, you take you chance.

Have you been ripped off?

No - you just failed to read the small print before bidding. We've all done it.

 

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Holts will inspect articles if you ask for a report

Their charges are 30% ish and when you bid there is a calculator to see the total price with fees .

Seller pays a fee as well

Comes as a shock if you dont read the small print  .

Theres an online auction a bit like e bay called Maxogun  worth a browse ..

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18 hours ago, Ralpharama said:

A chap at Monmouth got an absolute bargain at an auction for a S & B scope so I had a look at Holts as I could do with a spotting scope for my my LE .303. I put a bid of £40 on one that was 20-60 x 60 and won it happy daze ?

They emailed me to say I had won it and wanted £20 + VAT to post it to me + myriad other costs bring the £40 to £76 FFS!

I remonstrated that £20 + VAT was taking the piss and they very generously dropped it to a mere £15 + 20%. I explained that I have an online shop and send stuff out on a next day service with DPD for £7.99 +VAT.  

After a good week a very dishevelled looking box arrived via Parcel Farce and I removed the contents. The scope has something nasty inside that is partially obscuring the view at lower magnification that moves around and the zoom control doesn't feel right. The brand is Adventuridge which is clearly not a top brand. It seems clear enough at 100 or thereabouts, but isn't very clear at all at objects further away and I'm not convinced I'll be able to see the rosettes and 600 metres at Warminster IR2 on Saturday. I've never bought anything at this type of auction before so have no idea if I have any comeback for the defects.

Anyone have any idea how much I need to part with for a spotting scope suitable for up to 600metres? I am more than slightly dicky mint currently so am on a shoe string budget :(  

Oh well, write it of as a school day

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I had a nasty feeling that I had been caught and there was no going back.

I assumed, naively perhaps, that if the goods had defects that the seller would be responsible for highlighting them, as with ebay. 

Roy - As for the costs of carriage, as the owner of an on-line shop I buy and sell goods delivered by courier all the time and to charge £20 on top of the profit made from the sale, is very much extracting the urine. If I charged twenty pounds plus Richi's twenty percent I would not still be going ten years on with nothing but positive feedback (www.bikerstoolbox.co.uk). With the constant increase in the costs of carriage we have to accept that some of the profit we make on a sale has to be earned by packaging the products if we are to remain competitive. We re-use as much of the packaging that comes in to us as we are able to. The box the scope came in was very obviously recycled and wasn't great quality in the first place and was roughly bound up with budget 2" parcel tape. Yes there is a difference and we use the premium quality stuff. It also took them a week before sending it out. I wasn't best pleased about the time considering I was paying top dollar for carriage about the time, but when the product is all sticky and has a defect I was pretty hacked off.

I have never bought anything from this type of auction before, so maybe I was expecting too much in the way of customer service. 

I will chalk it down to experience I suppose 

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1 hour ago, Ralpharama said:

I had a nasty feeling that I had been caught and there was no going back.

I assumed, naively perhaps, that if the goods had defects that the seller would be responsible for highlighting them, as with ebay. 

Roy - As for the costs of carriage, as the owner of an on-line shop I buy and sell goods delivered by courier all the time and to charge £20 on top of the profit made from the sale, is very much extracting the urine. If I charged twenty pounds plus Richi's twenty percent I would not still be going ten years on with nothing but positive feedback (www.bikerstoolbox.co.uk). With the constant increase in the costs of carriage we have to accept that some of the profit we make on a sale has to be earned by packaging the products if we are to remain competitive. We re-use as much of the packaging that comes in to us as we are able to. The box the scope came in was very obviously recycled and wasn't great quality in the first place and was roughly bound up with budget 2" parcel tape. Yes there is a difference and we use the premium quality stuff. It also took them a week before sending it out. I wasn't best pleased about the time considering I was paying top dollar for carriage about the time, but when the product is all sticky and has a defect I was pretty hacked off.

I have never bought anything from this type of auction before, so maybe I was expecting too much in the way of customer service. 

I will chalk it down to experience I suppose 

Never mind Ralph, at least I now know your website exists, my mate needs some old Z bits and bobs and I may buy some bits from you - karma 😁

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I have spent along time closely working around Car Auctions.

And from what i have seen over the years....YES everbody gets robbed at auctions, Sellers and Buyers.

Its the Auction houses that make the money, Not the seller and on average the buyers pay too much, by the time all the Fees & Vat are added.

There are ofcoarse expeption to this and on a good day, some bargins to be had, Just read the small print first. (although local car auctions to me, Currently DO NOT advertise the full fees, You have to ASK for them prior to Bidding / Selling. Bit noughty Really. )

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2 hours ago, Popsbengo said:

Never mind Ralph, at least I now know your website exists, my mate needs some old Z bits and bobs and I may buy some bits from you - karma 😁

What a very fine chap your friend must be :) Big Zeds are the finest machine ever created :) I have as many Classic Kawasakis as rifles :) They are a far better investment. Second hand rifles don't tend to be worth a light, but the price of Z900s seems to go up daily  🤣Naturally the price will plummet should I ever need to sell one 😄

 

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5 minutes ago, Ralpharama said:

What a very fine chap your friend must be :) Big Zeds are the finest machine ever created :) I have as many Classic Kawasakis as rifles :) They are a far better investment. Second hand rifles don't tend to be worth a light, but the price of Z900s seems to go up daily  🤣Naturally the price will plummet should I ever need to sell one 😄

 

Indeed, the 1970's Z900 is the prettiest bike ever apart from my 1984 Laverda Corsa RGS1000 - sadly sold many moons ago,  a replacement would be £20k at least.  Needless to say I didn't sell it for that or even close to that! 

Custom rifles come a close second to a good bike

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"The Beast" my Godier Genoud Z1300 special, My "Ole Gurl" which is my favourite seen with me going round "The Gooseneck" on the island and at the bottom the Z900A4 I was given in boxes a few years ago by a member of the Z1OC -  he said he knew I would sort her properly! 

Z1300GG.thumb.JPG.f065d9e0fb351fe54c12d5a8252cc222.JPG623161614_OleGurlatGooseneck.thumb.jpg.538169e33c459cbdc5ec3aeff4ac7cd7.jpg

Z900 A4.jpg

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41 minutes ago, Ralpharama said:

"The Beast" my Godier Genoud Z1300 special, My "Ole Gurl" which is my favourite seen with me going round "The Gooseneck" on the island and at the bottom the Z900A4 I was given in boxes a few years ago by a member of the Z1OC -  he said he knew I would sort her properly! 

Z1300GG.thumb.JPG.f065d9e0fb351fe54c12d5a8252cc222.JPG623161614_OleGurlatGooseneck.thumb.jpg.538169e33c459cbdc5ec3aeff4ac7cd7.jpg

Z900 A4.jpg

Blooming' luvverly

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There was some specialised stuff coming up at an action of interest to our club, we bid for it but were out bid by a dealer, said dealer has now approached the club and tried to sell said stuff at a stupid mark up, we have told them were to insert it. Don't know where they are going to sell it now.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have said before, if I come back in a different life, I will be an auctioneer. They charge you to sell your item and then charge the buyer - double bubble. Holts are now charging to deliver an item to one of their valuation days they hold around the country.

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Holts have sneaked in another charge lately - they dopped in  a charge of 1.25% (+VAT)  storage and insurance on me yesterday

M with a depleted gun cabinet in sunny Monmouthshire

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