john Pye auctions

soolin

We often have newbies asking where to buy things- and I saw this in the daily Mail today:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-3378012/The-bargain-hunter-s-paradise-ve-never-heard-s-packed-Dysons-sofas-iPhones-going-song-s-catch.html

It is definitely for the Del Boys amongst us! Personally it is not the sort of stuff I'm interested in, nor does it come with any recommendation as I've never used them, but it shows how these returns get onto the market.

As usual if anyone is at all tempted to take this further, do your research, check the fees, terms and conditions and make sure you can collect within the very short time frame allowed. It is just as easy to lose money at an auction if you don't know what you are doing, as it is to make it.

StumpyPumpy

A (now closed) auction room near me used to specialise in these sorts of sales. Though mainly electricals rather than furniture. I never bought anything from them, but used to view quite a bit as they also sold some odds and sods of antiques at the same time.

I don't know if John Pye are different, but the stuff there was all returns and most of it obviously broken (doors hanging off microwaves, phones with smashed screens etc.). I remember seeing around 100 Plasma TVs that I thought looked quite good and took note of the model. When I got home and checked on the internet I found that the model had been recalled due to a tendency for them to set on fire without warning. I've no idea if that was typical but it put me off considering any purchases. I bet they will be an awful lot of "hover boards" turning up soon.

Things that were obviously repairable (like a phone screen) would go for a good price and things that went really cheaply looked like they'd probably end up in land fill.

So all in all, I wouldn't recommend buying from somewhere like that unless you really know what you are doing and can afford to buy half a dozen of something for the hope of getting one that works.

SP

p.s. the same rooms used to do lost luggage sales and in the end put up a sign saying something like "All luggage has been opened and sorted prior to sale, some contents to be sold separately" In other words anything worth buying has already been removed. I wonder how many bargain hunters had been stung by that.

Grumpelstiltskin

John Pye have been operating in Nottingham for many years. I bought things from them at least 20 years ago.


They have expanded recently, they have auctions in Derby as well as Nottingham and Staffordshire.


Although you can bid online it is the sort of auction that you do have to view to see exactly what you are getting.


They also auction cars and recently have expanded into jewellery.

forgotmyname

Large items can be cheaper as some buyers only have cars and smaller vans to collect. I went to an auction some years back and bought 6ft sideboards for £3 because nobody else with the right sort of transport wanted them.

charlies_mum

Completely refitted our bathroom from there for a fraction of the cost, but don't think the John Lewis furniture goes cheap.

soolin

I tend to go to general auctions where there is a mix of household items , collectables and antiques rather than just the 'returns' style auctions. Last year I got a new but older model hand held Dyson for £35 which I am still regularly using for the car and stairs.

Ting-Tang

I used to have some very good buys from John Pye in Nottingham a few years ago but also a few not so good ones.
Buyer beware as always and definitely don't bid online without seeing the goods.

forgotmyname

What are their fees? The one I goto dont really sell anything for less than £10 because that appears to be their minimum fee, an item did sell for £10 once and i assumed the seller would get nothing as the sellers fee was £10.

Auction prices are plus + 15% + vat or +20% + vat so you can pay almost half as much again over your bid price. I work it out on half as much again and use that figure when bidding.