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Clubs, Groups and Societies For discussions about various clubs, groups and societies relating to our hobbies, such as the BVWS (incl RetroTechUK), BATC, RSGB, APTS, CLPGS, THG, TCC, BECG, MCR21 etc. This is NOT an official forum for any of these organisations.

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Old 18th Feb 2020, 12:38 pm   #21
GrimJosef
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

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I was just surprised, as this wasn't mentioned on the Audiojumble website. Anyone reading that would have no way of knowing that arriving around noon could prove disappointing ...

At other similar expos (model engineering, model railway exhibitions and the like) I'd be very surprised to see a lack of stalls around teatime ...
Ah. I think you're mixing it up with an expo.

It's a jumble sale. First rule of jumble sales - 'you'd better be at the front of the queue '.

Cheers,

GJ
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Old 18th Feb 2020, 4:00 pm   #22
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

It might seem a bit of a no-brainer for us to to get to the Jumble from Bexhill but Reelguy [Peter] and I know from experience that's not always the case. The A21 was closed.
Apart from this event I've seen what can go wrong when there's a Music festival at Hop Farm. Overall East Sussex has just a few miles of motorway which sort of sums things up. I mentioned all the factors creating a "perfect storm" in the "Storm Dennis" thread [post 20]. A flooded car park at The Angel might have been a clincher. It seems to have become increasingly difficult to park there in recent years anyway, even with good weather conditions and the diversions etc made it a difficult decision. Once you're stuck that can be it

I'm glad people got there all the same but I don't think arriving late in the day was a good move under Sunday's rather exceptional conditions. I doubt that the 4pm rule/guidance should applies in a situation like that. People need to get away safely and without them turning up in the first place there's no event anyway! Given it's an International event I did wonder if concerns about the current Flu Virus might influence attendance but it would seem to be mainly weather and transport issues.

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Old 18th Feb 2020, 8:00 pm   #23
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Bulgaria View Post
I was just surprised, as this wasn't mentioned on the Audiojumble website. Anyone reading that would have no way of knowing that arriving around noon could prove disappointing ...

At other similar expos (model engineering, model railway exhibitions and the like) I'd be very surprised to see a lack of stalls around teatime ...
Ah. I think you're mixing it up with an expo.

It's a jumble sale. First rule of jumble sales - 'you'd better be at the front of the queue '.

Cheers,

GJ
Same as carboot sales be there at the front of the queue,although it does annoy me when you see sellers packing up at 10.30am!! albeit most carboot sales are free entry.
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Old 19th Feb 2020, 12:41 am   #24
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

So you turn up to a Audiojumble 6 hours after the event starts and somehow expect there to be stalls heaving with secondhand bargain hifi?
At 2pm I'm as often as not getting myself psyched up for the 350 mile drive home which will still take me until nearly midnight especially if the usual mayhem happens somewhere on the M25/M40/M6 journey through hell.
and I'm not getting any younger, nor is my car.
As an aside, as GJ has so well explained, it's a sort of bring and buy sale, the idea of stall holders is to flog their gear and once their stock is gone, it's gone.
In past years before the top price 8am entry there was a lot of kit hoovered up by dealers, much as what happens at the start of boot sales. I mainly go now because I have made a lot of good friends through my DIY and Audio hobby and most of us go with a strict budget and enjoy the social aspect.
There's an awful lot of business movers and shakers attend, many sort of "incognito" for want of a better word. its an interesting Bash.

A.

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Old 19th Feb 2020, 2:06 pm   #25
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

I can only apologise as I was one of the stallholder no-shows on Sunday.

After a night of epic wind and rain, we got up and were on the road to Tonbridge from Hampshire at 5:45am. However, the flooding on the A32 up towards Alton was positively biblical, and the rain was still coming down hard. I crawled through one part where the water was about 4 inches deep for a hundred yards or more, then later came on a surprise puddle round a corner, which I hit at 40mph, and the car started spluttering and flashing the Engine Management light at me before recovering! I decided to keep going until we got to the A31 dual carriageway and see how that was, but it was just as bad. My wife then asked the fundamental question ”How many people will turn up, do you think?” just as we got to a break in the central reservation, so I used it to turn round and we went home and back to bed!

On the upside, though, she did ask if my old Range Rover (which I still miss like crazy) would have been troubled by this deluge, to which i was truthfully able to reply that it wouldn't have even noticed it, so maybe something good could come out of this yet!

As to the early packing up -as mentioned, my alarm went off at 5am. By 2pm when the hall is half empty, I haven't sold anything for an hour or more and I know I have a 1.5 - 2 hour drive home ahead of me plus unpacking the car to look forward to, then I'm going to pack up.

As an aside, one might also suggest that turning up right at the end to grab a bargain isn't really in the spirit of the event, Anyone who tries that on me when I'm packing up and who hasn't shown any prior interest in the item in question gets a polite refusal.
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Old 19th Feb 2020, 3:24 pm   #26
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... then later came on a surprise puddle round a corner, which I hit at 40mph ...
The first slight dip in the road surprised me by being full, kerb-to-kerb, of water. But then so was almost every dip after that, all the way to Jeremy's (Pamphonica's) in Virginia Water, so bit by bit it stopped being a surprise .

Quote:
On the upside, though, she did ask if my old Range Rover (which I still miss like crazy) would have been troubled by this deluge, to which i was truthfully able to reply that it wouldn't have even noticed it, so maybe something good could come out of this yet!
At Virginia Water we got into Jeremy's Range Rover . Sharing the ride meant having someone to chat to and also saved a space in the car park. If you arrive before Sainsburys opens there's plenty of room there.

Cheers,

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Old 20th Feb 2020, 12:54 am   #27
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

I wasn't complaining at people wanting to get away in the rain, more than this is not made clear on the website. If people wish to sell at a particular event, then their calculations on when to get up and so on is their business, and not the punter's concern.

I imagined (accurately it seems) that the pricier entrance early doors is for the dealers and those desparate for the chance of a Garrard 301, but if the organisers want to encourage a wider range of clientele then having a clear finish time as well as a start would be good. I think the RetroTech approach is ideal from a generalist's point of view - If I'm paying for entry to a hall of interesting things, then to find them all heading home is not so exciting. I can imagine Dennis had a say this year, but perhaps the organisers could have foreseen that and sorted something out.

I wasn't interested in hoovering up bargains, it just surprised me that arriving at midday meant a rush to the finish, and a bit peeved it still cost six quid to do so, on top of the train fare.

OK, it's not an 'expo' but model engineering/model railway shows are mostly stalls with items for sale so making 'stay till 4' a requirement wouldn't be too onerous for the owners who have presumably paid for the halls for the day. I've done a few car boot sales, with the early start that entails, and for what bills itself as the premier secondhand audio fair in Europe I would have thought two long days per year would be a reasonable tradeoff for sellers if they get enough punters in on their end of the bargain.

I got a PSU, which is excellent news, I just wonder if the organisation could be more transparent for those of us who are not dealers, and if they're interested in the next generation getting the bug (no Jim, not Star Trek.)

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Old 20th Feb 2020, 1:25 am   #28
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

I've never been.

It's a bit out of my normal travelling range, though I've occasionally thought about making a special trip. It is about a thousand miles round trip.

I've had an image of there being various interesting things. I'm not after bargains, just the opportunity to buy things not normally to be found. 301s, 401s and TD124s I can walk straight past. I've no interest in getting a valve amplifier, so maybe I'm immune to the main things people fight over?

But this thread seems to be quenching my interest.

Nothing of this nature happens North of the border at all. Whatever connection has Scotland with hifi? There's only a couple of amateur radio rallies up here.

It's easy to moan, but last summer, I made a foray down to the bright lights, to an amateur radio rally, far far to the South of me. I was expecting wonders. I found the experience disappointing. I'd never before been to a rally where I'd not bought anything. Perhaps I'd built up an unreasonable expectation? But there wasn't even an Icom, Trio or Yaesu agent showing their latest wares. It's a lot different to what I remember from past trips down. Have things changed so much?

Has everything moved to Ebay?

David
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Old 20th Feb 2020, 9:16 am   #29
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

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I can imagine Dennis had a say this year, but perhaps the organisers could have foreseen that and sorted something out.
This is starting to sound like the Civil Defence sketch in Beyond The Fringe - "After Armageddon, can you tell me how long it will be before normal council services are resumed?"

Quite apart from the special circumstances, it's surely axiomatic that a fair of this kind depends completely on what the stallholders bring. It is what it is and when it's gone it's gone (cliches by the yard here, but you get the point). I worked 78 record fairs for years, and the ground rules were exactly the same - turn up early doors if you were after the rare stuff or bide your time and tail-end it.
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Old 20th Feb 2020, 9:44 am   #30
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

Most radio rallies in the south east do not have main dealers anymore with the exception of Kempton. Even there one main dealer no longer attends as he has an open day at his relatively local shop. The Dover rally might have Icom who are more or less local. Kempton is now only once a year and slowly dying.
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Old 20th Feb 2020, 10:03 am   #31
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

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... I would have thought two long days per year would be a reasonable tradeoff for sellers if they get enough punters in on their end of the bargain ...
That's the crux of it. It's been a while since I've had stalls at Audiojumble and Retro-Tech (NVCF as was) but the selling side follows a very clear pattern. Early on buyers are bargain-hunting. As the vast majority of the punters come in, which is up to mid-morning, most of the genuine business is done. I make it a rule to decline offers to start with, explaining that I'd like to let everyone have a look at the goods before concluding that no-one is prepared to pay what I think they're worth. My usual watershed is lunchtime. "If it's still here then, then we can haggle" I say "but you should be aware that it may well not be ...". Most buyers will stay until lunchtime.

But after lunch business tends to fall through the floor. Everyone who's remotely interested in what you have has walked past it three times already. The ones you've promised a haggling opportunity will come back if they're serious. The folks who remain are hoping to pick up kit at knock-down prices on the basis that "You don't want to take that home again, do you ?". Often I do, so to save myself two hours of my life I decide around 13:30 to 14:00 whether to start packing up.

I don't know how many other people were showing up for the first time after lunch, but if I had to guess I would say it was certainly under 5% of the total attendance and very probably under 2%. If I still had stuff that 98% of the buyers didn't want then I'd have to be extremely lucky to sell it to someone in the remaining 2%.

Cheers,

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Old 20th Feb 2020, 11:12 am   #32
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

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Most radio rallies in the south east do not have main dealers anymore with the exception of Kempton. Even there one main dealer no longer attends as he has an open day at his relatively local shop. The Dover rally might have Icom who are more or less local. Kempton is now only once a year and slowly dying.
Yikes!

That sounds like they're giving up on business. At the price of new radios, they're something you want to see in the flesh before committing. The nearest dealer to Scotland, sinceJaycee was closed down is in Barnsley. It sounds like the audio world is not much better off.

Perhaps costs of doing business have risen to the point where it's only just sustainable in some single area where the density of punters is at the peak.

Meanwhile, the city centre a mile from me fills with fast food outlets beauty and tattoo parlours. Even the shoe shops have gone, contrary to Douglas Adams' predictions.

Thanks for clearing up my rose-tinted view.

David
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Old 20th Feb 2020, 11:21 am   #33
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

No reason why we should be any different to other hobby interests, and for that matter commerce in general. Enjoy what you can while you can.
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Old 20th Feb 2020, 11:41 am   #34
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... At the price of new radios, they're something you want to see in the flesh before committing ...
The Consumer Contracts Regulations mean you can. If you've bought something online or over the phone then you have at least seven days from your receipt of it to cancel the contract and send it back. Sometimes you may be liable for the return shipping cost, but if you will be then this needs to have been made clear in advance. If it wasn't then you aren't. Any shipping cost liability has to be compared with what it would have cost you (time and transport) to get to a shop, of course.

Those of us who were brought up not to 'mess traders about' might feel that it would be unreasonable to send something back because it turns out we just don't like it. The next generations, and the traders themselves it seems, regard it as perfectly normal though.

Cheers,

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Old 20th Feb 2020, 4:37 pm   #35
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

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Most radio rallies in the south east do not have main dealers anymore with the exception of Kempton.
Newark in my area (east midlands) has main dealers there.
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Old 21st Feb 2020, 1:52 am   #36
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

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I was just surprised, as this wasn't mentioned on the Audiojumble website. Anyone reading that would have no way of knowing that arriving around noon could prove disappointing. Apart from knowing when it starts from the 8a.m. high ticket price entry, there's no intimation that it's not available through the day as a general attraction.
The one that I took part in around 18 months ago was still very busy up until nearly the end so you were probably unlucky with this particular event. As Ted says, you can pick up some bargains if you wait until close to closing time - although in my case I ended up taking some stuff that I didn't want as well as the thing that I did want (but a few fellow forum members helped re-home some of it later).

It is a long day for the stallholders - I was picked up at 6am and the people I was helping started out quite a bit earlier.
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Old 21st Feb 2020, 9:46 am   #37
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Default Re: Audiojumble Sun 16th Feb

Holding a stall does indeed make for a long day.

We try to factor in the weather, traffic, plus level of interest (on-line) in the items we have for sale, against an asking price vs what we'll happily take.

We stay 'till the end, some items we put on the bring & buy table too. The bigger items have usually sold, by about lunchtime. We've had our fun with the items, and so long as travel & refreshments can be covered, it's been a good day and frees up space in the workshop.

A few more boxes of bits to sort, upload on this forum to (as Bill suggests) allow people to continue enjoying what they do. After these items have gone, our time selling will have neared its end.

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