Vintage Radios Online Auction 13 November 2025

[60136 Alcazar]

Another large collection: plastic, bakelite and woodies, valve testers, etc. arranged in lots along the lines of "if you want one, take ten"...

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/great-...tions-ltd/catalogue-id-srgreat10232

Great Western Auctions despite the name is in Glasgow!

[Dave Moll]

I see that yet again Great Western Auctions have grouped over 200 items* into just 36 lots, really making bidding worthwhile only to those intending to sell items onwards.

*At a rough estimate.

[Nickthedentist]

That's a great shame for the likes of you and me, but maybe the only way that this kind of auction is financially feasible in 2025.

[Paul_RK]

Originally Posted by Nickthedentist

That's a great shame for the likes of you and me, but maybe the only way that this kind of auction is financially feasible in 2025.

I don't know, the sales of David Saunders' collection at Fakenham seemed to go well enough early this year... not sure whether I or anyone else would have been prepared to bid for valve radios ten or more at a time. These aren't in nearly such good condition of course, but there are several fairly covetable sets in among the large assorted lots, for instance a Murphy A3 or A3A in lot 6024 and an Ekco SGP3 or similar

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/ekco_ekcolectric_sgp3_sgp_3.html

in 6025.

Paul

[David G4EBT]

Originally Posted by Dave Moll

I see that yet again Great Western Auctions have grouped over 200 items* into just 36 lots, really making bidding worthwhile only to those intending to sell items onwards.

*At a rough estimate.

It's worth mentioning that Auction Houses act solely in the interests of their sellers, taking no account of buyers.

From the terms and conditions:

Quote:

20. Agency: Great Western Auctions act as agents solely for and in the interests of the Seller.
We do not act for Buyers in this role and do not give advice to Buyers.

Unquote.

As to 'making a bid only being worthwhile to those intending to sell on' most buyers at most auctions - whether its antiques, jewellery, 'collectibles' or whatever - are traders whose only interests in any goods is in their judgement as to whether they can turn a profit. In this sale, there are so many items that to list them in smaller numbers - say lots of five rather than twenty, drags out the sale for both the auctioneers and bidders, most of whom will bid online, may have to travel some distance, and will want to collect a vanload or trailer load.

If any enthusiasts rather than traders are interested in any of the lots - the Round Ekcos, 'Peoples' Set' etc, bear in mind that:

(5) Electrical Goods: are sold as “works of art” only and if bought for use must be checked over for compliance with safety regulations by a qualified electrician first. Use of such goods is entirely at the risk of the Buyer and no warranties as to safety of the goods are given by Great Western Auctions. Please note: No condition reports or postage are available for this lot, or any lot in this sale.

So unless the interested party is prepared to visit and inspect, they won't know whether there are any cracks, or whether the radio has a back panel or valves. Likewise, even if you attend the auction and something looks cosmetically good - lot 6010 for example - Taylor 45D Valve tester - they won't know if the meter, the mains transformer or roller switches are functional, and whether it comes with the switch-setting manual.

But if you really wanted it, you could outbid any trader as you don't need to turn a profit.

Price wise, after the auction when we view the results, bear in mind that 34.8% buyers’ premium and VAT is added to the 'hammer price'. Hence, a collectable radio with a hammer price of £500 will attract an additional £174 in fees, and at £674 might not seem such a bargain.

There are additional costs for online bidding too:

ONLINE BIDDING:
• Register or Sign in to My Great Western Auctions account to submit absentee bids online (no surcharge) or bid live online through Great Western Auctions Live Bidding, (a surcharge of 2.5% of the hammer price in addition to the standard buyer's premium will be payable to easyliveAuction.com).

• Bid live on www.easyliveAuction.com (a 3% surcharge of the hammer price or a £3 flat fee per auction in addition to the standard buyer's premium will be payable to www.easyliveAuction.com).

• Register to bid live through www.the-saleroom.com (a 5% surcharge + VAT of the hammer price in addition to the standard buyer's premium will be payable to www.the-saleroom.com).

If you bid remotely, you can only pay by bank transfer - no debit/credit cards, cheque, cash or PayPal:

PAYMENT:
• Payment is accepted by bank transfer.

• Debit/credit cards are only accepted when the card holder is present at the time of payment.
• Please note we do not accept cash, cheques or payment for lots with debit or credit card over the phone, Paypal or provide an online payment link.

COLLECTIONS: All goods must be removed from the saleroom immediately or by arrangement within two days from the sale.

Shipping: All lots in this sale must be collected.

Th bottom line is that if potential bidders live close enough to be able to visit the auction to view, inspect bid and collect, really, it's a non runner. Or so it seems to me. Always interesting to see the end result though.

Once more, assuming these are part of the estate of someone who has passed on, I'm just nonplussed as to who amasses such an agglomeration of equipment and to what end, but they keep popping up. Each time I see one, it prompts me to make another trip to the tip!

[radioman]

The sale prices make for interesting reading...
https://www.greatwesternauctions.com/catalogue/f928eede7b4f3...6f5ae3773f46ee09093/vintage-radios/

[Paul_RK]

Originally Posted by David G4EBT

It's worth mentioning that Auction Houses act solely in the interests of their sellers, taking no account of buyers.

Presumably it wasn't the intention, but selling 190 radios in a total of 7 lots for £95, including many assorted valve portables (at least six Pye P131MBQs), many Hackers, a couple of KB FB10s etc., etc.. seems to have worked primarily in the interests of dealers. It certainly won't have done much for the sellers compared with listing some of the more presentable/interesting sets individually and others in lots of say three or four here, seven or eight there: unless Glasgow is just a far harder place to sell radios than Fakenham proved to be a few months ago.

[G6Tanuki]

Given the prices the 'generic' lots went for, if there was something that you liked the look of, it would have been worth bidding on the lot and keeping the one you wanted then breaking the remainder for spares.

Even if you were to fork out £25 on a lot and get the one you wanted plus a fistful of UL41s and UL84s in unknown but probably still-usable condition, you would still come out on top.

Having seen the prices old broadcast-radios go for in the various BVWS auctions I really think the market for generic old broadcast radios has imploded.

[Paul_RK]

Originally Posted by G6Tanuki

Having seen the prices old broadcast-radios go for in the various BVWS auctions I really think the market for generic old broadcast radios has imploded.

Maybe BVWS meeting goers are ahead of the curve on this, or maybe as a body they've almost all quite as many mediocre radios as they want or can accommodate already. The occasional old radio turns up in the weekly general auction here: the most recent I remember, about a month ago, was an HMV 1373, cheap and cheerful little late '50s MW/LW set in bakelite case with scruffy paintwork: hammer price £22, £27.50 with buyer's premium.

[David G4EBT]

Originally Posted by Paul_RK

Presumably it wasn't the intention, but selling 190 radios in a total of 7 lots for £95, including many assorted valve portables (at least six Pye P131MBQs), many Hackers, a couple of KB FB10s etc., etc.. seems to have worked primarily in the interests of dealers. It certainly won't have done much for the sellers compared with listing some of the more presentable/interesting sets individually and others in lots of say three or four here, seven or eight there: unless Glasgow is just a far harder place to sell radios than Fakenham proved to be a few months ago.

We can only second guess why so many radios, items of test gear, record players etc came to be in the sale.

I could be mistaken, but my guess that as we've seen before, it's from the estate of a deceased 'hoarder' who might well have had a house full of other non-radio stuff - maybe storage containers too, amassed over many years. That's not intended as disrespect for such individuals, more a fact of life. In such cases, the executors of the estate will have a lot on their hands to clear the deceased's effect and to clear the property and make it presentable enough to put on the market.

In such cases, time is of the essence - not maximising the value of the items.

Bearing in mind that this auction was open for live online bidding to a far wider range of potential buyers than BVWS auctions, (all of which are for members only, and unless online, will only attract a handful of bidders in the room), the prices attained reflects the current state of the market. Even single radios is this auction went for much lower than we might have predicted. For example lot 6000 - 'People's Set 333', hammer price £50, Lot 6001: Ekco AD75, hammer price £160.

I was surprised to see the hammer price of £600 for lot 6017 - valves, (some boxed, some not). Likewise, the other two valve lots - 6006 and 6007 reached well above the estimate. Maybe there were some sought after audio valves in there, which nowadays tend to attain the highest prices, but similar lots at BVWS auctions would struggle to make a third of those prices.

Looking at most of the lots, apart from the three valves testers, the hammer prices were quite close to the estimates, so maybe the auction house has a better grip on the market than do we? Whilst there might be a small but declining market for the more attractive Bakelite radios, I'm not sure who these days would buy 'attache case' battery valve radios so I'm not surprised even though those lots had low estimates, they went for next to nothing. The dealers, who probably bought most of the lots, will have a good grasp of what they might be able to shift on and turn a profit.

Just my take on things.

[60136 Alcazar]

Yes, David, I suspect that certainly 'my' world of open fires, toasting forks and mechanical clocks seems to have gone away without me!
People these days seem amazed that any or 'our' stuff can still work, given that it is universally more than 3 years old, and aren't inclined to spend time adjusting, tuning or servicing - so they save the time and fill it instead with ephemeral activity.
I read an article recently which referred to radio broadcast almost incredulously in terms of "The signals it broadcasts can be sent without the internet or satellite". I want one of those!
Sadly these radios, that we all have, are seen nowadays merely as decor.

[G6Tanuki]

All things considered, if these old radios have gone on to live another day rather than being lobbed into a skip as part of "clearing uncle Albert's house so we can put it on the market before we get stuffed by inheritance tax and probate" then I don't see a problem.

Sellers realised some return, auctioneers got their cut, and the eBay resellers will now be faced with actually making a profit on their up_front spend.

[Nickthedentist]

Agree with that, G6.