EH / Collector Connector sales

[treefrog]

Patience is a virtue, Elephant site updated with start of catalogue.

I suspect Steve has been inundated with queries and interest by people to sell, judging by comments on forums and FB pages. Shame I will have no money to spend for either auction this year as gave up work over a year ago and permanently broke now

[bill gates]

Considering the EH will have hundreds of items to log, hundreds of emails to reply to etc I am sure this all takes considerable time and effort. Same goes for the Coventry auction I guess. Only a few more weeks until our favourite time of the year guys and gals.....

[coppinpr]

EH never did reply to emails..why would they start now

[bill gates]

I presumed they replied to Emails......obviously not then

[pennymachines]

I'll leave it in your more than capable hands from now on

Not at all - moderation hints are welcome. Sorry if I sounded bossy. I was trying to be informative but forgot to include a suitable emojie. This is how I really feel: Several mods are no longer active: watch out, your name's top of the shortlist.

[aristomatic]

No sorry required, didn't take any offense whatsoever Mr pm.

As I said, just jumping between different forums that's all with vastly different post and thread counts and didn't need input so in forum auto mode I suppose. Keep up all the good work you do. It's very much appreciated by all even if we don't necessarily voice that enough.

[badpenny]

Several mods are no longer active: watch out, your name's top of the shortlist.

Eh …. you mean there are others?

BP

[pennymachines]

There were six at one time, counting you and me. Now just the two of us.

[brianh]

Quite a few items added to EH auction site yesterday, some quite interesting - may have to go along but I suspect it could be a bit busy, being the first one for a long while

[scorpa163]

Very confused!
How does Steve get all these entries for his auctions, when he never answers his emails and his phone number on his website does not work.
I have been emailing him for 4 weeks, hoping to enter a Bally Fireball pinball machine in his auction. Has somebody got some way of contacting him?

[radiochrissie]

Thought he had a Jennings Governor light up, but think someone’s had some spare red paint.

[badpenny]

Just out of curiosity and because feedback is always good.
Why the fascination with The Elephant House?

The original Slot Auction is Coventry
It's been held there for over 12 years (somebody must know how long!!)
The same date every single year
The venue is bigger
It's in a warm comfortable environment
Proper toilets
There's a bar and hot food.
The free car park is right outside the door.
Vendors leave at the end of the day with the cash in their hands.
We answer emails
We average 150 -200 buyers

I am genuinely interested in knowing why it's not a no brainer to consider Coventry as a priority.
So what are we doing wrong?
If you prefer to pm me I'll guard your privacy, but it's getting harder and harder each year to capture the lots and complete all the hard work in time only to be constantly reading about the EH and how difficult it is to get lots accepted there.


So please spill the beans.

Jeremy

[ilovemyjukebox]

For me it’s the same thing that pops up everytime this subject comes up. I have been to my fair share of Coventry Auctions over the years and it’s the hanging around and waiting to pay after the auction that puts me off.

I’m aware of the counter argument of it being an opportunity to mingle and network and that it’s only once a year but I do travel a reasonable distance, don’t have lots of free time and I’m a miserable bast@rd.

I know this isn’t going to change and understand why it’s done this way etc. But you did ask.

[clubconsoles]

Well, Jeremy, since you asked I will give my tuppence worth.
I have no preference of either venue or event organizers.
For me, its all about the actual lots being offered.
I like bandits (mainly).
I think the main hysteria about EH is because it's been absent for so long due to Gloria's illness?
I agree, inclement weather makes for a pretty miserable auction as the doors are always open, but it still seems popular despite this!

[tdmnick]

Very confused!
How does Steve get all these entries for his auctions, when he never answers his emails and his phone number on his website does not work.
I have been emailing him for 4 weeks, hoping to enter a Bally Fireball pinball machine in his auction. Has somebody got some way of contacting him?

You're not the only one confused by that

Contact difficulties don't inspire confidence in me as a potential customer - certainly I would be hesitating before doing any absentee buying or selling.

[banditboy67]

Are these auctions cash only or can you do an electronic transfer on the day?

[badpenny]

Coventry is cash only, negating all risks to all people.

[longbobongo]

I've attended probably 7 out of the last 10 Coventry auctions. Reasons I haven't been:

As a previous poster had said it depends on what machines are on offer. This has only become an issue the last few years due to the dates clashing. If not I would attend anyway.

We all understand the reason for the location. Which is fine... even though it's a 3.5 hour drive. But.... does it have to be in November? Due to bad weather one year I decided not to go due to heavy rain windy... etc. Bring back the summer auctions. They were great.

Elephant House have a pretty decent website which they update often in the weeks coming up to an auction which I think produces more general chat discussion on here and Coventry goes quiet. Keeping on top of a website is a pain as I know. But people like to see what's coming to the market and prepare to attend the auction. Might be worth posting pictures of confirmed lots in the Coventry thread on here to create more decision and buzz if the website is a pain to update.

Both auctions are great. Different rules on paying, buying and removing lots but who cares - it's only a bit of a wait.

[slotsoffun]

I think the reason Steve does so well is he is totally tuned in to modern marketing techniques. His website gets updated regularly (especially the closer to auction day..sometimes adding stuff the night before!!!), he pushes messages thru Twitter and Facebook, has the YouTube channel. In this day and age most people live on smartphones, and like the push notifications.
Admittedly, this year has been a strange one for EH due to obvious reasons we all know about, so I can overlook the less "on the ball" for the coming auction.
Remember too with all the promotion through internet Steve did over the last few years he drew new blood in to the hobby, with new faces and younger blood.. something it needs!
I like the instant payment and leave without waiting til the end.

Have always tried to support both venues, and always attended Coventry in the early days.
Maybe drip feeding machine updates on the website would help, maybe leaving machine acceptance open until AFTER EH may encourage late entries. As we don't need catalogues now, print deadlines are now gone!

I'm sure both venues will be successful, but talking to many newbies they've all heard of EH, but very few even know about Coventry! Online Marketing is the key!

[badpenny]

All good stuff everybody, thanks for your input one and all.

BP