Closure of Eileens Emporium

[gr.king]

2 hours ago, Buhar said:

 but the staff then advised that Large Letter postage should be paid to be "on the safe side."

 

Does the infamous phrase, slightly amended, "well they would say that, wouldn't they" apply?

[polybear]

7 hours ago, corneliuslundie said:

I looked at the link provided by Derek Russan. I really wonder who is going to bid for lots like those. Surely not a good way to get the best return for those owed money by the company. I can't see many individuals bidding for a lot. But not sure how else to deal with so much material.

Jonathan

 

I thought the same - plus there's also 20% commission to be paid on top of the hammer price, then a further 20% vat on top.  Then you have to collect - or arrange collection (and what about packing - I could see no mention of that service); also they charge storage after a certain period after the auction.  So I very much suspect that unless you're local or a business/club then not much help for the average modeller; the Lots don't help either - how many of us have a use for a box of thirty tubes of glue all the same, for example - they'd probably "go bad" long before we had a chance to use them.

Still, the Auction House wants the best return it can for the least amount of effort and aggro, which rules out Ebay etc.

 

 

 

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

I thought the same - plus there's also 20% commission to be paid on top of the hammer price, then a further 20% vat on top.  Then you have to collect - or arrange collection (and what about packing - I could see no mention of that service); also they charge storage after a certain period after the auction.  So I very much suspect that unless you're local or a business/club then not much help for the average modeller; the Lots don't help either - how many of us have a use for a box of thirty tubes of glue all the same, for example - they'd probably "go bad" long before we had a chance to use them.

Still, the Auction House wants the best return it can for the least amount of effort and aggro, which rules out Ebay etc.

 

 

 

 

To maximise the value of the stock would incur a lot more money in overheads. Selling lots in an auction already is a very expensive way of selling, you have stated that the auctioneers charge buyers 20% + VAT and they charge the same to sellers unless they offer bulk discounts. Quite a difference from the 3.25% (inc VAT)eBay charged me for selling a loco kit at the weekend, and folk on here moan about eBay fees !!

 

I looked at the lots and to be quite honest nothing took my fancy, no Proxon or electric tools from what I saw, or bulk materials I fancied. Perhaps if it was more local it might have been worth a punt, but having to take a day out to collect items is too much of a faff

[keysan]

21 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I've always found a letter with cheque effective.

You would like to thinks so. However, in need of a set of steps for a Hornby 08 and not having a cheque book I bought a friend a couple of pints and he kindly wrote me a cheque for the said sum which was posted with a covering letter. a few weeks later the cheque was returned in the post with a covering letter explaining that because the name on the cheque was different to my name (delivery address) the supplier did not wish to cash the cheque as I may be committing cheque book fraud. I tried to call the supplier, no answer! We then posted the cheque back to said supplier asking for the goods to be delivered to my friends house and included a copy of my friends council tax bill proving he lived there. 3 weeks later the cheque was retuned back to ME! stating that the cheque would have to be reissued because it was out of date! This had now become laughable down the pub! Step ladders £12,99 at B&Q!!! Hes put you on the naughty step! Eventually, I managed to speak to the supplier and pointed put that I had worked for Close Brothers Merchant Bank for 30 years and a cheque was valid for 6 months which the said supplier did not believe. I politely asked if we sent the cheque back would he please take it to his bank and point the date out to the cashier. 6 weeks later I finally received the steps with a letter explaining the postage delay due to having to wait for his statement to check the cheque had cleared. It took nearly 3 months for a part that cost less than a tenner. Never again!

 

 

[Compound2632]

6 minutes ago, keysan said:

Never again!

 

This all comes of not having your own cheque book.

[Crosland]

6 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

As I understand it, they're not. So if there's a widespread power outage and you have a medical emergency or a house fire, you've no means of calling the emergency services. Lack of joined-up thinking as usual.

 

Please someone do tell me I'm wrong!

As I understand there will be small UPS available for vulnerable people but they do not have a very long run time.

 

[keysan]

54 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

This all comes of not having your own cheque book.

Very true! Still not got one. I have problems finding my keys, wallet and phone! A cheque book and cheque card would be too much. Also, think I posted in the wrong topic. It was meant for  "Anyone Else Put Off Small Suppliers Who Don't Sell Online?"

[DaveF]

8 minutes ago, Crosland said:

As I understand there will be small UPS available for vulnerable people but they do not have a very long run time.

 

 

When storm Arwen hit Northumberland some people in more remote areas were without electricity for several days.  What will they be meant to do?

 

I understand that "questions have been asked". 

 

My own provider has stated that they have no intention of switching people to digital lines yet.

 

(Sorry to have gone further off topic)

 

Back to the topic - I've always understood that liquidators have a duty to obtain the best price to enable payments to creditors.  A public auction should avoid anyone being able to say things were sold too cheaply.

 

David

Edited March 21, 2023 by DaveF

[stewartingram]

11 hours ago, martin_wynne said:

 

Amazingly, it still works. Just plug it into your landline -- no batteries, no power supply needed.

 

But only for another 2 years. That system (the PSTN) is being closed down in 2025. Then it's everyone over to internet phones -- needing a power supply, emergency back-up batteries, ...

 

Martin.

I remember back in the 80s, I was involved with Police car radios (on their own radio system).

The radio was in 2 parts; the main part of the radio was in a box in the boot, and it had a 2nd box - a control panel - which fitted in the dash where the normal ("Jimmy Young" to us) radio would be. To switch the radio ON, you operated a simple switch. Just like turning a light on, no fancy electronics, that was it, SIMPLES as they say.

Then the new ones came in, still in 2 boxes. The control panel ran on a microprocessor ( ie a computer). You operated the switch; the processer started up & did its thing, and sent a signal to the box in the boot. That signal kicked the processor (another one) in the radio box into life, which in simple terms, told the radio to turn ON. Simple ?  (Not as simple as the old one!).

Isn't technology wonderful? All that complexity just to turn it on. Yes, the radio box had more channels etc, but it was over complicated especially in just switching ON.

[Michael Hodgson]

9 hours ago, Covkid said:

Besides, you would probably need to go to a post office to buy a stamp, stick it on your envelope. then try and find a letter box to post it. .

 

 

Go to the post office and buy your stamps now.  First & second class rates are about to go up from early next month.  But a stamp with "1st" or "2nd" printed on (with a bar code) will still be valid.  If you have a stamp already you only need to find a pillar box to post it in.  There's one at the end of my street, and a lot more more around the country than there are post offices.

[Michael Hodgson]

2 hours ago, keysan said:

Very true! Still not got one. I have problems finding my keys, wallet and phone! A cheque book and cheque card would be too much. Also, think I posted in the wrong topic. It was meant for  "Anyone Else Put Off Small Suppliers Who Don't Sell Online?"

Cheque guarantee cards no longer exist in this country. 

Anybody taking a cheque is essentially in the same position as he was before 1965 when they were first introduced.

Cheques can bounce

[Michael Hodgson]

9 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

 I've noticed no diminution in the number of post boxes over my lifetime, only in the frequency of collection.

It's not so much frequency of collection but timing of last collection.  Most of the pillar boxes round here, a while after they had been reduced to a single collection daily, got changed from around 5.00pm to 9.00 am (7.00 on Saturdays).  This is a statistical fudge enabling them to claim they are getting better at meeting targets for delivering more of the post next day.  The simple fact is that the letter post business is in terminal decline.

[Compound2632]

1 minute ago, Michael Hodgson said:

It's not so much frequency of collection but timing of last collection.  Most of the pillar boxes round here, a while after they had been reduced to a single collection daily, got changed from around 5.00pm to 9.00 am (7.00 on Saturdays).  This is a statistical fudge enabling them to claim they are getting better at meeting targets for delivering more of the post next day.  The simple fact is that the letter post business is in terminal decline.

 

5pm round here. But what's the problem? Unless you're posting first class (which usually means you're doing something late that you could have done earlier, so it's on you) or there are slugs in your post box, the time of the daily collection is irrelevant.

 

There are so many things that have to be delivered by post that decline cannot be terminal.

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, stewartingram said:

I remember back in the 80s, I was involved with Police car radios (on their own radio system).

The radio was in 2 parts; the main part of the radio was in a box in the boot, and it had a 2nd box - a control panel - which fitted in the dash where the normal ("Jimmy Young" to us) radio would be. To switch the radio ON, you operated a simple switch. Just like turning a light on, no fancy electronics, that was it, SIMPLES as they say.

 

I remember that.  Then you had to say "Zed Victor 1 to BD".

[Michael Hodgson]

1 minute ago, Compound2632 said:

 

There are so many things that have to be delivered by post that decline cannot be terminal.

They are not letters.  They are packets and parcels. 

And of course the Post Office has competition for those traffics.

[Compound2632]

1 minute ago, Michael Hodgson said:

They are not letters.  They are packets and parcels. 

And of course the Post Office has competition for those traffics.

 

I thought we were discussing letters to Alan Gibson, with cheques enclosed.

[Hal Nail]

22 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

This is a statistical fudge enabling them to claim they are getting better

I'm firmly of the opinion that when tasked with doing anything these days, all the effort goes into messaging success rather than actually doing anything to improve the problem.

[Jonboy]

22 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

5pm round here. But what's the problem? Unless you're posting first class (which usually means you're doing something late that you could have done earlier, so it's on you) or there are slugs in your post box, the time of the daily collection is irrelevant.

 

There are so many things that have to be delivered by post that decline cannot be terminal.

Previously I could receive something in the morning, deal with it and send a reply in the same days post for the next days arrival. Now the post has often been arriving at 7pm, and as late as 9pm** and collections are timed at 9am except for the central sorting office in town.

 

**admittedly over the last 4 weeks it has been back to around 11am

(When we bought a new house last year we had several first class letters from our solicitor take 5-6 days to travel 6 miles during the purchase process….)

[hayfield]

23 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

It's not so much frequency of collection but timing of last collection.  Most of the pillar boxes round here, a while after they had been reduced to a single collection daily, got changed from around 5.00pm to 9.00 am (7.00 on Saturdays).  This is a statistical fudge enabling them to claim they are getting better at meeting targets for delivering more of the post next day.  The simple fact is that the letter post business is in terminal decline.

 

If the Royal Mail depended on letters for income they would be bankrupt by now, Simply because we are not sending letters anymore

 

On Monday I posted 3 small parcels first class, all arrived on Tuesday (One was in Scotland !!) 

 

Our village Post Office sends many sacks a day, I have seen at times over a dozen sacks picked up at a time and they have several collections a day

 

 

[Guest WM183]

I missed the notice! Ack. Derek has always been first-class in my dealings with him. I am TRULY sad to see Eileen's close; they were willing to deal with the BS of shipping to me here in Holland, post Brexit, when many others no longer seem interested. I hope you all land on your feet. I wish now I'd bought a thousand pounds worth of sheet metals... 

Sigh. Sad times for scratchbuilders all around =(

[grt]

Cambrian Model Rail have bought the entire stock of straight wire from the Liquidators of Eileen's Emporium and it is now listed on our website at www.cambrianmodrlrail.co.uk. we also have the metal sheet and section but this is not listed yet. If you used to buy this from Eileen's then email us at cmr@cambrianmodelrail.co.uk. We also sell Gibson Wheels!

[Ray H]

29 minutes ago, grt said:

Cambrian Model Rail have bought the entire stock of straight wire from the Liquidators of Eileen's Emporium and it is now listed on our website at www.cambrianmodrlrail.co.uk. we also have the metal sheet and section but this is not listed yet. If you used to buy this from Eileen's then email us at cmr@cambrianmodelrail.co.uk. We also sell Gibson Wheels!

 

Is that a spelling mistake in the web address?

[jcredfer]

16 minutes ago, Ray H said:

 

Is that a spelling mistake in the web address?

Yes, and the full stop at the end of the sentence.

 

https://www.cambrianmodelrail.co.uk/  

 

Julian

Edited April 17, 2023 by jcredfer

[Bucoops]

On 17/04/2023 at 19:06, grt said:

Cambrian Model Rail have bought the entire stock of straight wire from the Liquidators of Eileen's Emporium and it is now listed on our website at www.cambrianmodrlrail.co.uk. we also have the metal sheet and section but this is not listed yet. If you used to buy this from Eileen's then email us at cmr@cambrianmodelrail.co.uk. We also sell Gibson Wheels!

 

Great service from Cambrian with some half-round which is now showing on their website - https://www.cambrianmodelrail.co.uk/store/Brass-Micro-section-c151558586

 

 

[multivac]

Elieen's Emporium had a range of useful etches (especially the two wire handrail bending jigs for example) does anyone know if they were picked up as a range?