Coming to Stout Auctions February 15 /16, 2019 - Modern, Prewar, and Postwar Toy Trains - New flip through catalogs inside!

@Stout Auctions this is great, but even in the full-screen view, the pictures are kind of small; at least half the page is taken up by a little bit of text.  Any chance the next issue could be re-formatted with larger pictures, smaller text, and less white space?  I would think that most of your potential bidders are familiar with what they're looking at (and ctrl-F is always good for finding something specific.)  It's the pictures which confer condition of the item, and in many cases that will determine whether an online buyer is going to get involved.  Thanks!!

@Ted S  We agree. The good news is that the flip catalog software is large photo friendly, however the software that creates our catalogs is not. If this format continues to gain traction we will start to explore some solutions that might work better for a larger photo output. Thanks for taking a look.

I like it - Thank you 👍🏼

I agree, large photos and less text.

This website is dangerous.  Won one of hot waters engines last year and just placed a bid on two items for the February 15 auction.

Just so everyone reading knows by following THIS LINK, you will be taken to our full online site with all the lots listed for each day with large and multiple views of each item shown in the flip catalogs. We will of course continue to improve the flip catalogs, but we wanted you to know that there are larger photos available. 

This is an example of why Stout is THE premier auction house. No place else has this kind of information available.

Love these guys!! Because of them I cannot afford to retire!!!

Is Stout Auctions still holding auctions on eBay ?    j

WOW, A lot of nice pre & postwar stuff.

JohnActon posted:

Is Stout Auctions still holding auctions on eBay ?    j

That's a good question. To give you a short answer with some explanation, the answer is no.

Invaluable which is the company that we partner with to host our online bidding had the contract with Ebay to port our auctions into the Ebay system. Ebay quickly realized that the auction houses ( us included ) were generating higher prices during live auctions than they were on Ebay. During the first year of the contract until Ebay changed the coding, Stout Auctions led almost 90% of the front page of the high priced Lionel sold. This was happening with many other auction houses as well such as Sotheby's, who used Invaluable for the same reasons we do. When the time came to renew the contract, Ebay walked away from the partnership which is why we no longer participate there. 

And the layout is weird pushing the text off and making the associated price estimates hard to understand the further you go into the book

Is this new Stout Auctions web site going have a shipping calculator so potential bidders can get estimates before the auction begins or are bidders to roll the dice on what shipping costs will be ?          j

Never having done an online auction, does anyone know if those items listed as a lot that includes 8 to 12 items are sold as a lot or price of one car multiplied by the number of cars in the lot?

Also, is there a buyers premium and packing charge for items to be shipped?

I looked and could to find any of that type of information!

I was always able to beat live auction prices for items plus shipping and buyer premium with standard eBay auctions.  Not to mention eBay gives you some indication of what shipping will be before you place your bid.  One thing I noticed was that live auction buyers left far more negative feedback than standard eBay auction format buyers did.  If your children are selling off your collection perhaps the live auction format may bring them more reasons to remember "Good Ole Dad".            j 

JohnActon posted:

Is this new Stout Auctions web site going have a shipping calculator so potential bidders can get estimates before the auction begins or are bidders to roll the dice on what shipping costs will be ?          j

Hi John, 

No we will not be adding a shipping calculator. What I can tell you though about our shipping process is that we charge actual UPS rates plus the cost of materials used to pack your shipment. Every shipment uses brand new boxes, packing peanuts, and foam wrap with the exception of the modern trains that retain their factory master shipping cartons. Because we can pack multiple items in a lot, it is nearly impossible to pre-calculate shipping costs, especially when buying multiple items. 

Also if you would like to read the basic terms of our auctions they can be read here. You will also have a chance to review them when you register to bid, etc. 

Hi.  Yesterday I registered to bid on the site.  I never got an email confirmation for my registration, but my username and password work and I can log into my account.  I placed a bid for an item, but it still shows as pending and is not listed in the bid history for the item.  Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks,

Bill

Bossman284 posted:

Hi.  Yesterday I registered to bid on the site.  I never got an email confirmation for my registration, but my username and password work and I can log into my account.  I placed a bid for an item, but it still shows as pending and is not listed in the bid history for the item.  Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks,

Bill

Hi Bill, 

In order to prevent bid fraud we manually approve our bidders. Usually we check on this once a day. If you're not approved by the end of the day drop us a line at info@stoutauctions.com and we'll get you taken care of. Thanks and we look forward to having you bid with us.

Bossman284 posted:

Hi.  Yesterday I registered to bid on the site.  I never got an email confirmation for my registration, but my username and password work and I can log into my account.  I placed a bid for an item, but it still shows as pending and is not listed in the bid history for the item.  Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks,

Bill

Same here. I'm guessing this is normal for newly registered folks? But hopefully Stout will weigh-in as they seem to be watching this thread.

And there you go!

johnstrains posted:

Bossman284 posted:

Hi.  Yesterday I registered to bid on the site.  I never got an email confirmation for my registration, but my username and password work and I can log into my account.  I placed a bid for an item, but it still shows as pending and is not listed in the bid history for the item.  Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks,

Bill

Same here. I'm guessing this is normal for newly registered folks? But hopefully Stout will weigh-in as they seem to be watching this thread.

That's how it works, your bid will be reviewed and approved sooner or later.

Will we be able to bid live on Friday as the auction is taking place 

As the years pass, there will be more and more Auctions guaranteed, and the trains will get cheaper & cheaper, except maybe very rare, & items in near new, or new condition with boxes. Like right now there are the boxes to a 700E (dakotapaul) biding is over $2,000.

Just a friendly reminder that our auction is this Friday and Saturday. You still have a few days to look over the catalogs and place absentee bids. You will be able to bid real time during the sale on Friday and Saturday, but you must be registered and approved in advance. 

Thanks!

The Stout Auctions Team

Thanks for the response about the live bidding 

Just a reminder that tonight is the last night for absentee bidding. To be safe you should have your absentee bids entered before 9AM Eastern time tomorrow morning. The auction will start live at 10 AM. You can watch for free without being registered at Stoutauctions.com. You need to be pre-registered to participate. Suzanne our office manager will be out of the office this morning, so it may be later this afternoon before we process approvals. 

Thanks and we hope to have you join us tomorrow and Saturday!

Just wondering how long it takes to receive an invoice?

Ditto.

I won an item on the last auction, still haven't received the invoice.  I called the customer service number, couldn't leave a message, mailbox was full.  This happened last year on another Stout auction.  I never received a invoice or a call as to why..

I won an item on the first day of the auction; my invoice arrived yesterday.

Pingman posted:

I won an item on the first day of the auction; my invoice arrived yesterday.

Email? Snail mail?

I got invoice by Email yesterday for last weeks auction.

johnstrains posted:

Pingman posted:

I won an item on the first day of the auction; my invoice arrived yesterday.

Email? Snail mail?

email.

FrankRazz posted:

I won an item on the last auction, still haven't received the invoice.  I called the customer service number, couldn't leave a message, mailbox was full.  This happened last year on another Stout auction.  I never received a invoice or a call as to why..

 

They did the same with me. When I log into my Stout account it shows I won the item and "processing invoice"...that was from Nov. 30, 2018. I called after Christmas and was told item sold on the floor for $50 more after the online bidding was closed.

FrankRazz posted:

I won an item on the last auction, still haven't received the invoice.  I called the customer service number, couldn't leave a message, mailbox was full.  This happened last year on another Stout auction.  I never received a invoice or a call as to why..

 

They had 2 large auctions in 2 days.  Probably just normal processing time.  I've won a couple of items in previous auctions, and it has taken a week or two.

Don’t rush it, it takes them time, these were very large auctions.

Just to follow up on a few points since the auction. 

Normal processing time for invoices usually is as short as a week and as long as two and a half. The reason why is that we pack all items to get an exact shipping cost before we send you an invoice. We could speed it up by rough estimating the shipping however this leads to either under or over estimate shipping costs which really does not benefit either us or you as the customer. 

As to the folks that did not receive invoices, we make no less than four attempts in the month after the auction to send you an invoice, follow up twice via email, and as a last resort call at least once if not twice. We want to close out sales and get things to their new owners as much as you want to receive them. If you have not heard from us in three weeks there is no harm in calling us to see where things are at in the process. 

Thanks, 

The Stout Auctions Team