Gavin Chester

Posted by Jon - Laser Engines on 02/07/2019 19:50:30: To help out with identifying plain box kits perhaps print off an A4 sheet with large block text saying what it is. These can be taped to boxes and only need to contain basic information, just enough to catch the eye. All i think it would need to say was the name of the model, its size, an perhaps the manufacturer? These should be quite visible at a distance i would think If you go on the W&W site under Bring & Buy there is a template for people to do just that, but many people don't and wonder why the anonymous brown box with no idea what is in it has not sold. A lot of the time its the memory of the staff that means we know what is or is not on sale...

Posted by martin collins 1 on 02/07/2019 18:31:52: I agree re prices Gavin, i bought a model from the B&B, the guy had his number on it so i called him, negotiated a price then gave the phone to one of your guys who was told the agreed price, i was happy, the vendor was happy and presumably so were you guys. Logistically that's quite hard when you have almost 1000 items to manage, and there are data protection issues leaving peoples numbers on display or giving them away. We also need to try and prevent someone leaving something in the B&B with a number on it all weekend so we are advertising it, and then they withdraw it and sell it outside the B&B so avoiding paying commission. We don't see much of the show as we are working, and the money raised goes towards out flying field costs for the year. I don't know the answer, but I can pass idea on.

Posted by Jon - Laser Engines on 01/07/2019 16:19:23: The bring and buy is always full of optimists. Ebay and BMFA are often the same way, we all want top dollar when selling and to pay pennies when buying Again, speaking as someone on the B&B, it never ceases to surprise us that people ask for. The pricing varies from silly cheap to wildly optimistic. But remember we don't set the prices,and often the optimistic seller will take a look at what other similar model/gear/stuff is priced at in the B&B and come back to make a reduction if they don't want to go home with the model.

Posted by martin collins 1 on 01/07/2019 16:46:01: Constructive comment re the bring and buy, the kits on offer were all just laid flat on the ground and at a distance that no one could see what was there. They really want a standing on their side so you can see the box and the second row wants putting on trestle tables so you can see them over the first row. Not difficult i would have thought? As someone who was working on the Bring and Buy I entirely agree. However there are a few problems with that idea. First we never get enough tables/ benches as it is, we ask for a set number, and when we arrived for setup Friday found we had less than half the number of tables that we had asked for. The W&W Organisers were on the ball and found some more but we still were a little less than we wanted. Another issue is the wind and the conditions that kits may arrive in. Often boxes have been opened, contents examined and then re-packed, sometimes the kits may have been left somewhere that not quite cool and dry, and as a result the repacked model or the box may not be as "square" and sharp as when it was new. Sometimes we cant get them to stand up, This is also often seen in way we can display stuff in the marquee too Add to that the same wind pilots had issues with and boxes get blow over, we have tried to display them better in the past, but putting boxes on table could be a risk that they may be blown and fall off and that means possible risk to the contents or the box, and thats something we try and avoid. Many kit makers often use "generic" plain boxes for kits with the description/ jmage on A4 type labels, rather than full colour boxes that you may get with a larger scale manufacturer, so yes its hard to see whats on them, I'm not sure how we can remedy that. However your right, and its nice to get feedback, and I'll pass it back to see what we can do next year.