[QuadList] The demise of Vidipax

[C. Park Seward]

I tried to bid on some items but we all had problems.

The Internet connection didn't  work until about an hour and a half  
after the auction was to start. And it did go down during the auction.

I agree with the problem of grouping lots. I had to worry about  
shipping so I didn't want to buy a large group of stuff I  had to pay  
someone to pack and ship. Many items might have gotten higher bids if  
they were sold in the lots they advertised in the catalogue. For  
example, I wanted the 3M dropout compensator but it was placed in a  
large group. The funny thing is I bet the purchaser of that lot  
probably doesn't even want the DOC!

They grouped all the refurbished video quad heads in a large group for  
different machines. I just wanted one for a 1200.

I'm sure the auction proceeds were a disappointment to the owners.  
Pennies on the dollar. The auction was rushed. You had to be quick to  
even bid on an item.

If I had been in NY, I'm sure I would have bought many items at those  
prices. The pack and ship was the deal breaker for me. It's much  
better when you can attend in person and carry the stuff out.

My company did an auction when we closed down. Most of the expensive  
items were already sold and the company came in to selloff the  
remaining items. It was painful to see video items that just a few  
years previously were very expensive now going for cheap. There is  
nothing the owners can do during an auction. Before it starts you can  
place a limit to how low the price can go but once it starts, you just  
watch. I did have a total minimum amount guaranteed from the proceeds  
so I was covered.

But that happens at an auction. At a Hollywood auction recently, I got  
an Axial editor for $30. They sold in the $50k range when new. One  
great deal was 25 test charts, brand new, I got for $25. I sold each  
one on ebay for $35 each. A good return on investment!

Best,
Park

C. Park Seward
Visit us: http://www.videopark.com




On Oct 13, 2009, at 11:51 PM, Preservation wrote:

> Hi All
>
> I was one of the few to attend the Vidipax auction in person (there  
> were around 4 bidders in the room), though I recognized a few  
> QuadList and OldVTR folks who were bidding on line. They were piping  
> you into the room every once and a while.
>
> For those of you who weren't there, it was something of a bloodbath.  
> The auctioneers were in a rush to get out of there, going through  
> something like 1000 lots in 3-4 hours. I've been to quite a few  
> audio/video auctions and that many lots usually go well into the  
> evening. They lost the internet feed about an hour in and I suspect  
> not everyone was able to get back on. There were very few bidders,
>
> If there was no interest in an item it was grouped with the  
> following items on the page(s) as a single lot, without any logic.  
> Let's say I wanted item 71. I might have to bid on 60-79 for one  
> money to get it. I wanted the RTI 1" cleaner, but had to take the  
> VPR-1 (SMPTE A) console, 5 Mark III Scan Tubes, 3 AVR-2 capstan  
> motors, plus a bunch of other stuff.
>
> Some examples of prices: An Adrenaline Suite went for $1000, DaVinci  
> Suite for $1750, working Mark III for $100. I got a Thomson DigiBeta  
> for around 4K but had to take a D-2 and a DVCAM deck as well. Got  
> the repair room for $100, which had a lot of gear in it that had  
> been fixed but not put back into service, I work with smaller  
> formats, esp EIAJ and U-matic, so I filled a storage space with that  
> alone mainly for parts.  Don't think the Quads got any bids, but  
> deals may have been made after the fact.
>
> Didn't seem like anyone from Vidipax was in attendance to protect  
> their interests, though they pulled some items after the fact.  
> including the Mac and Aja card I thought I won.
>
> Went back after the ridiculously short time for load-out to pick up  
> some of the stuff I had the building staff stash for me, since we  
> couldn't fit it on the truck even after 6 trips. The owner came down  
> and started harassing me, accusing me of stealing her garbage. As if  
> she didn't have more important things to worry about. Sad.
>
> Oh yeah, at least 3 large dumpsters were filled with whatever was  
> left, including working machines, parts, ephemera, and client tapes.  
> I just hope they did their due diligence when it came to client  
> materials.
>
> Anyway, we're still sorting out what we actually got and what we're  
> going to keep. There are a number of items that I'm sure would be of  
> interest to folks here that I will be unloading. Once I get an  
> inventory I'll pass it along, before it goes on ebay. Feel free to  
> let me know if there's anything specific you need.I suspect anyone  
> else who bid is in a similar situation, so perhaps there may be some  
> trading opportunities.
>
> Best
>
> Bill Seery
> preservation at standby.org
>
> PS  One sad thing(apart from their staff being unemployed, some  
> after 20 years)......the website including the museum, which I have  
> found to be a good resource for info seems to be down. Hope someone  
> had the good sense to copy it or back it up.
>
>
>
>
>
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