Vectis Toy Auctions Reviews 

IT team was great from start to finish extra help along the way from showing me how to bid (on the more confusing new site) to how to pay invoices. All my questions and answers have been answered almost immediately. One downside to the bushiness is the lack of knowledge the new catalogers have feels like a group of newly employed younger workers... how ever i still have had an enjoyable experience. I would of gave this a solid 3.5 how ever the IT guy really pulled it out the bag.

Caveat Emptor.
I won an auction from this site on 15th Feb 2024 and despite paying £17.95 + VAT they items did not arrive until 4th March 2024. They could have been sent RM 2nd class small parcel for £2.99. That's incredibly poor service.

Furthermore the items (Matchbox model kits) turned out to be largely junk. The auction stated "Not checked for completeness or correctness, and there is a possibility that some may or may not be partly built/started. Conditions generally appear Good". There was only one photo, which didn't suggest any issues with the contents.

When the items arrived they all had key large parts missing (the diorama bases in all cases). This should have been obvious to a company who are supposed to be vintage toy experts and definitely does not match the description of "Good".

I am bitterly disappointed with my first purchase from these people. I will have to exercise extreme caution in future and only rely on what I can see in the photos.

I am struggling to find positives, but the packaging was really good.

Follow up 8th April 2024.
I emailed Vectis admin on 7th March following their invite below, and chased on 18th March, but have heard absolutely nothing. My buyer number is C176398 and invoice number was SI108866, confirming that I am a Vectis customer.
My email said "I think given the state of the items that you should have used the description "Poor". They weren't checked in any meaningful way and calling them "Good" was misleading.

I could see the cosmetic condition, broadly, but I can cope with that. I refurbish them.

These items are largely worthless, once all the dioramas have been removed from every kit. I think that you should have noticed that with even a cursory look into at least one of the boxes. I thought that I was dealing with an internationally acknowledged vintage toy expert auctioneer.

You asked me to get back in touch, so I have.

I'd appreciate a conversation."

All the information I received, from the initial estimate to the advice of the result of the sale was clear and helpful.
All contact was very polite and friendly, always with the offer of further assistance if needed.
I was truly impressed by the photographs and descriptions of my items, truly a lot of effort went into it.

This was my first ever live auction experience. I purchased some items in a model railway sale in January, it's now been 3 weeks and I still haven't received my items yet. There was no indication of delivery time given, but for the amount charged I kind of expected next day or 48 hour service. So rather disappointed with the experience and has taken away some of the excitement of purchasing at an auction. After several e-mails I eventually got an answer to say my items would be dispatched in a few days and I'd receive a tracking number, but I'm still waiting for this. I get it that I'm not exactly buying from a large on-line retailer, but It could be made clearer that goods aren't dispatched for several weeks as I'm happy if there's an expectation set.

EDIT: About 10 mins after I originally posted, I received my items, with good attention to packaging. Thank you.

Pre-bidding condition reports and query's are dealt with very well as are phone calls. Online bidding via The Saleroom is easy and straight-forward and the packing of my items was superb although delivery (week & a half) is longer than I've experienced with other auction houses (3-4 days) but this could be due to higher turnover/staffing.
I would have given five stars but one small niggle is my Vectis account is still showing "your account is currently pending approval" despite making them aware of the issue.
Other than that a very good service and would use them again, happy to recommend Vectis.

Vectis are absolute stars! I first bought off them in 2023, I bid online and found the process really easy and the website easy to navigate. Their customer service is fantastic and the products they sell are phenomenal, certain Action Man pieces I have been looking for, for years!!

Tech department walked me through the new site with great patience and understanding towards my lack of computer knowledge. I couldn’t thank Jack enough great help and very knowledgeable

Excellent packaging service, very reasonable charge. Service much appreciated.

Won with a successful bid on a Lot in their
Specialist diecast toy auction on 9th, paid next day , and received superbly packed parcel today 19th January -Catalogue Description was spot on having bid on line.
Excellent despatch bearing in mind there were over 500 Lots auctioned on the day!
Philip Hill
Bearsted
Kent

I collect vintage diecast models - Corgi, Dinky and French Dinky. Vectis always has superb examples in its sales and the auctioneers are excellent too, and always interesting to watch. And for any lots that I do win, they may be slightly slow in being sent (likely due to the volume of sales Vectis has from its many auctions each month) but they are always expertly and securely packaged.

Omg I buy from so many auction sites but this beats them all! Super quick to respond to any communication in a format. The staff … wow just wow! All so friendly and helpful… from the reception right through to the girls in the loading bay … blown away each and every time I go!

Excellent auction house. Accurate descriptions and much improved delivery service.Highly recommended

17 month delay in putting items into an auction. Despite chasing them up every few months , we received the same excuse time and time again - we have a back log of auction items.
This company should be reported to trading standards.
It is my opinion that they are only interested in putting high value items quickly into auction.
We will NEVER use Vectis again. I would rather give the items to charity rather than let this shambolic company fob me off, time and time again.

Beautiful bears. Great communication. Very fast delivery. Very grateful and pleased. Many Thanks!

In March I sent several items to appear in the Doll and Teddy bear auctions. Despite chasing on a monthly basis as to whether the items were received this has never been confirmed and the items never go in to auction. I am constantly promised they will go in and never do. I now assume they are lost or misplaced and I have lost several hundred pounds of bears. I am beyond angry and frustrated. I have used Vectis a lot but I have no confidence in them. UPDATE The items are definitely considered lost so I have now been offered compensation. A sum was agreed but amount paid was less than agreed so I am now chasing the full amount. Further update: now promised due to error the missing amount. Awaiting receipt at the moment.

I have won lots at the last three vinyl / music auctions and each time the service has been fantastic. This time I had the records posted and they arrived just a couple of days after the auction date. Most auction houses take a fortnight. On the previous occasions I had collected and staff were courteous and super helpful; even when I had to cancel they held on to the records for me without any hassle.

I recently spent a great deal of money in their recent doll/toy auction after having bought from them many times in the past. Suffice to say they obviously do not check the items in their sale and their listings in this case have turned out to have wildely innacurate descriptions. I do believe that it was actually dishonesty on the sellers part, as flaws, damage etc was not pointed out and in many cases masked. However I think the auction house bears some responsibility, items should be checked thoroughly themselves before describing conditions that are not accurate. The whole thing has put me off buying from any auction house in the future as I feel too much disonesty is involved.

I used saleroom to bid on today's auction lot 407.
It showed that I was winning the bid but did not get put forward and they accepted the lower bid on there own vectis live. The time the auctioneer was taking allowed me to take a screen shot. I contacted vectis and they basically said hard luck.
The vendor has lost out ,I have lost out vectis not bothered .
Having read your reply I think I should remind you that during our conversation I said that my bid was in plenty of time and hearing the auctioneer asking for any more bids and not accepting my bid I took a screen shot of the Internet bid showing mine as a leading bid I sent a picture of this as requested and you seem to have disregard .
I appreciate that nothing will be done to turn things around but I will not accept that you are implying I did not bid in time, the auctioneer was giving ample opportunity for further bids which I did vectis live was £45 I bid £50 and it was at least 30 seconds or more before the hammer went down I could see there was a problem that my bid was not accepted although showing green and leading and I had time to take the screen shot .

I used Vectis for the first time this week (28th) on an INTERNET ONLY auction. I placed my bids via the Vectis website. What I could not understand is that the auctioneer kept saying "with you in the room" which begs the question is it online or in the room or both as seemed to be the case as there were obviously people bidding in the room? If so why state 'online only' if you can still bid in the room? I Didn't understand that I must admit but as I say I am new to VECTIS.

I see a lot of reviews about 'hidden' charges but I read the terms in full before bidding so was aware of them. Basically you need to add 26% (commission and VAT) to your hammer price so bear this in mind.

Only ever using eBay before where one is NOT charged commission for purchases on auctions (only sales) I was very surprised to see how high said commission charges are on top of the hammer price at Vectis. So the 'House' wins charging both the seller and the buyer. This business model would go down well in Las Vegas!!

With the charges being so high I am not sure I would use this format to extend my collection in the future but I am aware of said charges now so would need to bear that in mind. Vectis is not the only auction house to charge the buyer as well as the seller so as long as you go into the experience with "I need to add 26%" on to my top bid price" you will be OK.

I see a lot of people complaining about postal charges and delays but as I live within driving distance this is not an issue for me personally. Again, postal charges need to be taken into account if you cannot collect your items.

All in all it was a good experience.... as long as you are prepared to add 26% commission and VAT to your buys.

I am collecting the lots next week so hopefully it will go without a hitch.

My emails have been responded to very quickly. Thank you.

Very professional auction house, lots clearly explained, kept updated at all times and packaged very securely.