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Been waiting ages for this Meconopsis to flower.

It's a riot of colour really early this year.

Here you go - 1985 first. Also showing the listings of both.

C'mon, just a bit more.

Not if it is shilled. I've lost count of the number of second offers I have had on pricier (and cheaper) items. The number of people who it is claimed haven't paid when I have come second seems far in excess of the percentage of buyers who haven't paid me for items won.

I've recently come to the conclusion that Trump is not a full deck of cards mentally.

Constantly hassled by a robin we've been training.

sorted out the patio seating area finally- wife very happy. Found a nice place for some stained glass panels.

Thanks for all the input everyone. I actually made a mistake in my table of figures when adding £31.29 to £12. It should of course have been £43.29 not £41.29. This figure of £43.29 is what Fedex has invoiced me for. I may use that letter to challenge the £12 advancement fee Mike. There was no reference to VAT on the SB invoice, it did say 'Tax $0.00'. There seems to be a consensus that the VAT rate should be 5%, not 20%. May I ask if anyone can point me at a government webpage which says this please? I could then perhaps dispute the advancement fee and the VAT rate within the same letter to Fedex, If not successful there then I can try Customs and Excise. Sorry if a bit incoherent, been in the garden drinking wine!

I was following Lockdales sale today and couldn't believe the prices paid for some of the bulk lots. Blue proof sets working out at £24 a pop delivered, or the early sets at over £13 each. Who is paying this much for them? If for resale, where are they selling them? Who is buying them at an even higher price? And finally, please could I have their address because I can't sell them for £25-30 each, nor much over £10 for the early sets, and that's on a good day. Prices seemed to be at or above retail for everything. e.g. A gVF Cnut PH penny of Stamford at £360 hammer! People have too much money, or maybe someone just wanted to pay extra for the crack.

It looks clear to me. There's the sum payable to SB which is £184.55, then there is the FEDEX bit which is VAT on the SB total less the wire costs leaving a net £156.49. Then the import VAT is due plus their handling fee of £12. The only debatable point is the rate of VAT applied, but something extra is payable because the SB bit of the invoice doesn't have an import VAT component. If you buy from CNG then you pay the import VAT at the time you settle up leaving nothing else to pay. This might be because they have a London office and UK bank account, so do all the VAT accounting through it. I presume they import a number of lots on the same consignment and settle up the VAT that way. Saves a lot of hassle.

Pm sent. Jerry

The whole coin is decent - we all make allowances for H & KN pennies with worn hair detail. You should see my EF+ 1919H - no hair detail at all!

I agree using Ebay as an advertising means, then stopping the show to sell direct is immoral - I don't do that and I get as frustrated as any other buyer when sellers do that with items I have been watching. When I sell at auction, I would not end an item early because a regular visitor had offered me a price for it. When I list at auction it is because I do not know really how high it will go, and so I like to let it run and find out. If I have things at BIN and a visitor is prepared to buy it at that price, then I am happy to end the item and sell it to him. When I auction things I do get people asking for a BIN price. Occasionally, if it is really generous, I may accept, but more usually I tell them just to bid like everyone else. If I do decide to take their offer, I do it through Ebay.

I think we have all missed out on a withdrawn piece at some time on eBay, as it's something that has always happened and is quite frustrating. Having said that, the near complete absence of competitive bidding with items frequently selling for opening bids is a huge part of the problem. As nice as it might be to let the market find its own level, it is fair to say that the platform is too congested to give widespread exposure and hence generate interest in a particular item. If someone then makes an offer that is acceptable, the only issue is a moral one. You might test the water every so often by listing an item with a value higher than a £1 starting price, but if the result is a say £30 coin going for a quid every time, it isn't surprising that people take things down having received an offer. The alternative is to list things at a starting price you are willing to sell at. Then you have a guarantee of no competitive bidding, leading to perpetual re-listings because eventually someone will buy it if the price is within reason. If ebay had a facility to make a higher offer on items starting at a quid just as they do a lower one for a BIN, then there could be no complaints. The simple truth is that ebay has got too big and is unwieldy, satisfying virtually nobody.

I was watching four or five of his coins, including the 1860 T over T penny, one of a batch of identical coins sold by Baldwins a couple of years ago- I bought one then and I know Secret Santa did too; his coin, now slabbed, had already reached double the Baldwins hammer price. And the nice 1868 penny was already at a good figure, and his William and Maria halfpenny, stated to be UNC (more like AEF to me and not a particularly good strike) was at £700ish, all were withdrawn together, with three days to go. Altogether rather strange unless he made a bulk sale, or just felt the market wasn’t supporting his aspirations. Jerry

Just been sent this one - series of wacky adverts for "Japp" bar ( a bit like Mars?). Very funny!

There you go, Jerry -

Excellent piece of work.....though I tend to find that I have to put in diagonal braces to stop wobble after a while, even when bolted. I am starting barn shelving out of 3x2” pine and 18mm shuttering ply later today, wife and I put last coat of limewash on the wall this morning. The homestead is almost starting to look tidy, have spent the last couple of months laying flagstones and cobbles!

A music based question. What's the difference between the Rolling Stones and a Scotsman? . . . . . One says, "Hey, you. Get off of my cloud." And the other says "Hey, Mccloud. Get off of my ewe."

And at this moment, I think a little light entertainment is called for. Gilbert & Sullivan anyone?

... and so they are stopping his pension...