Strangeways, what actually made this an expo in comparison to a pinball auction? I want to keep this on topic so we are indeed thinking forward to next year.
Do the expo's in the US include an auction?
To me this was an Auction, marketed as an expo to walk more public in the door. (the only thing that made it an expo were the 3 or 4 commercial guys incl ap.com which was the highlight of the day for me)

Call me a sceptic but my main concern is the motives behind the expo. Will there be another big auction again next time.. I wonder.

I am not saying this was a particularily bad thing for the first expo, as you have to start somewhere, and you are most certainly going to have alot of trouble getting private sellers and commercial guys to rock up for the first show ever. If an auction is what it takes to get this thing off the ground for the first few times im all for it. I just fear some of the public being burnt buying the games without knowing better.

I read back over illawarra_steelers OP and he wanted to keep this positive, so I apologize. I just wanted to vent that out lol
Here forward I will remain positive :)

Not all, but Chicago Pinball Expo has an auction - In a separate room to the main event, but they have an Auction.

What made it an Expo ?

The people, the stalls, the Dinner, the presentations. No one forced anyone to attend the Auction portion of the Expo, in fact, a large portion of the 20 of so new members to AP, or the 300 posts last night (a record) had absolutely nothing to do with the Auction. They joined because of the Aussie Pinball Stall and the great people that attended and spread the word.

I could be wrong here, but to me - there were two events - The Expo, and the Auction WITHIN the Expo. I've yet to see Stalls selling parts, restoration tips and T-Shirts at an Auction.

I'm just thinking if the door charge was $75 to cover costs and there was no auction - would the general public attend ?
If the machines were in perfect / mint condition - people would then complain about the prices.

It is a fine line - can't please everyone. I think that most came away from Expo happy, but it does need to be tweaked. Not bad at all for a first effort.

you are right - You have to start somewhere - That is now behind us.