Case Studies
Real Businesses. Real Results.
We don't do vague claims about efficiency gains and productivity improvements. Here's exactly what we've built, for whom, and what happened as a result.
Featured Case Study
From 15 Minutes to Under 5. Every Single Lot. Automatically.
Best Model Toys - Auction House, Horsham, West Sussex
How did it start?
Best Model Toys (BMT) specialise in vintage model toy auctions. They came to Ettiecus first as an Ettie Starter customer - using our AI social media assistant to share the interesting Lots that come through their door.
The idea was simple: the moment a team member had something special in their hands, they could send it to Ettie without worrying about what to write. Ettie would handle the rest - enhancing the caption, formatting it for each platform, and notifying the designated gatekeeper via WhatsApp with a draft ready for review.
The approval process couldn't be simpler. A single WhatsApp message lands with the post preview and three buttons: Approve, Reject, or Edit. Ettie had been trained on BMT's business and their preferred tone of voice, so the quality of captions was consistently high from the start.
Once approved, Ettie posts directly to BMT's social channels; handling story crops, video formatting, carousels, URLs as comments - all the time-consuming platform admin done automatically, across multiple channels simultaneously.
The impact was immediate. Content went from sporadic and inconsistent to regular, professional, and authentic , with no additional effort from the team. Within weeks of seeing what automation could do, BMT asked Ettiecus to take a look at something bigger: their operational cataloguing process. What followed changed how their entire business runs.
The challenge
Every item that comes through their door needed to be manually catalogued. That meant identifying the item, writing an accurate description, valuing it, and adding it to the database. The process took over 15 minutes per Lot and relied heavily on two specialist members of staff.
The result was a bottleneck that slowed down the processing of client consignments and put a hard ceiling on how much inventory the business could handle. They'd started experimenting with ChatGPT and could see that AI had potential, but they didn't know how to apply it to their specific operation.
The solution
We built BMT a fully automated cataloguing system with a custom front-end, designed around exactly how their team already worked. Items come in through the door as they always have. The photographer photographs the Lot and submits it via a simple mobile form. From there, AI-powered automations take over completely:
→ The images are analysed and the items identified
→ Accurate descriptions are generated in BMT's preferred style and level of detail
→ The Lot is added to the database automatically, complete with images and metadata
Not a single auction description is typed manually. No specialist knowledge is required to identify or describe the items. The entire process runs without the two key members of staff it previously depended on. The skilled cataloguer now uses their experience to quickly validate/review the Lot descriptions.
Faster cataloguing
From 15+ minutes to under 5, per Lot
Descriptions typed manually
Every Lot catalogued automatically, end to end
Weeks to implementation
From proof of concept to fully live system
BMT can now handle significantly more inventory with the same number of staff, without hiring additional valuers or auctioneers. The bottleneck is gone. And this is a massive USP - their customer want and choose based on speed to auction, and BMT now offer the fastest turnaround times in the market.
The ceiling on growth has been lifted. They started as an Ettie customer. Within weeks they asked us to look at their operations. The catalogue system followed. That's exactly how Ettiecus is designed to work.
What does the owner of BMT have to say about Ettiecus?
ON USING ETTIE:
"We use Facebook to bring Bidders to our auctions promoting interesting Lots. Specialising in Vintage Models we have a lot of interesting images, but little time to publish them. We rarely published to Instagram. Ettie has allowed all members of our team to contribute to our social media accounts which has helped to grow the number of followers. Ettie simultaneously posts to Facebook and Instagram with minimal scriptwriting, so we've started to build a profile on Instagram too."
THE CUSTOM CATALOGUE SYSTEM:
"The average time it took to catalogue a single Lot at our Auction House was over 15 minutes. We were also reliant on two key people to identify the item, describe it accurately and value the Lot. We had a bottleneck which lead to delays in processing our clients consignments. We had started to dabble with chatGPT, which opened our eyes to the fact that AI could really benefit our business. But it wasn't until Leo took a look at our cataloguing process that we could understand a new way of working, supported by a new AI workflow system. Leo developed a proof of concept, which really caught our attention.
We've managed to reduce our reliance on two key members of staff. The cataloguing process is reduced to under five minutes, that's three times faster. Lot descriptions are more accurate and succinct, which helps us stand-out from our competitors. The development process has been rapid. About six weeks from Proof of Concept to Implementation. It was important to scope the project and agree the deliverables. Leo has great vision, expertise and shows determination to maximise the power of AI for our business.
The future looks exciting for us; we are now able to scale our business without the need to hire costly valuers and auctioneers. We can handle more inventory with the same number of staff. Ultimately these efficiencies will lead to greater profits for our business."
ON WORKING WITH ETTIECUS:
"When embarking on a software development project it's very important that the consultant you engage understands your business and what you want to improve. You're going to spend quite a bit of time together and communicate regularly, so you want to be able to work together.
Leo has tremendous software engineering skills, coupled with business acumen. He has a knack of dissecting a business process and then improving that process using technology. He exudes enthusiasm. Always has a new idea and will push technology to make for a more efficient work-place.
During user testing, expect to be in regular contact. He is very quick to respond and always provides updates as he improves the system during the development process. Professional analytical approach; nice to come across someone who shares my expectation of quality."
Ettie in the Wild
More From Our Clients
These businesses started with Ettie - and haven't looked back.
This could be you
Every One of Our Clients Started With a Conversation
BMT started by asking about social media. Within months they had a system that transformed their entire operation. We're not saying that's what will happen for every client. But we are saying that the conversation is free, there's no obligation, and you might be surprised what's possible.