AHPS AUCTIONS: SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Are you trying to fill in some of the elusive standing Helvetia
perforation varieties?
Have you accumulated too many Strubels in hopes of spotting plate flaws? Ready to splurge on a Rayon? Maybe it's time to move away from stamps and into postal history. Each of us has collecting goals - usually a number of
them! Our Society's
auctions provide outstanding opportunities for satisfying these ambitions. Yet but a fraction of our members take advantage of
this service.
I believe that many more of you could benefit, and I want to hear your ideas
for making that happen.
But first, please read on and perhaps learn a bit more about how the auctions
are working.
AHPS holds three auctions each year.
AHPS members can consign items to our auction, but bidding is open to
anyone. The lots are described in
TELL (March, July and November issues), and on the World
Wide Web where they are also illustrated. A bidding period of about three weeks is provided. Then lots are forwarded to winning bidders, their payments
are received, and proceeds (after commissions and expenses) are forwarded
to sellers along with their unsold material. This process usually takes about three weeks.
Sounds simple enough, eh? Let me share some of the details with
you.
If you have something to sell, the main thing you need to do is to send
it to the auction manager (that's me!).
It will be greatly appreciated if you enclose a description of your material,
hopefully in a form similar to what would appear in the auction list. The deadline for submitting lots for each sale is printed in the
two preceding issues of TELL.
My mailing address appears with each auction list and in the masthead of
TELL.
I recommend insured mail; if you have APS or CIA stamp
collection insurance, then $100 coverage should be sufficient, otherwise you
may want to insure for full value.
Shipments from abroad should be registered.
Most lots are entered with a reserve.
This is the lowest bid that you will accept.
The lot may sell for this amount!
Or if you prefer, lots may be entered without reserve;
however, with our relatively small bidding population, there is the risk that
a lot may be sold too cheaply.
My recommendation is to set a reserve, but set it as low
as you can, as this tends to stimulate bidding.
When feasible, your material will be scanned and illustrated on the World
Wide Web. At
present lots can be viewed at the AHPS web site
www.swiss-stamps.org
.
Generally they will appear a few days before the appearance of the Tell
issue that contains the auction list.
Once the bidding period is over, your compensation will await receipt of
payment by the successful bidders.
The main purpose of this delay, usually about three
weeks, is to allow for returns.
The gross realizations of your lots will be reduced
by a commission of 15%, which goes to the Society treasury, and also by the
actual cost of returning your unsold lots.
The official notification of the auction is the list published in
TELL.
Sometimes you may be able to get an advance peek at the AHPS web site
www.swiss-stamps.org
.
I strongly recommend that you take advantage of the illustrations on the
Web.If you don't have Internet access at home, your public library
probably does, and probably has folks on staff who can help you get started
if need be.
Bidding couldn't be easier.
You can send bids to me via e-mail, FAX, telephone or USPS.
All appropriate numbers and addresses accompany each
auction list, and can also be found in the masthead of
TELL.
Please be sure to include your current mailing address so that I can send
you your purchases.
I will acknowledge e-mail bids (by e-mail of course).
Bid the most you are willing to pay for a lot.
If you are the high bidder, your bid will be reduced
when possible to one advance over the second highest bid.
If you are the only bidder, you win the lot at the reserve
price. If two
bidders bid the same amount on a lot, the earlier bid takes precedence.
So there is an advantage to bidding early.
Your bids are confidential, known only to me and yourself.
Once the bidding has closed, the lots you have won will be sent to you along
with an invoice for the total of winning bids plus the actual cost of sending
the lots to you.
You may bid in our auctions without being an AHPS member; if you are buying
lots not as an AHPS member, your lots will be sent to you after you have
paid the invoice. Payment should be forwarded promptly, since we withhold
payment to the sellers until remittances are received. You may
return a lot within seven days for any reason.
We would assume that your reason is a good one, but
we would like to know what it is so that we can inform the owner.
If you need more time to have a lot expertised, please
let me know within seven days and I will so inform the owner.
It seems that most
collectors have an affinity for numerical data, so here are some statistics
for the three sales held in 2000, sale number 117, 118 and 119.
A total of 280 lots were submitted.
They were reasonably balanced between older and more
recent, and between stamps and postal history.
Most lots were Swiss, of course, but there were a few
The number of sellers ranged from 4 to 10.
The number of bidders ranged from 7 to 16.
Since we have something like 250 members, you can see
why I think greater participation is possible!
84 lots were sold for a gross realization of $5150. Net commission retained by the Society amounted to $671 after expenses. Net returns to the sellers totaled $4310. Rather tidy sums, I would say.
As I said at the outset, I'm anxious to hear your ideas for making the auctions more responsive to the needs of you, our members. They will be taken to heart. Suggestions regarding the auction material will be published in TELL so that potential consignors can know them. I look forward to participation by more of you, remembering always our watchwords -- bid early, high and often!
To learn more or make suggestions or inquiries,
email me:
auction@swiss-stamps.org
Gordon Trotter, AHPS Auction Manager