How to bid in a live stamp auction sale

In Person

If you are able to attend the sale in person, you will have the opportunity to carefully review the lots, especially the large bulk lots. Viewing dates are posted on the auction information page and in the auction catalogue, but the week before the auction is the most active time to view in our offices. On the auction day, it is a good idea to arrive an hour before the sale starts. You will sign in with name, address, and contact information and be provided a bidding paddle.

Through the mail

If you can’t attend in person, you can submit bids through a bid sheet to the auctioneer. These are called “book bids”. He keeps your bids confidential and executes them privately on your behalf. Your bid is executed against other bidders. If you bid $500 on one lot and the live bidding ends at $200, then you will be the high bidder at $210. If no one else bids, it is yours at $210, no more. Your identity will not be revealed, you will simply be referred to as “book” (one of many book bidders).

When the auction starts, the auctioneer will call out the lot number and the opening bid. He will execute bids received in the mail, live on the telephone and live through online bidding. The bidding proceeds in set increments ($5 steps up to $100, $10 steps up to $300, $25 steps up to $500, $50 steps up to $1,000 and $100 steps onwards).

Online

Our auctions are listed at Stamp Auction Network, which allows you to bid online, through your computer or even on your phone, wherever you have a connection.

But like live bidding you need to register in advance. Visit stampauctionnetwork.com and register to set up an account (name, details and email, with confirmation email), then register to bid with Longley Auctions. You will be reviewed and approved within one day. New bidders are welcome.

On the day of the sale, visit the Longley Auctions page on SAN, click on “Join the Public Auction in Progress” button, and “Listen to the Public Auction Broadcast” button (optional). Get ready to bid.

By telephone

Telephone bidding is permitted in special cases, often with advanced collectors bidding on expensive items. They want to make sure they get it. We can handle a limited number of telephone bidders, so contact us well in advance to register. We will do our best to accommodate your request.

Agent bidders

A number of commercial agents will represent clients to bid on their behalf. Again, this is typically advanced collectors bidding on expensive items. A list of agents is available from us, or you can find one online. They charge a fee for this service.

Getting ready for the auction

Here are some suggestions to help you in bidding.

Most importantly, set a budget and stick to it. There is nothing more uncomfortable than spending beyond your means, and bidding in an auction is a legally binding agreement. Don’t exceed your budget.

The auction is available online at our website and through Stamp Auction Network. We also produce printed auction catalogues that are available. These are especially useful if you attend in person so that you can follow along. Collectors like to keep auction catalogues for research purposes. If you’d like a catalogue, contact us at bill@longleyauctions.com

Carefully review the terms of sale and be aware of all costs including buyer’s premium (18% fee added to the total as a buyer’s fee payable to the auction house), applicable taxes and estimated shipping. Make a wish list and prioritize the items you want to buy. Put a maximum bid beside each item and don’t exceed it. One challenge is the items are sold in lot number order so you have to prioritize your bids in lot number order. We can’t go backwards 20 lots to re-open a lot because you missed out on the current lot.

Participating in the auction

Listen to the auction progress and raise your bidding paddle or click bid online when you want to bid. Telephone bids will participate as if you are there, connected to one of our staff. “Book” bids, submitted to the auctioneer will be executed for you. The auctioneer will acknowledge you and continue to receive bids. If you are the “last paddle standing”, the auctioneer with acknowledge you, announce your paddle number and the sale price.

But wait. Stamp auctions are NOT like cattle auction with fast talking auctioneers trying to confuse or entice you. On the contrary, it is methodical and clear. The bidding might proceed like this (in a calm measured voice), “Lot 1 opening at $200. $210 on the floor, $220 on the internet, $230 on the floor, $240 on the internet. All done, last call. SOLD for $240 to the internet, buyer I-522”.

But wait. You won’t be assigned an auction lot just because you scratched your head or blinked. The auctioneer will visually confirm your winning bid, by pointing to you or making contact, you nod to acknowledge winning or flick your bidder paddle in acknowledgement, the lot is recorded as sold to you, the price announced, and onto the next lot.

But wait. What if you made a mistake? The online bidding allows for retraction, and floor bidding can be corrected. This usually happens when someone isn’t paying attention, or confuses the lot number. We can often correct these mistakes, but bid carefully!

Your identify will be protected. Floor bidders and internet bidders are referred to only as a paddle number or internet paddle number. Book bids are referred to as “book”, and telephone bids as “telephone bidder”. Agent bidders will usually execute your bids as a subset number to their own paddle number, but again you will be anonymous. You might be referred to as paddle “7-5”.

How do I receive my winning lots?

At the conclusion of the sale you will receive an invoice with a summary of your lots, cost and additional fees (buyer’s premium, taxes and shipping). You will be able to make payment (often cash, cheque, credit card or etransfer). If you attend the sale in person, you can pay for and take your lots at the end of the sale. If you bid in any other fashion, you will receive an invoice with payment instructions within a few days. You can arrange to pick up your lots in person or have them shipped to you.

Items on “Extension”

Occasionally, a buyer will ask for an “extension” on a single stamp or cover lot. This is to allow the buyer to get an expert opinion to confirm authenticity and condition. This is a rare instance, often applicable to expensive or complicated stamps. If you’d like an extension, simply ask at the conclusion of bidding and we will arrange to send the stamp to a suitable expertising body. For Canadian stamps, the expertising body is the Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation.

The buyer pays for the stamp ahead of time and the stamp is submitted by the auction house. Once the opinion and stamp are returned, if the opinion is “good” or a “clean certificate”, as described in the auction catalogue, the buyer pays the cost of the certificate and shipping. If the stamp comes back with a contrary certificate or “pink” certificate (or not as described), the auctioneer pays the cost of the certificate and refunds the purchase price in full.

Anything else?

What else? Sometimes buyers will call us and ask for more information about a lot, which we will relay to you. We can send extra pictures via email.

The auction process can be a good way to get the stamps you want. You can jumpstart a collection by buying a partially complete collection. You can buy a big carton lot to spend time hunting and sorting, keeping the stamps you want and trading or selling the rest.

Auctions can be fun social events, with like-minded collectors. Our auctions are different. We have fun on the auction day, and we serve drinks, snacks and a free lunch. We had a full hot turkey dinner during the lunch break at an auction before Christmas. We even had a Christmas present for everyone in attendance.

I’ve tried to answer as many questions as I can. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me (Bill) at (905) 690-3598. I will be happy to speak to you. And maybe you have a collection for sale? I can help with that too.