Buying from us
We have Postal Auctions throughout the year.
Review our catalogue by Pdf (Download from the website) or by Post. If you see a lot/s you would like to bid on, enter them on a bid form, email or call us.
To view the Latest AVH Stamp Auction catalogue click here
Bidding
You buy lots by placing the highest bid. In a Postal Auction having the highest bid does not automatically mean you buy it at your top bid. An example of Postal bidding; Bidder A places £100 on lot 123. Bidder B places £200 on lot 123. Bidder B has the highest bid but will win the lot at £110 (which is one bid step (Bid Steps below) over Bidder A).
Estimates and Reserves
Lots offered in a postal auction will have an Estimate and Reserve. The Estimate value is generally set by the auction as a market sale value. Some Estimates that appear low can be lots vendors looking to clear or reoffered and reduced. Lots can sell at any price from the reserve price and can be over the estimate value. The Reserve is a value set by the vendor or the auction house as a percentage of estimate. AVH Stamp Auction reserves are generally 80% of the estimate value (generally rounded to a bid step). A reserve set by the vendor can be any value up to the estimate value.
Postal Auction
This type of auction is processed via the post or email. The sale will have a catalogue of lots on offer and receive bids via post (on bid forms), telephone or email. The sale will have a closing date and time. Bids will be collated to have a winning bidder (as described above ‘Bidding’) on each lot. Lots will either be sold to the highest bidder or remain unsold. Lots sold will be invoiced and if paid will be posted to the winning bidder. If a payment method was not provided with the bids, then a pro-forma invoice is sent via email or post. Winning lots are sent when payment is provided and cleared. Unsold lots can be offered after the auction and sold at the reserve value. This is done on a first come first served basis. Any offers below the reserve (allowing for auctioneers discretion) would normally be offered to the vendor and await their decision.
Buyers Premium
This is a charge that is placed on an invoice of winning Lots. It is normally charged as a percentage and added to a winning bid (the percentage amount is shown on the auction Catalogue/Bidform). This charge is normally applied to help with the running costs of the auction.
If you are not sure how this affects your bidding, please give us a call and we can explain it. If you do this before you bid, it would avoid any supprises when you get an invoice for any winning bids.
Bidding Steps
AVH Auction bid steps are;
£1 - £20 £1 steps ( £1, £2, £3, £4 .... £19 )
£20 - £50 £2 steps ( £20, £22, £24 ..... £48 )
£50 - £100 £5 steps ( £50, £55, £60 ........ £95 )
£100 - £500 £10 steps ( £100, £110, £120 ..... £490 )
£500 - £1000 £50 steps ( £500, £550, £600 ........ £950 )
£1000 - £5000 £100 steps ( £1000, £1100, £1200 ..... £4900 )
Bid steps are the increments used by the auctioneer or auction house. Clients are asked to try to bid within these steps. These are generally advertised on the bid form or within the Catalogue. Any bids that are placed that is not within a bid step is generally rounded down. Split bid steps can be used to out bid another bidder, under Auctioneers Discretion.
Bidding on Extension
To bid on Extension means you would like to place a bid but would like to put it up for a certificate after the auction closes. This needs to be done in advanced so that AVH can get agreement from the vendor that the vendor will except certification fees if it fails. The certification fees are paid for by the winning bidder if clears. If AVH is unable to get vendor confirmation, then the bid will not be placed.
Auctioneers Discretion
This is a term that is used when the auctioneer takes an action that is different from the laid-out rules. An example of this is where an auctioneer can accept an offer below reserve or a bid not conforming to the step bids. If he thinks the circumstances are right to do so. It can be used to round up or down a reserve for a vendor. There are many other examples were the auctioneer will make the final decision.