Frequently Asked Questions "FAQ"
How do I get started?
Go to Members → Register, create your username and password. Check the boxes of any auction firms you would like to bid with. Find the Submit Registration button and press it.
How do I add an auction house after I have registered?
Whenever you need to add an auction firm. Go to their auction and press the [Request Approval to Bid with this Auction] Button at the top left.
How do I know if I’ve been approved?
Once approved, the status bar (in teal) will change and you will be able to place bids in that firm’s auctions. If you’re unsure of your status, you may contact the auction firm directly.
How long does approval take?
Approval times vary by firm. Some are immediate; others may take a day or more.
I’m having trouble logging in — what should I check?
Make sure cookies are enabled in your browser. SAN uses cookies to maintain your secure login session.
Forgot your password?
Use the password recovery option on the login page and your password will be emailed to you.
How do I search for a stamp in current auctions?
- Use the main search, or use My SAN. My Saved Searches, they are the same. You can search by catalog number or keyword. You are searching based on words in the auction
description, so search for a auction company name does not make any sense. If you want to search for a auction by an auction company, look for the auction company on the main page.
How do I search for a stamp in past auctions?
- If you know the sale it was in, you can find the sale in prices realized and look in the table of contents.
If you want to search by catalog number or keyword across all past sales (4 million records), you will need to subscribe to one of the Extended Features options.
How do I place a bid?
- Log in.
- Select an Auction from the home page and follow the link.
- Confirm on the auction’s Table of Contents page that you’ve been approved by the auction firm.
- Navigate to the lot you’re interested in.
- Enter your bid.
- Press the Submit button to submit your bids.
Why can’t I bid yet?
You must be approved by the specific auction firm before bidding in their sale. You can see on the auction’s Table of Contents page if you have been approved. If you haven’t requested approval, you can do so from your Account page.
Can I change my bid?
You may increase a bid at any time before the auction closes. Lowering or deleting bids is generally not permitted. Your bid will get rounded to the proper increment. It if looks like your bid is not changing that is why.
Can I retract my bid?
You must send the auction firm an email or phone them to request that your bid either be reduced or deleted.
For more information on Bidding, Openings, OR bids and Pending Auction results, see below.
My Bids disappeared. What happened?
- In your MyBids if you want to see your bids after the auction, you will need to press [Show All Bids] to see lots that have closed. The default is to show only bids where the lot is open for bids.
- If the sale is more than 6 weeks old, we would have moved your bids to the archive. So look in MySAN. My Archived Bids.
What do the bid colors mean?
- Green – You are currently the highest bidder.
- Red – You have been outbid.
- Blue – The auction firm does not display current bid status.
Where can I find complete bidding instructions?
- Find detailed bidding instructions at the Bidding Instructions page below.
How do I know if I won?
After the auction closes and prices realized are posted, green lots generally indicate winning bids. Final confirmation and invoicing come directly from the auction house.
What does “Pending Final Results” mean?
The auction firm has not yet posted official results. Please check back shortly.
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Bidding Instructions:
Bid Amounts in Green or the Up Arrow
 indicate you are currently the
highest bidder.
You may still be outbid, either
at Public Auction or by late absentee bid forms that have not been entered.
Bid amounts in Red indicate
you are not the highest bidder (see "Pending Final...").
If your bid ties the opening or the sold price and it is in Red, it means that
you were a tie bidder, an earlier bid of the same amount beat you.
You may not lower your bid once it is made. Bids are
adjusted to the proper increments. Bids may not be deleted. "Watch" Bids allow you to put a bid in your
"My Bids" bucket without placing a bid. You can then change your watch bid to a bid later by entering
a bid amount. Bids placed on
"Watch" may be deleted. You cannot enter a Watch bid for a lot you have already submitted
a bid. Tie bids are awarded to the first bidder. "Up to" or "Ceiling" bids
may be placed by entering a higher bid in the "Max Bid" input box. StampAuctionNetwork® does not
execute bids on your behalf, it passes your bids over to the auction firm. To increase your bids,
enter new bid amount and press the "Update all Bids on this Page" submit button.
Bid amounts in Blue indicate that the auction firm
does not release opening bids, or the status of your bids.
Opening Bids: StampAuctionNetwork® provides you with dynamically
calculated Opening Bids. An opening bid is the amount the lot is currently selling for.
In most cases, it is calculated to be an increment above the next highest bid. If your
bid is above the opening, you should see your bid in Green
indicating that you are winning the bid. If your bid is at the opening and it is not
Green, it is because you are the tie bidder and the other bidders' bid was entered before
yours. Bids entered below the opening are accepted.
If the high bidder is a OR Bidder, and they had won a lot tied as an OR bid to this one, that bid will be cancelled and the opening recalculated as if the original bid was not there.
So in some cases, you could be the underbidder on a lot and still win the lot.
In some cases, other bids may be
rejected or lowered by the auction firm. In other cases, consignors may be convinced to
lower their reserves. Allowing bids to be entered below the opening also prevents some
types of bidder collusion occasionally found at other Internet auction sites.
Dynamic Bidding: Most of the Auction Firms here at StampAuctionNetwork
receive bids by telephone, mail or at Public Auction. Those bids are entered into their
office Auction Management Systems. Here at StampAuctionNetwork®, you are bidding interactively
against other Internet Bidders. When you bid against another Internet bidder, or if they
bid against you, the change in the opening bid will be immediate. You are also bidding
against the bids entered in the office Auction Management System, however, those bids are
not reflected until they are transferred to StampAuctionNetwork®. There can be some delay, if
for instance, you send bids to the auction firm by mail, before they appear at
StampAuctionNetwork®. Similarly, if you enter bids via StampAuctionNetwork®, and then
call the auction firm, your bids may not have reached the auction firm by the time
you call them. This transfer of bidding information between StampAuctionNetwork® and the
auction firms' Auction Management System happens very regularly and when close to auction
closing time, almost real-time.
Entering "OR" Bids: In many cases, you may want to bid on one or
more items, yet if successful, only win one of them. OR Bidding allows you to do this. You
indicate an OR bid by placing the same identifier (usually a letter) in the OR input box
for each bid that comprises the OR bid group. For instance if you wanted to win either Lot
23 or 24 but not both, you might enter "A" in the OR input box for each of the lots 23 and
24. You may make an OR group bid on as many lots as desired. If you need more groups, use
another letter, for instance use "B" to enter an OR bid on lots 30, 31, and 35. OR bids are
generally executed in Lot number order.
"Pending Final Auction Results"
If your bid is in Green and there
is a "Pending Final Auction Results" message, it means that you were the high bidder
when the auction was closed to Internet bidding. SAN is waiting for the auction
firm to post prices realized before it can notify you whether you won or lost
the lot in question.
Bid amounts in Red indicate either that
you are not the high bidder or that SAN can not determine whether or not you
are the high bidder. Until the auction firm posts prices realized, SAN can not
be certain whether you have won the lot or not. Other high bids could have dropped
due to limit or "OR" bids. Floor bidders can beat out SAN bidders. In some cases,
busy auction firms do not get last minute bids entered via SAN. When prices
realized are posted, most auction firms post the identity of the winner bidder
internally to SAN so that SAN can correctly identify you as the winning bidder. Some
auction firms do not post the winning bidder, in those cases, your bid may be higher than the realized
the price realized or opening and yet SAN can not determine that you were the winner. When SAN
can not determine absolutely that you are the winner, it will still show in red.
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Correct
|
Incorrect
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In this case, the bidder is correctly entering a OR bid for
lots 1, 2, and 6, and another OR bid for lots 4 and 5. The
bidder wants one of either 1, 2, or 6, and would like one
of either 4 or 5. The bid on lot 3 is a regular bid.
| Lot No. |
OR Indicator |
| 1 |
A |
| 2 |
A |
| 3 |
|
| 4 |
B |
| 5 |
B |
| 6 |
A |
|
The typical error is to put the lot number of the or bid
in the or bid column. This is incorrect.
| Lot No. |
OR Indicator |
| 1 |
2 |
| 2 |
6 |
| 3 |
|
| 4 |
5 |
| 5 |
4 |
| 6 |
1 |
|
How do I return to the home page?
Click the StampAuctionNetwork® logo at the top of the page.
I have a question about a specific lot. Who should I contact?
For lot details, condition questions, payment, or shipping, contact the auction firm directly.
Need help with the website?
Use the SAN contact information listed on the site for technical assistance.
How do I find the Pay with Credit Card options?
Only Daniel F. Kelleher and Dutch Country have enabled credit card payments using Authorize.net. You will see the Payment options when you are on a table of contents page of any of there auctions and you are logged in.
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