Welcome!

Frequently Asked Questions.

Quick Start
Never been at StampAuctionNetwork? Pick Members.Register. Fill out the form. Give yourself a user name and password.

Need to add an Auction Firm (to be approved)? Pick Login, then Members.Update Registration. Check the boxes of any auction firms with which you wish to bid.

Live Bidding Quick Start
Make sure you are registered and approved. See "Quick Start". Auction firms check references carefully, and it may take more time than ussual to be approved. Credit references are other Stamp Dealers and Auction firms with which you have done business.

Get a Paddle number. This is done automatically for you when you visit the table of contents page of the auction, or when you pick "Join the Public Auction".

Learn how to Bid. It is a good idea to read the "Instructions/Help" section after you pick "Join the Public Auction". It lets you know what is going on, and has some very important settings for your browser.

"Join the Public Auction" If the auction is a Live Bid auction, there will be a "Join the Public Auction" link in the middle of the table of contents page.

"Listen to the Public Auction" There will be a "Listen to Live Audio" link at the upper right of the Table of contents page of the auction. Read the instructions and Click on the Listen button -- Don't close that form!

Starting Up: Step by Step instructions for entering bids at StampAuctionNetwork.

How do I get a User name and Password?

Select Members.Register. This gets you started at StampAuctionNetwork. Fill out the form, select a user name and password, and select which auction firms you would like to bid with. Make sure you select Droege Computing Services, this will allow you to use the message board.

When the auction firms you selected are notified, they will register you and may send you an email notifying you that you are approved to bid in their auctions. When a firm has active auctions at the site, this should take less than a day. If they don't have auctions going on, you won't be notified until they do.

To find out your status with an auction firm, just login and follow a link to their auction. At the top of the page you will see your bidding approval status.

Why won't it let me in login?

You must enable cookies, so that SAN can set session variables so that it can remember who you are while you are bidding.

or you are looking at a cached page. In Internet Options, Temporary Internet Files, Settings, Check for Newer versions of stored pages: set it to "Every visit to the Page".

Did you accept the Certificate? SAN is a secure site so you must accept the security certificate. You also need a browser that will accept SSL.

In some cases, if you are still using an old link to StampAuctionCentral.com, you will have trouble staying logged in. I can't get this to reproduce on my system, but it did fix at least one person's problem. Replace your bookmark to StampAuctionCentral.com with StampAuctionNetwork.com -- if you are having a problem logging in -- just go directly to http:\\StampAuctionNetwork.com

Why can't I Bid?

The most common answer to the most common question is... Patience..

You can not bid until you have been approved. You won't even see the bid boxes. So if you are wondering why can't you bid, or how do you bid, that is why. When you have been approved and you then login using your name and password, everything will be completely obvious. There will be bid boxes next to every lot where you are an approved bidder with that auction firm. You just put your bid in for as many lots as you like and then find and press the submit button.

Login. Login by entering your user name and your password.

What if I forgot my Password?

Forgot your password? You can request that it be emailed to you.

Still can't login. Send an email to StampAuctionNetwork

Select an Auction to Bid In. From the "Home" tab, pick an auction to bid in.

Didn't know where to start? After selecting an auction from "Home" or one of the Calendars, you will see a Table of Contents. Scroll down a little and you will see a summary of the lots in the auction, usually sorted by collecting interest. Click on any of these links to get into the auction.

I can't find an auction listed in one of your email announcements. Where is it?

If it is an Internet auction with interactive bidding, you will find it listed in the "Newly Listed" or "Closing Soon" section of StampAuctionNetwork.com. These sales are listed in date order.

All sales are listed in the calendars. So if it is a US or Canadian sale it is in the US Calendar, etc... These calendars are sorted by date.

Forgot to Register with any Auction Firms? Easy, just select "Members.Update Registration". Use this option to make changes to your registration information.

Entering Bids. From the Table of Contents for an auction, select a section of lots. Enter your bids and press the "Submit all Bids on this Page" button. You will see all of your bids. At the bottom of this form, you will see further instructions on bidding, watch bids, OR bids, and openings.

It doesn't let me bid. After registering with a firm, it may take up to a day for the firm to register you for bidding. Normally, when you come back a day later, and login, you will be approved to bid. Don't forget, you must have selected the auction firm when you registered.

I missed the submit button. You should find "submit bids" buttons on both the top and bottom of the page.

When I click watch, the check mark goes away. You can't watch lots when you already have placed a bid.

It takes too long to download images. From the table of contents, change the "Show Images in Catalog?" setting to "N" and press "update".

How do I retract a bid? You send the auction firm an email requesting that your bid either be reduced or deleted.

The Auction is Over, What happened to my bids? Also, when can I find out if I won?

When you look at "My Bids", you are looking at only "Open" Bids. If the auction has closed, you must select "My Bids" and then press "Show all Bids".

Each auction firm has its own timing with regard to how soon they post prices realized to the site. Usually, you will be able to find out within a day or so. After selecting "Show all Bids", lots highlighted in Green will be lots you won, and each lot will have a sold price.

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. You may still be outbid, either at Public Auction or by late absentee bid forms that have not been entered. 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 you are not the highest bidder. 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.

Navigating. You can get back to the main page by pressing "SAN Home", to get back to the Table of Contents for the Current Auction, press "Table of Contents".

What currency is used at StampAuctionNetwork?

You are bidding in the currency of the Auction Firm. You should see a currency symbol next to the opening price.

Symbol Legend
	Catalog is available at StampAuctionNetwork and at a minimum offers interactive bidding or the ability to search and view the catalog at the site.
	Catalog is available at StampAuctionNetwork for viewing. This is the old site, where we place the catalogs with out interactive bidding.
	If the auction firm offers a catalog with complete item descriptions for each lot, but it is not at StampAuctionNetwork.
	Generally, a sale must have images for at least 50% of the lots available online to earn this symbol.
	Prices Realized available.
	Public Auction with simultaneous Internet Bidding available during the auction.
	Public Auction. Lots are offered at Public Auction. Bids entered via the Internet are entered as "book" bids and along with the other "book" bids determine the opening prices for each lot. In general, bids made via the Internet on lots offered at Public Auction must be competitive in order to win.
	Mail Auction. Lots are sold to the highest Internet, Mail Bid, or Phone Bidder.
	This symbol is reserved for true rarities sales, where either the entire sale is composed of rare stamps, or it is a collection of such note that it would earn the rarities symbol.
	Sale contains a major component of US material.
	Sale contains a major component of Worldwide Material.
	Sale contains a major component of Postal History.
	Sale contains a major component of First Day Covers.
	Sale includes Philatelic Literature.
	Each lot in the sale can be retrieved using our StampAuctionNetwork Search and Bid Engine.

Understanding StampAuctionNetwork

StampAuctionNetwork is designed so that the traditional auction houses can accept bids via the Internet. As opposed to Internet Only auctions, this requires that the Internet Bids be synchronized with other bids entered by the auction firms directly. StampAuctionNetwork is not an Auction Firm. You should consider it an extension of each auction house that is used to collect bids. When you bid with an auction firm via StampAuctionNetwork, you are accepting their Terms and Conditions.
Universal Registration gives bidders at StampAuctionNetwork the convenience of a single user name and password with access to bid in any of a number of traditional auctions by a variety of large and small auction firms.
Auction Firm Registration sends a request to each auction firm you select, asking them to enable you to bid in their auctions. They need to set you up in their systems, assign you a customer number, and link to your Universal Registration user name. They do not have access to your password. After you are registered with the auction firm, you will be able to bid in their auctions.
Anonymous Bidding. Just as in the traditional auction world, bidder information is not disclosed at StampAuctionNetwork. With the possible exception of paddle numbers, no bidder information, patterns, identifying numbers, handles, etc... are available to other bidders.
Privacy Notice. The information we gather about you is only for the purpose of maintaining your registration at StampAuctionNetwork. Unless you check the box, "Do not add me to your mailing list", you will be added to the StampAuctionNetwork mailing list. That list is only used by the StampAuctionNetwork and is not shared with any third parties. Once you register with an auction firm, your information is passed to them, you are considered one of the customers, and you may expect to receive emails from them also. We require that auction firms using the StampAuctionNetwork will not provide this registration information to other third parties.

Types of Auctions at StampAuctionNetwork Since 1985, we have posted over 2000 complete auctions totaling over 3 million lots at StampAuctionNetwork. There is tremendous variety among these different sales as they represent auctions by over 100 different auction firms. This section of definitions will help you to understand the different ways auctions are presented here at StampAuctionNetwork.

Public Auction. This term is used in the traditional sense. Each lot is sold one at a time in public, where bidders bid in person. Usually, bids can be submitted to the auction firm before the sale and entered into the bid book, where the auction firm will bid on your behalf.
Mail Auction. Also used in the traditional sense, to indicate an auction that is awarded only to bidders who have submitted their bids by mail, telephone, fax or email.
Internet Only Auction. An auction where the only bidding occurs via the Internet.
The "Book" or the "Bidbook". Consists of absentee bids, mail bids, phone bids or any other type of bids that are submitted to the auction firm to be executed on the behalf of the bidder by the auction firm. These bids are usually grouped together by lot number and printed out in whats called the "Bidbook".
Dynamic Openings. The StampAuctionNetwork term to indicate that as bids are entered, SAN recomputes and displays the current winning bid amount.
Hidden Openings. The StampAuctionNetwork term to indicate that bids are taken before a Public Auction, but current winning bid amounts are not provided.
Fixed Close. The StampAuctionNetwork term to indicate that bids are taken for a lot up to a fixed closing date and time, after which bids are no longer accepted.
Live Bidding. The StampAuctionNetwork term to indicate that bids can be taken during a Public Auction.

Public Auction with Dynamic Openings and a Fixed Close. This would be a Public Auction that takes bids via the Internet, while providing up to the minute opening bids. Sometime just before the Public auction, bidding would be closed to the Internet, those bids would be entered into the Bidbook and the Public auction would be conducted.
Internet Only Auction. This would be an auction where bids could only be entered via StampAuctionNetwork.
Public Auction with Hidden Openings and Live Bidding. This would be a Public Auction that takes bids via StampAuctionNetwork, but which does not disclose the current opening bids until the morning of the Public Auction, when Bidding during the Public Auction would be permitted via StampAuctionNetwork.
Mail Auction with Dynamic Openings and a Fixed Close. This would be a Mail Auction that provides current opening bids and where each lot closes at a predetermined, fixed date and time.

To Contact us! If you would like to register to be on our email list send an email to StampAuctionNetwork and mention "Register for StampAuctionNetwork", Please also let us know how you found out about StampAuctionNetwork.

Auction Firms. Make sure you are listed in the Directory of Stamp Auction Firms. Place your sale in our Auction Calendar using our Submission Form. Guidelines and Costs. Update your Directory Listing by printing this form. Auction Administration.

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.

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

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