Anyone In Or Near Toronto Going To The Auction Of Maresch ?

I live about an hour north of Toronto and there is a dealer here Maresch and Sons who is having an auction on the 28th and 29th of February.

I have never been to an auction and am contemplating going just for the heck of it to check it out. Do you have to purchase something if you attend or can you just visit to see how it works?

Also, is anyone from the nearby area going too?

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November.
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone,
And that has twenty-eight days clear,
And twenty-nine in each leap year

Sorry couldn't resist.

Actually the auction is on Wednesday February 27 and Thursday February 28.


http://www.mareschstamps.com/488/au...wing&InLine=

Hahaha yeah thanks for that.

The auction itself is boring especially if you are not bidding. I have attended viewing sessions a day or so before the auction to look at lots.

The building has limited parking.

When you get off the elevator you will be buzzed in. There are five long tables for people to look at lots. You must sign in. You sit down and ask one of the several attendants to look at a specific lot. The location is identified. You must not get your own lot to look at. You will find security is a great concern. You are being watched as you look through an album or box. When finished looking at a lot you tell the attendant and can request another lot.

The sale attracts dealers who pour over the lots.

You can leave a bid after viewing or go back and bid in person.

Maresch sales have a lot of interesting items. Great collections and covers. Prices are those generally paid by dealers, especially the mixed lots. Get old catalogues on line and prices realized to see if your budget fits this environment.

Mindpsyche, I also have never been to a stamp auction and was planning on going.

Mostly just out of curiosity since my buying days are over
and most of those lots look too pricey for me.

But it should be fun.

It's within walking distance of Centerpoint Mall, lots of parking there.

Thanks a lot for the info lorddenning. When you say prices are those paid by dealers, this implies that its relatively cheaper then normal?

Another thing I hate when going to a dealer is the way they behave with security. I understand that they are worried but its annoying as hell.

I am going to check if there is a lot I want (most likely will be) and if I can afford to bid on.

Thanks very much.

Litho, your absolutely right about the pricing lol. Too much for me at this time.

I don't have a car yet. I am actually saving money to buy a car, so I think its advisable to stay away from that place lol.

But yeah you should go litho, don't expect too much though as Lorddenning pointed out.

MINDPSYCHE-------- go to the auction ,and enjoy yourself ,relax and find the area of the auction your interested in and follow it lot by lot .more later ......

Hmmm...alright if i'm off from work on either of these days I will go.

Or even if i'm not I will try and go for the viewing at least. Nothing else to do in this freezing cold anyway :)

Thanks Floortrader.

Mindpsyche

You will get more out of the auction if you go to the pre-auction viewing. I attended the last auction (I wasn't bidding) and it was very very boring. If you do go you will see the auction agents at the front who represent their clients. What is interesting is that the auctioneer may start the bidding at $100 but the agent puts in a $200 bid. This means that the agent is representing two clients and that the first client's bid was $190 and the second client's bid was higher.

The auction house receives mail bids and floor bidders are competing against the "Book".

It's a good opportunity to see the prices that dealers pay to replenish their stocks of stamps and covers.

Foreign collections can be purchased at reasonable prices.

Winners of lots must wait until the end of the auction session before paying for and claiming their lots.

Good advice so far ........There are two things to learn ,the viewing of the lots and the second is the way the auction moves from lot to lot . Both are important.
First a little background ,I purchased 4 lots today at a stamp auction today ,all four lots I had Dealers ,agents and NYSTAMPS {a big ebay seller} and a few other E-bay sellers bidding against me .I buy for entertaintment,thats the most dangerous type of bidder because Im not trying to make a profit from what im bidding on.
About viewing lots ,even if your not going to buy ,still go and view whats going on. First get the catalog and find what interest you and circle the lots ,read the write up and understand how its written .Then go and ask to view those lots to see how accurate the firm is and how the describer over describes the lots .Some firm really out-right over glorifies the lot and what you see at the viewing my be a lot less than what you read in the catalog ,every firm puffs up the lots ,go and see the lot and how accurate the firm is .
Also attend the auction so you understand the flow of the auctioneer and how the bidders react and how mistakes are made and who jumps in at the last minute ,and who bids and drops the bid card after one or two up ticks in the bidding .Also watch who is aggressive and who looks for opening bid bargins ,and watch whats sells aggressively and what gets no bids .....learn the room your bidding in .
Good luck and have fun learning before you put your money to the test .

Thanks for the great tips guys, now im really looking forward to this. Hopefully I should be able to make it.

I'm in Calgary, and if there's something I want badly enough that doesn't come up often, I will make a trip out to Toronto for the Maresch auctions. I enjoy them a lot, probably mostly because they're an experience that's out of the ordinary for me (I rarely go to auctions). I suppose there were about 40 bidders present the last time I went out there. Some stay only long enough for their particular interests. I've only been present for Canadian lots, I haven't stayed for any worldwide lots.

Be prepared for things to move along very, very quickly. They go through hundreds of lots in each session, over 2500 lots among the four sessions this time around. You can't spend too much time on each lot before things need to move along to the next one. There will occasionally be a bit of a battle on the floor if there are two people present who both want something, and that usually makes everybody perk up and wonder what's going on - I saw a revenues lot with a pre-auction estimate of $1000 go for over $12,000, and even the auctioneer commented that he wondered what was in the lot that was so interesting. For the most part, however, things pass along without much action, with many things receiving no interest from the floor. And Vance Carmichael will buy anything that's going with a bid that's too small, so don't expect any ultra-cheap bargains to slip through!

Ryan