Stamp Auction Network San.

I have joined the stamp auction network (SAN) a few months ago and have found it to be quite disappointing.

My bids get entered and generally show on SAN that I am the high bidder until the SAN portion closes usually a few days before the auction is actually concluded.

After that..nothing. They are supposed to enter the realized prices a few days after the auction ends but sometimes they never show up or take a very long time to appear. Then some of the auctions don't put the actual realized price, they just say I was out bid.

The problem I see is that the SAN bidding ends so early and then there is no communication with the bidder.

Am I doing something wrong?
Is this the way to bid on desired stamps? New at doing this.
What is everyone's opinion on SAN?

Any help and advice here is much appreciated.

Thanks.

SAN is a useful online tool to conveniently survey the offerings of many auctions from home.
For actual bidding, there are downsides to their service as you have experienced.
If you are a serious bidder, contact the auction sites direct.

I've always found SAN to be an effective way to bid. It's definitely not like ebay ! This is where dealers and serious collectors come to buy.

They are just a service, it's the actual auction house that controls how the auction is run and when the realizations are posted. Some are better than others.

Many of the auction houses have live real time online bidding. You are actually able to bid against the buyers that are on site. It's fast paced and can be quite intimidating until you get accustomed to it.

Others like you say, close bids prior to the actual auction taking place. Your proxy bid is held against bidders on site or their agents. If you can't be present, it's best to make your absolute highest bid and hope for the best. Most times you will be outbid.

Onsite bidders have many advantages over internet bidders. Opportunity to inspect the lot, ability to size up the competition, no shipping charges.

Internet bidders of course save on the cost of traveling to the auction and usually sales tax but other than that they are pretty much bidding on a description and a few pictures if they are lucky.

Look on the bright side. The internet affords us a chance to participate in auctions that we never could have in the past.

I like their live online auction that is almost like being there on the floor in person at the auction.