Universal Philatelic Auctions (Upa) - Any Feedback?

It's a shame you received your catalogue so late. In view of this it might be worth your while getting the online version from their website for future sales (or from a link in the email you should have got).

Anyway, here in the UK their reputation is quite high. The staff are very good to deal with, including the owner (he does have membership of Stampboards). If you do need to contact them, give them time to respond as they only have a small number of staff; but respond they will.

As a first time buyer, you can benefit from a discount of £55 on your first invoice. There is no buyers premium and if you are a regular bidder (5 out of 6 auctions), there are no postage and handling charges. Looking at the fine print this also applies to overseas bidders.

I have benefitted from submitting bids on unsold lots (for which I am notified by email), which are reduced by 20% on the original estimate. This rate of reduction continues if again the lot fails to sell; and again etc.

My only gripe is the seemingly high estimates, but you may disagree. However, if the zero buyer's premium and potentially free shipping costs are taken into account, then maybe these aren't so bad.

I have bought perhaps 5-6 items from them. Good service, no issues.

I also receive stamps on approval via Omniphil, their approvals division. Again, good service.

So how was this sent? If Britain has an international rate for printed matter, that could mean slow death once it arrived in the US.

Using their online catalog is best.

Thanks. I'm happy to hear your positive feedback. In the future, I will definitely peruse the PDF version of the sales catalogs.

According to the catalog, it was mailed 1 month prior to the closing date. Hard to believe it would take 2 months to reach USA?

Kirk

No, not really Kirk. In my experience with some types of mail from Holland it sometimes gets put on the back burner after it arries in the US.

Peter

I have been buying on auction from UPA for a couple of years now without any problems.
I find that their descriptions are quite accurate.
The best part is no postage and no buyer's commission.

Just to emphasize UPA's service, I got an email today about a problem I had with a lot that I had won a couple of weeks ago, from their unsold lots listing.

I had notified them a few days ago that one of the two stamps in a lot, was not as described. The stamp is listed at £11 in Gibbons.

After consulting the owner, they will credit my account with £14.80 , which is 28% off the original invoice (a curious amount).

A generous gesture I think.

Sounds like a firm we have here in the U.S. called APFELBAUM . They buy large lots at other auctions and break them down to resell them in a "auction" setting .

In my experience, I would say the following:

1. Honest and dependable company - will treat you professionally.

2. Lot's of variety in the auctions - especially for WW collectors.

3. I agree with Punyu in that their estimates are high (at least for what I collect - Canada, Australia, NZ). I think this is due to the fact that their material is mostly consigned and so they go by what the seller wants.

While they do have a reducing system so that eventually everything will sell, I have not been successful bidding on items at what I consider fair market value. This may simply mean that they have a good clientele willing to pay a price I would not.

Part of the problem also is the poor exchange rate with the Canadian $.

Great info, thanks to everyone.

Next month, I will DEFINITELY download the PDF catalog so I can get in before the deadline.

I get inundated with postal mail from them. I've looked at their listings but the estimates are almost always incredibly high, and they will not accept bids less than 80% of estimate, so you have to wait for their reducing system to get it down to a realistic level, which could be months away.

I'm too impatient for that sort of long-term process.