Enthusiastic Bidding At Sparks Today

It was a fun auction and I picked up a few lots. I thought that the activity level was high which is always good to see. Lots of internet and floor bidders. If you participated do you have any thoughts?

Was a good auction. Lot #1700 surprised me -- I did not get to inspect it, did the 76 pages of Ajman have some of the less-often seen items?

Even so I was successful on most of the lots on my dance list, and all are material I can use, so I'm pretty happy. The USDCAD exchange rate is favorable right now, so I expect that after the agent's fee, buyer's premium and shipping (and boy oh boy am I going to pay for the shipping...) then I'll pay about the same as the total of my bids in USD.

I felt like I was spending other peoples money I was 2nd high bidder so often. Did you notice the guy with the British accent kept saying "one more bid will take it". In other words people with bids on the book were getting hosed! It drives me nuts.

I got my main item, so I'm happy.

The French colony lots I was interested in went for considerably more than estimate, was surprised a bit at that. On the other hand, I noticed many of the Canadian singles sold yesterday went for some quite reasonable amounts. So in all ended up winning nothing, but no worries, both Vance and Eastern have auctions next week.

Never attended a live stamp bidding auction before, only been to art auctions. Must be fun.

Ken, I participated in this afternoons bidding online. Purchased only one lot. Some rapid bidding going on. You are right about the the accent saying "one more bid will take it." Thats like telling the world if you want it----just beat the present high bid in book. Its all about the money.

Gmot, those two upcoming sales you mention next week are mail sales, not true unreserved auctions. It is the dealers material for sale.

I waited for the Bavarian Postal Card lot bidding to slow down, and then hit the bid button. Should have watched the screen much more closely as someone else must have done the same a nanosecond before me. I let the lot close thinking I was the high bidder. Imagine my surprise when the auctioneer called the winners id number and it wasn't mine ##%^##!!!

Won a big GB cover lot (shipping'll be a killer) and was under-bidder on 3 US lots, one I'm still beating myself up for, for not bidding higher.

All in all, a very enjoyable sale. Sparks is a favorite, and the exchange rate is a thing of beauty. Wish they held sales more frequently!

This was the 1st time I'd participated in Live Bidding at Sparks. I was pleasantly surprised by the speed of the bidding, much faster than I'm used to. I couldn't even find time for my nap. Sparks seems to have a lot of very interesting lots and I look forward to their next auction.

Docgfd, I heard that call, knew someone was not going to be happy. He even gave the tied bidders a chance to up it.

I wish I had that 30 to 35% xchange rate to work with. Thats why I can't bid on US auction sites. Its brutal!

Ken, I usually bid live at Eastern Auctions in Halifax as they do not do the web auction. 4 hour drive to and from for me.

@No1philatelist Yes, that's right. Was actually hoping to get up to Ottawa for the Sparks one, but work schedule didn't allow... Maybe the one in May though