Tie Bids At Auction Every Time??

"Since most collection lots are own by the Auction House , if they don't sell then they will show up in a following auction . Anybody who says the lots aren't own by the firm ,ok your right sometimes ,they are own by the principles of the firm."

This blanket statement is an exaggeration. Some auctions are entirely owned by the firm, but others more than half are consignments and not owned by the house or the principals of the firm.

"Firms have to have HIDDEN RESERVES ,because otherwise they would lose interested parties,people attend stamp auctions and viewing because they know most online bidders don't go much pass the opening bid"

Another over-generalization that is not true of all auctions.

" it was common to recognize who paid fastest or a major buyer and award the tie bid to him, regardless of when it was received"
yes, they will favor their favorite bidders in case of ties

When I have consigned material to one of the major houses, if it is lesser value stuff, they may put it out for auction 2 or 3 times until it sells. That in itself may not be a sign that the material is actually owned by the house.

I stated in my first post why I would not name the company in question. I stated that they were a smaller auction house. They might more accurately be described as a very modern stamp company, though. Hey, wouldn't that make a great name for a stamp company? Anyway, without naming them I can state that they are a very modern stamp company.

I received a response to my e-mail questioning how I could be high bidder on 5 lots when in each case (except the first lot, which I knew I won, and which was not being contested) I dropped out of the bidding after I was told I was tied and it was up to me to break the tie. The owner of this very modern stamp company said that I was most likely bidding against myself. That I had made earlier bids (which I suppose I must have forgotten that I did) and re-bid at the same level during the live bidding. And when my tie-braking bid ended up tying AGAIN, that (I suppose) I was somehow bidding against myself again. First of all, I don't even think that is POSSIBLE on SAN. Second of all, I track all of my own bids in my own database, whether done before the auction, or during the live bidding. He was very sorry that I didn't understand how the system really works. REALLY??? He then states:

"At this point, it is difficult for us to reassign the 4 lots to the underbidders. Invoices and consignor statements have been published." I am sorry, but is your screw-up really my problem??? He then offered to let me take an extra 30 days to pay my invoice.

Seriously, I cannot make this stuff up. I wrote back stating that I have been using SAN for many years and that I have never run into this before, and that I was not bidding against myself - I never have before, and I did nothing different this time. I told him that since it was so difficult for him to contact underbidders that I would pay the invoice in full. Oh, and please remove me from the mailing list since I am not able to properly bid at this company's auctions.

As far as I am concerned, this is the end of it. I spend about $1000 a month on stamps, so this action will result in short-term profit at the expense of a long-term customer. There are other stamp companies that have worked with me when a mistake happens. After all, mistakes happen. How it is handled is what sets one company apart from the others - I guess I will now have more money to spend at the companies that were willing to work WITH me.

I used to bid on a lot of their box lots before they went live and would usually win at less than my max bid. Maybe things have changed. Don't know.

Over generalization is a good way for new collectors to understand the inside of these stamp auction firms and the fun and games that go on in this hobby .

ROGDCAM ---The glory days of buying large bulk lots are over .The pre-EBAYS days of going to a public stamp auction and being one of only three active bidders and buying enough boxes that will fill up a SUV ,those were the days and spend less than $500.00,that is what it was like pre-2002 . After that all new players came to the stamp auctions .

This thread should be shut down if the name of the house is not going to be revealed. It is completely useless as an aid in warning any future bidders and there is no point continuing any discussion.

I think there is enough information in the post to find the answer if you look at auctions by a smaller auction house selling country lots on SAN with an auction ending sometime shortly before the first post on June 21. (it wasn't the first place to pop into my mind when I read the original post)

The auction house should be named by the original poster so there is no chance for error and falsely accusing an incorrect firm.

I agree that mooter should consider naming the company; his original reasoning was that he might be 'implying shenanigans here' but I think he has simply outlined his experience and concerns. mooter also posted the company's response and they are always welcomed to join the conversation and present additional input. Transparency is good and there should be faith that this community is run fairly.
Don

The name of the auction company HAS been provided, albeit cryptically. I just bid on one of their lots in a recent auction, and the same thing happened to me. After two 'tie bids,' I stopped bidding and suddenly won the lot.
Now that I've discovered this thread 'Modern Stamps, Inc.' has lost another customer (there ya go...now its out in the open).
I'm going to send a link to this thread to SAN. Lets see what they think.

To whit:

Tom -

When you have a free moment, please take a look at this thread at the Stamp Community Forum. I was reading along when I realized the same thing happened to me when I placed a bid with them via SAN at their recent auction.

Is there something shady going on, or is there a logical explanation?

Please advise.

Thanks,
George F. DeKornfeld, DDS
APS, ESPHS, ATA, AAPE



https://goscf.com/t/73197&whichpage=1

George,

Just looked at his website - he has a logo for Dealer Member of the APS (which costs us an extra annual fee in addition to our APS membership and involves extra vetting by the APS) but when I looked on the APS website and searched for dealer members in Michigan I couldn't find any matches for his last name, company name or town. Maybe I missed it.

https://stamps.org/dealers

Steve
www.stephentaylor.co.uk