Society Auctions

Rules for Participation

The quarterly Society Auctions offered by the Haiti Philatelic Society offer a good opportunity for members to buy and sell Haitian philatelic and related materials. Only members in good standing of the Haiti Philatelic Society authorized to buy or sell in these auctions.

The rules and procedures listed below provide an orderly manner for the conduct of these quarterly mail auctions.

Our auction listings are available here on the Society web site.

Material Submission by Sellers

Our auctions are limited to philatelic material of Haiti or related to Haitian philately. After all payments for successful bids are received, the auctioneer will immediately forward a payment to sellers for sold lots, less an 8% commission.

Preparation of Lots

Sellers must place each lot in a separate glassine envelope or similar transparent protective wrapper.

Sellers must supply the following information for each lot submitted:

• Seller's name and address.
• The Scott catalog number(s) or other standard catalog number(s), such as Minkus or the American Air Mail Catalog.
• For postal covers, cards, aerogrammes and special events material, give year of issue and a short description of the item.
• Condition of the item. For stamps, the standard conditions as listed in Scott Catalog apply. Any defects must be identified.
• The minimum bid the seller is willing to accept. Minimum bid is $1.00

The auctioneer cannot accept material, which is not prepared properly, i.e., incomplete or inaccurate descriptions.

Postal expenses for returning material to sellers must be refunded to the Society Auctioneer immediately after the seller receives that returned material.

Bidding

Bids must be submitted in writing to the Society Auctioneer. This may be accomplished through email to auctioneer@haitiphilately.org or by using the online form. Bid sheets may also be sent by regular mail to:

Any such Bid Sheet must include the Lot number(s) and the highest price the bidder wishes to offer for each Lot of interest. Bids by email or those sent through the mail must be received on or before 6:00 pm of the Auctioneer’s local time on the closing date of the mail auction. The bid sheet must bear the bidder’s signature and address. The bidder is bound to each bid once submitted. Any bid withdrawal must be submitted in writing to the Auctioneer and such notice must be received by him prior to the closing date of the Auction. Bids may not be withdrawn on or after the closing date of the Auction.

“Buy Bids” (bids without limits) are respectfully declined and will be ignored.

If only one bid is received on a Lot, the hammer price is the minimum bid which had been set for the Lot, when the auction was made public on the web site. If two or more bids are received on any Lot, the Lot goes to the highest bidder at one interval above the next highest bid. Identical bids go to the first bid received. When two or more identical bids are received on the same day, theLot goes to the bid with the earliest postmark, or email date stamp. In the event that these bids have the same postmark date/email date stamp, the winner of the lot will be decided by a coin flip.

Bidding increments are as follows:

• Under $10.00: increments of $0.50
• From $10.00 to $50.00: increments of $1.00
• From $51.00 to $100.00: increments of $2.00
• Over $100.00: increments of $5.00

Limiting Bids

The bidder may establish a limit for the total purchases to be made in the mail auction. The auctioneer will respect a bidder's specified dollar limit beginning with the first item listed on the bid sheet and continuing to honor such bids until the dollar limit is approximately reached.

Authorizing a Tie-Breaker Bid Increase

Bidders can authorize the Auctioneer to increase bid levels by a certain percentage (up to 10%) over his/her high bid if necessary to win the lot in the event of a tie of bids.

Bidders are allowed to query the auctioneer for the second high bid of any Lot, up to the day prior to the closing of the auction. The Auctioneer will not provide information concerning high bids until the auction has concluded. On the day of the auction, the Society Auctioneer will not provide any information concerning bidding progress, second high bids, or high bids to Bidders or Prospective Bidders.

Bidder’s information and their bidding data will not be divulged during or after the auction is closed.

Invoicing and Payment

Invoices to successful bidders will be sent as soon as possible after the closing date. Bidders must specify if insurance and or registration is required. Should a buyer not seek insurance or registration, mailing will be at the risk of the buyer. Payment for purchase is required no later than five (5) days after receiving of the invoice.

Lots will not be mailed until payment is received and cleared. A lot can be rejected only "FOR CAUSE" if within five (5) days after receipt a bidder is not satisfied with the purchase. Such lot may be returned to the auctioneer with a detailed specific reason for the rejection. Mailing fees will not be refunded for neither initial mailing nor returns.

Auction Fees for Successful Bidders

Bidders will be charged 8% Commission on the total of their purchases. Payments must be in US funds. Postage stamps are not accepted for payment of purchases. Checks must be sent to the Treasurer and made to the order of the Society.

Payments must be sent to:

If using PayPal for payment, a buyer must add 5% to the total of the purchases made. This is the fee PayPal charges to use this payment system.

Payment via PayPal for auctions should be made to treasurer@haitiphilately.org.