Frequently Asked Questions

• How do I get started? Go to Members, then Register, create your username and password. Check the boxes of any auction firms you would like to bid with. Find the Submit Registration button and press it.
• How do I add an auction house after I have registered? Whenever you need to add an auction firm, go to their auction and press the [Request Approval to Bid with this Auction] button at the top left.
• How do I know if I've been approved? Once approved, the status bar (in teal) will change and you will be able to place bids in that firm's auctions. If you're unsure of your status, you may contact the auction firm directly.
• How long does approval take? Approval times vary by firm. Some are immediate; others may take a day or more.

• I'm having trouble logging in — what should I check? Make sure cookies are enabled in your browser. SAN uses cookies to maintain your secure login session.
• Forgot your password? Use the password recovery option on the login page and your password will be emailed to you.

• How do I search for a stamp in current auctions? Use the main search or go to My SAN, My Saved Searches. You can search by catalog number or keyword. You are searching words in the auction description, so searching for an auction company name does not make sense. If you want to find auctions by a specific company, look for them on the main page.
• How do I search for a stamp in past auctions? If you know the sale it was in, you can find the sale in prices realized and look in the table of contents. To search by catalog number or keyword across all past sales (4 million records), you will need to subscribe to one of the Extended Features options.
• How do I place a bid? Log in. Select an Auction from the home page and follow the link. Confirm on the auction's Table of Contents page that you've been approved by the auction firm. Navigate to the lot you're interested in. Enter your bid and press Submit.
• Why can't I bid yet? You must be approved by the specific auction firm before bidding in their sale. You can see on the auction's Table of Contents page if you have been approved. If you haven't requested approval, you can do so from your Account page.
• Can I change my bid? You may increase a bid at any time before the auction closes. Lowering or deleting bids is generally not permitted. Your bid will be rounded to the proper increment — if it looks like your bid is not changing, that is why.
• Can I retract my bid? You must send the auction firm an email or phone them to request that your bid either be reduced or deleted.

• My bids disappeared. What happened? In My Bids, press [Show All Bids] to see lots that have closed — the default shows only open bids. If the sale is more than 6 weeks old we would have moved your bids to the archive, so look in My SAN, My Archived Bids.
• What do the bid colors mean? Green — You are currently the highest bidder. Red — You have been outbid. Blue — The auction firm does not display current bid status.
• How do I know if I won? After the auction closes and prices realized are posted, green lots generally indicate winning bids. Final confirmation and invoicing come directly from the auction house.
• What does "Pending Final Results" mean? The auction firm has not yet posted official results. Please check back shortly.

Bidding Instructions: Bid Amounts in Green or the Up Arrow indicate you are currently the highest bidder. You may still be outbid, either at Public Auction or by late absentee bid forms that have not been entered. Bid amounts in Red indicate you are not the highest bidder (see "Pending Final..."). If your bid ties the opening or the sold price and it is in Red, it means that you were a tie bidder, an earlier bid of the same amount beat you. You may not lower your bid once it is made. Bids are adjusted to the proper increments. Bids may not be deleted. "Watch" Bids allow you to put a bid in your "My Bids" bucket without placing a bid. You can then change your watch bid to a bid later by entering a bid amount. Bids placed on "Watch" may be deleted. You cannot enter a Watch bid for a lot you have already submitted a bid. Tie bids are awarded to the first bidder. "Up to" or "Ceiling" bids may be placed by entering a higher bid in the "Max Bid" input box. StampAuctionNetwork® does not execute bids on your behalf, it passes your bids over to the auction firm. To increase your bids, enter new bid amount and press the "Update all Bids on this Page" submit button. Bid amounts in Blue indicate that the auction firm does not release opening bids, or the status of your bids.

Opening Bids: StampAuctionNetwork® provides you with dynamically calculated Opening Bids. An opening bid is the amount the lot is currently selling for. In most cases, it is calculated to be an increment above the next highest bid. If your bid is above the opening, you should see your bid in Green indicating that you are winning the bid. If your bid is at the opening and it is not Green, it is because you are the tie bidder and the other bidders' bid was entered before yours. Bids entered below the opening are accepted. If the high bidder is a OR Bidder, and they had won a lot tied as an OR bid to this one, that bid will be cancelled and the opening recalculated as if the original bid was not there. So in some cases, you could be the underbidder on a lot and still win the lot. In some cases, other bids may be rejected or lowered by the auction firm. In other cases, consignors may be convinced to lower their reserves. Allowing bids to be entered below the opening also prevents some types of bidder collusion occasionally found at other Internet auction sites.

Dynamic Bidding: Most of the Auction Firms here at StampAuctionNetwork receive bids by telephone, mail or at Public Auction. Those bids are entered into their office Auction Management Systems. Here at StampAuctionNetwork®, you are bidding interactively against other Internet Bidders. When you bid against another Internet bidder, or if they bid against you, the change in the opening bid will be immediate. You are also bidding against the bids entered in the office Auction Management System, however, those bids are not reflected until they are transferred to StampAuctionNetwork®. There can be some delay, if for instance, you send bids to the auction firm by mail, before they appear at StampAuctionNetwork®. Similarly, if you enter bids via StampAuctionNetwork®, and then call the auction firm, your bids may not have reached the auction firm by the time you call them. This transfer of bidding information between StampAuctionNetwork® and the auction firms' Auction Management System happens very regularly and when close to auction closing time, almost real-time.

Entering "OR" Bids: In many cases, you may want to bid on one or more items, yet if successful, only win one of them. OR Bidding allows you to do this. You indicate an OR bid by placing the same identifier (usually a letter) in the OR input box for each bid that comprises the OR bid group. For instance if you wanted to win either Lot 23 or 24 but not both, you might enter "A" in the OR input box for each of the lots 23 and 24. You may make an OR group bid on as many lots as desired. If you need more groups, use another letter, for instance use "B" to enter an OR bid on lots 30, 31, and 35. OR bids are generally executed in Lot number order.

"Pending Final Auction Results" If your bid is in Green and there is a "Pending Final Auction Results" message, it means that you were the high bidder when the auction was closed to Internet bidding. SAN is waiting for the auction firm to post prices realized before it can notify you whether you won or lost the lot in question. Bid amounts in Red indicate either that you are not the high bidder or that SAN can not determine whether or not you are the high bidder. Until the auction firm posts prices realized, SAN can not be certain whether you have won the lot or not. Other high bids could have dropped due to limit or "OR" bids. Floor bidders can beat out SAN bidders. In some cases, busy auction firms do not get last minute bids entered via SAN. When prices realized are posted, most auction firms post the identity of the winner bidder internally to SAN so that SAN can correctly identify you as the winning bidder. Some auction firms do not post the winning bidder, in those cases, your bid may be higher than the realized the price realized or opening and yet SAN can not determine that you were the winner. When SAN can not determine absolutely that you are the winner, it will still show in red.

Correct	Incorrect
In this case, the bidder is correctly entering a OR bid for lots 1, 2, and 6, and another OR bid for lots 4 and 5. The bidder wants one of either 1, 2, or 6, and would like one of either 4 or 5. The bid on lot 3 is a regular bid. Lot No. OR Indicator 1 A 2 A 3 4 B 5 B 6 A	The typical error is to put the lot number of the or bid in the or bid column. This is incorrect. Lot No. OR Indicator 1 2 2 6 3 4 5 5 4 6 1

• How do I return to the home page? Click the StampAuctionNetwork® logo at the top of the page.
• I have a question about a specific lot. Who should I contact? For lot details, condition questions, payment, or shipping, contact the auction firm directly.
• Need help with the website? Use the SAN contact information listed on the site for technical assistance.

• How do I find the Pay with Credit Card options? Only Daniel F. Kelleher and Dutch Country have enabled credit card payments using Authorize.net. You will see the Payment options when you are on a table of contents page of any of their auctions and you are logged in.