Help
Welcome to Victoria Stamp Auction's Web Page !
(latest update January 31, 2006)

How to Bid
You may place bids...
  by mail: We have two postal addresses:
	Canada      
			Box 38038 Fort Street RPO
			Victoria, B.C.
			Canada V8W 3N2
	United States
			PO Box 1732
			Port Angeles, WA
			USA  98362-0089
			(For US and foreign residents, the US address is faster)

   by telephone: 1 (250) 383-6211    

			Office hours 9:00 to 5:30 Monday to Friday
			and 24 hour answering machine

   by fax: 1 (250) 383-6288

   by e-mail:  bids@victoriastamp.com

   on line: 
           (This feature has been updated as of January 31, 2006 and has
            proven to be reliable for a few auctions now. )

        To find a lot that interests you,
            browse the auction, 
         or, use one of the two search functions at the top of the side bar
          1) 'Go to Section' pull down menu,
               this lists the major sections of the auction, and
               once you've made your selection, press 'Go'
          2) in the blank box, type in a key word search, 
               as 'Germany', 'Scandinavia', 'British West Indies', etc.

        To place a bid, click on the lot number.
             The screen will change, and you can place your bid.
             This adds this lot to your bid sheet or 'shopping cart'.
             Continue browsing and bidding in this manner.
           
        To check your bids, click on 'Shopping Cart' on the sidebar,
             at any time. You may adjust your bids as necessary.

        To send in your bids, click on 'Checkout' on the sidebar. 
             This will show you the lot(s) that you have bid on.
             You can adjust your bids if you want.  Hit the 'Submit' button.

         Don't forget to press the 'Submit' button 
              at the bottom of the screen.

        REGISTRATION
             Everyone must register to acquire a permanent bidder          number 
             and a password for the web page. Record these numbers and 
             keep them in a safe place. Once you have these numbers, 
             you will not need to register in the future, unless, 
             this data changes. 

        CREDIT
             It is not necessary to leave your credit card numbers 
             with the computer. An extremely safe way to submit credit cards numbers is to divide the numbers into two groups and email the two groups separately, including the expiry date in the last email.

             1) Buyers known to us
                We will continue to deal with you as we have in the past.

             2) Buyers unknown to us
                It is important to realize that we will not release any
                  lots until they have been paid for in full.
                Bids placed on-line by first-time buyers will be accepted 
                  in good faith. However, the lots will not be forwarded
                  until paid for in full.
                First-time bidders of larger-than-normal amounts
                  will not be accepted unless the bids are forwarded 
                  separately and accompanied by credit information. 

                  This must include your home or office street address, 
                  telephone or fax number(s). You may choose to let us know
                  of any philatelic societies that you belong to, or other 
                  auctioneers that you have dealt with. 
               
                  On this information, we will accept your bids in good 
                  faith, and invoice you for any successful purchases.

                  To speed up the entire process, you may forward us your 
                  credit number and expiry date, as we accept VISA and 
                  MASTERCARD.
                  We are a dealer member of the APS (since 1985).

CHECK BID STATUS
    This feature allows you to see how your bids are doing. 
      Once the computer has received your bids, and compared them
      to the others received, it will let you know whether you are 
     'on the book' or 'low'. There's a five minute delay.
    "On the Book" is an auctioneer's term that means your bid
      is the active one. If the auction were to close that moment, 
      you would be the buyer. 
     "Low" simply means that someone has beaten you; you would not
       be the buyer if the auction were to close at this moment. 
       This gives you the chance to bid again, if you want.
     This interactive feature is also available by e-mail, 
       as you will note on your 'shopping cart' or bid slip. If
       you leave an e-mail address and click the button that tells 
       the computer to contact you if you are outbid, the computer 
       will do that, if it becomes necessary.
     Please note, that the auction is controlled by the auctioneer, 
       and because we receive so many bids the afternoon of the closing
       day, the computer does not decide the final buyer. While we try
       to keep up with all the paper bids, it usually takes all the next
       day to record them all.
     Thereafter, invoices are generated and the details are compared with
       the original bid slips to ensure that there have been no human 
       errors. For example, we cross check all invoices to ensure that
       bidder # 1 actually bid on the lots printed on his invoice.
     We usually know who bought what by Friday afternoon.

Phone 1 (250) 383-6211 for assistance.