A POSTAL AUCTION WITH NO BUYER’S PREMIUM, NO EXTRA VAT OR HIDDEN EXTRAS AND GUARANTEED
Dear Colleague, I remember at interview, asking Elaine, who you all know as our very able
Administrator, her first impressions of how she envisaged working for UPA would be? Elaine answered that she thought we’d be “fairly busy” as an obviously successful Stamp Auction. Time flies, re-wind to 2010 and then Elaine would probably tell me that we’ve been working together for at least the past seven years when I think it is six… during which time the 1,200 bid forms per auction that we received then upon 14,000 lot auctions have ‘mushroomed’ to a NEW United Kingdom record of 2,311 different bidders upon 23,000+ lots. Thank you, that’s all down to You.
The point is – how did we manage? – and truthfully I really don’t know. It must have been a stroll in the park then – 1,200 different bidders then – that’s 400 more than our nearest UK competitor receives today – and now we’ve just finished serving 2,311 different bidders and the cycle starts all over again. I must admit – there’s never a dull moment and hopefully we’ve had to become a little more efficient along the way – but there’s one little nugget above in what I’ve written… Elaine doesn’t work for UPA – she, in tandem with all our staff – we all work together, with each other. Here, nobody works for UPA. We all work alongside each other in hopeful harmony. So when somebody asked recently if Shelley worked for us – I answered – “No, Shelley and I work together – we’re part of the UPA Team”.
Naturally, I’m the disruptive force, usually meddling in systems that my wife Diana and I set up in those previous 16 (or 17) years since 2000 when we tentatively launched UPA. The problem is that come 16 years later – our staff have all created their own improvements for each other’s working benefit. I simply love that, when we’re all pulling together to create improvement, rather than those staff ‘empires’ or cliques one hears about in other presumably larger companies. But, of course my initial memories of how things work are no longer that valid, so I’m banished back to my desk to deal with the marketing, liaising with clients, valuing, and the numerous other issues that managing a growing stamp auction business in 2016 or 17 throw at us.
As our Team (and truly they are an exceptional Team) pull together, innovating for improvement, so ‘top down’ I view my position as always pushing the boundaries, never once letting up, always looking for improvements (and not minor ones either) as I agree with just one thing that Tony Blair is believed to have said
“Innovate or Die”... and rightly or wrongly that really is how the 21st Century is heading, don’t you agree? Naturally that’s not how the Stamp trade operates is it? We’re all stuck in the philatelic mud, mired in traditional old-fashioned working practices, and we all own macintoshes and wonder in the park don’t we…
If there’s one thing that I’ve learned along the way, that is what a wonderful hobby we’re privileged to work in and the only thing that makes it so wonderful – is You, the people. I don’t know what it is about stamp collectors, or dare I say ‘Philatelists’… but what a delightfully diverse crew of collectors you are. In my 44 years’ full time in Philately I can honestly state that I’ve barely met an irate stamp collector although I may have met one or few dealers.
One of the most interesting things I’ve learned along the way is what a truly
‘private’ pastime the world of philately is. Philatelist wives have told me that when the eagerly anticipated UPA auction catalogue arrives, this time in early December – their counterparts retire ‘into the study’ only to emerge for lunch-time (what a chauvinistic bunch we are) … One such patient lady used to ask her husband where he had been that morning immersed in his UPA catalogue? - and his answer was “just returning from the Sudan Dear”.
On that happy note, it only remains for me to thank you all for your generous support. For a change, I’ve not gone into the whys and wherefores, or the ‘numbers’ you know that I’m so fond of quoting. Of course, I can’t leave without saying something can I ? Post Brexit, our last auction was an amazing success creating a NEW United Kingdom 2,311 bidder record with more material being exported, but the home market for quality classic British and Empire material is good and even strong. In our last auction, we sold stamps worldwide to collectors and dealers in 57 different Countries. Only 4 collectors paid postage (apart from those almost exclusively overseas that won heavy lots). So it is important for you to bid again to maintain your ‘Loyalty-Postfree’ status ! The material in this auction is fabulous so it shouldn’t be hard…
My wife and I, and members of our super Team, wish you Happy Hunting this Christmas and a relaxing New Year to a brighter philatelic future.
View our auction online, bid by e-mail
www.upastampauctions.co.uk
www.the-saleroom.com
UNIVERSAL PHILATELIC AUCTIONS (Admin Office), 4 THE OLD COALYARD, WEST END, NORTHLEACH, GLOS, GL54 3HE, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1451 861111 Fax: +44 (0) 1451 861297 e-mail:
bids@upastampauctions.co.uk
Introduction: 16 years ago my wife and I set out to create an entirely New Inspirational International Philatelic Auction. As the support from Collectors and Dealers like you has mushroomed we’ve moved from ‘stapled’ 10,000 lot catalogues to ‘perfect bound’ 20,000+ lot auction catalogues supported by 650 different bidders initially, to a new UPA UK record of 2,311 different bidders in our last auction.
Thanks to Collectors Like You we have become the largest auction in the United Kingdom and Overseas offering a ‘scale’ and fundamental features such as No Buyer’s Premium and the Unique UPA Reducing Estimate System not achieved by any other global auction.
The benefit of your mushrooming support has permitted us to continue our journey of adding VAL-YOU, until recently we’ve finally been able to accomplish my dream of supplying your auction lots loyalty POST- FREE including insurance so that NEW/regular bidders winning, for example, standard sized lots totalling £100 – you do not pay a penny more than £100, (compare that with your invoice from Competitors), PLUS each and every lot is Guaranteed – all of which may be the reason why up to 7 x more bidders support my auction (90% bidders are successful) than our competition. Start now – you’ve nothing to lose and your collection has so much to gain.
THINGS YOU MAY NEED TO KNOW... THE UPA REDUCING ESTIMATE SYSTEM
Each auction is a compilation of both high and lower value material, with some of the high value material owned by vendors and some by UPA. My belief is that if an item is not selling, it is too expensive. This formula permits us to offer the Unique UPA Reducing Estimate System so that if an item does not sell, it will be reoffered in the next catalogue with the estimate reduced by 11%, and the item will be flagged to show that it has been previously unsold. Each time that item does not sell, it will be reoffered and the estimate will reduce by 11%, then 12%, 13%, 14% etc... accordingly. This allows items to find their own market value. E.g...
- A lot is offered for the first time with an estimate of £100, but it does not sell.
- The lot is reoffered in the next auction with an estimate of £89, but it does not sell.
- The lot is reoffered in the next auction with an estimate of £78, but it does not sell.
- The lot is reoffered in the next auction with an estimate of £67, etc... (Estimate reductions are ‘ramped’ as above as each time a lot is unsold).
Bids below 80% of estimate have no chance of success. After the auction has closed, on the Friday evening we publish the UNSOLDS list of all lots that may be purchased (on a 1st a standard 80% of estimate.
come 1st
Lots that are previously unsold are denoted US (in bold text) at the end of the description, e.g...
US - previously unsold US2 - previously unsold twice US3 - previous unsold three times etc.
Once a lot has been unsold five times or more and if the estimate has fallen to £12 or less, that lot drops into the BABS category.
BABS: Bag A Bargain System served basis) at
BABS lots are those items which have been unsold 5 times or more (marked US5, US6 etc...) and have estimates of £12 or less; such items are denoted by (B) at the end of the description. These lots start at 99p and you can bid any amount you wish, at or above this level. Standard bid steps (see below) apply to BABS lots so if you do not wish bid steps (tie-breaks) to apply to BABS lots, please indicate clearly on your bid form.
ESTIMATES
• Estimates are based upon condition and current market value.
• All estimates and catalogue prices are in £ GBP and all catalogue prices are S.G. unless otherwise stated. We will state where another catalogue is used and if a foreign currency, we will show the value in Pounds Sterling equivalent.
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