Auction Rules

1. Auction lots are accepted by the HPS from HPS members in good standing on a consignment basis. NO guarantee of sale is given. The HPS commission for the sale is fifteen percent (15%) of the selling price. Any unsold lots Will be returned to the seller, unless the auctioneer determines that the passed lot may be sold at a later auction within three (3) months, the month the lot was passed. The auctioneer Will notify the seller that the lot Will be held and placed in a future auction. The seller may at that time request that the lot be returned.

2. Any amounts due the seller and/or passed lots will generally be returned to the seller by mail within two (2) weeks after the date of the auction. If the size or number of lots to be returned makes the cost of returning by mail prohibitive, the seller may be asked to pick up his lots at the next regular HPS meeting, or make arrangements With the auctioneer or treasurer.

3. A charge Of twenty-five (25) cents Will be assessed for any unsold lot which has an upset amount greater than twenty-five (25) cents. It is recommended that cach auction lot have a minimum catalog or retail value of three (3) dollars. In case of lots below the recommended minimum the auctioneer reserves the right to combine or reject lots. No upset minimum is required. If no upset amount is specified, bidding will begin at a minimum Of twenty-five (25) cents.

4. The most recent Scott Catalogues should be used to identify the lots whenever possible. If a specialized catalogue is used it must be clearly identified. The catalogue year and the lot’s catalogue value must also be listed on the HPS Auction Sheet. The catalogue value must be no older than two (2) years or the most recent edition of the specialized catalogue. Retail estimates may also be listed on the HPS Auction Sheet.

5. The upset minimum values must be in the same increment as the increments for bidding. If thc upset value is in any other amount, the auctioneer will change the upsett to the next lowest increment amount. Incrernents are: 0.25 to 5.00 by 0.25, 5.00 to 10.00 by 0.50, 10.00 to 25.00 by 1.00, 25.00 to 50.00 by 2.50, 50.00 to 100.00 by 5.00, 100.00 to 250.00 by 10.00, 250.00 to 500.00 by 25.00, and 500.00 and up 50.00.

6. The Seller’s identification on the individual lot sheets will be two, three, or four letters of the sellers choosing. The auctioneer will assign a numeric vendor code for the batch of lots and this vendor code will be listed on the published auction listing. The numeric vendor code will vary from submission to submission.

7. Every lot for the HPS auction must be mounted on the current HPS Auction Sheet, except for large items, in which case an HPS Auction Sheet must be prepared, but the item(s) need not be mounted. The seller should submit lots in batches of no larger than fifteen (15), each batch accompanied by an HPS Auction Summary Sheet. The lots must sorted and listed on the HPS Summary Sheet in the followiqg order: CATALOGUES and BOOKS, UNITED STATES, HAWAII following paragraph), and all other countries in ALPHABETICAL order. Lots for each country must be listed in ascending order by Scott (or specified) catalogue number. The left-most column (“HPS LOT #”) on the HPS Summary Sheet will be filled by the auctioneer. The printed “SELLER LOT #” on the HPS Summary Sheet must be copied to the corresponding HPS Auction Sheet in the appropriate blank field.

8. When listing Hawaiian town cancels, place after regular hawaiian stamps and arrange them ALPHABETICALLY by town name within catalogue number. Those portions of the town mark that are clear should be listed in CAPITAL LETTERS with all other letters in lower case. The Meyer-Harris cancle identification should be stated along with the color of cancle and rarity rating (if known).

9. The auctioneer reserves the right to reject any auction lot. Should a large number of batches be submitted at one time, some Of these batches may not be presented in the next auction. The batches will appear in the HPS auctions on a first come first served basis. A batch that contains more than ten (10) lots may be split into smaller batches and placed in later auctions at the discretion of the auctioneer.

10. In describing the lot, the specifications are to circled to indicate the quality and condition of the lot being submitted to HPS for auctioning: “MINT” = unused; “USED” = postally used; “CTO” = canceled to order (has cancek and gum); “COVER”; “FIRST DAY”; “ON PIECE”; “NH” = never hinged; “LH” – light hinge, “HH = heavy hinge; “HR” = hinge remnant; “OG” = origanal gum; “DG” = disturbed gum; “PG” = partial gum; and “NG” = no gum. Other conditions to be circled are: “XFINE” = extra fine, where the centering and quality are excellent; ‘VFINE” = very fine, where the design is well centered; “FINE-VFINE” = where design is slightly off-centered; “FINE” = fine, where the design is definitely off-centered; “AVG” = average, where the perforations touch the design; “POOR” = damaged, perforation cut into design, or space filter.

11. All imperfections must also be and specified and circled. These may include: “PIN HOLE”, “CLOSED TEAR”, “TORN”, “THIN”, “CREASE”, ‘SHORTPERFS”, “MISSING PERFS”, “MISSING CORNER”, “FACE SCUFFED”, “MARK ON BACK”. “SL. TROPIC STAIN”, “TROPIC STAIN”, or any other irregularities.

12. Any lots returned to HPS by bidders for valid reasons within fifteen (15) days from date of receipt, will returned to the seller as not sold, but HPS will charge the seller the fifteen (15%) percent commission as if it had been sold at the unit price.

13. Prepared lots may be submitted to the auctioneer at the regular monthly meeting or mailed to the HPS post office box marked to the attention of the auctioneer.