County Philatelic Auctions

Sale Guide

5000+ lots of GB and Foreign stamps every 2-3 months

Realistic prices – accurate descriptions – efficient service

Backed by 40 years of integrity and fair dealing

Right Material - Right price - Write now - Right!

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A short guide to County mail bid sales
Quality at YOUR price - buying in our mail bid sales is safe and simple

Choose from over 5000 lots of fine British and Foreign Stamps (see link on home page or schedule to current sale catalogue) and follow the guidance below.

  • Lot descriptions are colour coded.  Lot number green, country black, description blue, estimate red.

o        Lot number    Country   description….      Estimate (UK Pounds)

o        Estimates are the prices we expect the lots to sell for.  These are already at a substantial discount below catalogue value.   £1 is about US$2.    Abbreviations used.

  • How to bid: For any items of interest, just email us the lot numbers and maximum you are prepared to pay for each in UK pounds.   You may get them for less.  To avoid errors please include a brief description of the lot.  Bids are accepted by mail, email, fax or telephone until noon (UK time) on the day of the sale.
  • How much to bid: Except on the clearance section, bids below 80% of our estimate are not accepted.  To acquire the many better items and offer extensive choice, their cost to us often 80% or more.  We simply cannot sell them at 80% without making a loss.   To stand a good chance of success, bids should be close to or above our estimate.  Low bids waste our time and yours.   Bidding high makes it more likely you will secure the item.  It does not mean you will pay high.  You will get the item at just one bid step above the next bidder.  If in doubt bid the estimate – all lots are good value at our estimate. More details in bidding guidance and how a postal auction works.
  • Additional Charges: no buyers’ premium, no handling charges, no credit card surcharges. The only extra is post and packing of £1.50 plus the actual postage.  
  • Payment: is due in UK Pounds within 7 days of notification by cash, cheque, credit card or bank transfer.  For payments in other currencies or by other methods please ask us first for details.   British banks do not take Euro cheques.
    • We accept Visa, MasterCard and UK Debit cards as well as Solo and JCB but not charge cards such as American Express or Diners.   For guidance on sending card details securely by email please ask.
    • We prefer our UK customers to pay by cheque.   To process 300 credit cards takes us over 9 hours and at a time when we need to be packing lots for dispatch.  In contrast processing 300 cheques takes us less than 15 minutes.
    • Extended payment terms may be considered on purchases over £200.
    • Overdue accounts may be surcharged at 2% per month.
  • Refund guarantee - if any lot is not as described, simply tell us why and return it in its original condition for a refund.
  • Illustrations: About 300 items are illustrated on 12-16 colour plates lettered A – P.   Click the {x} tag in descriptions.   Please note some lot numbers in the photos are superimposed on the stamp images.  Be assured that these are not covering any defects.  Also some stamps show a horizontal line near the top – this is just the edge of the transparent strip on which they were mounted for scanning.
  • Catalogue organisation:
    • Collections/Mixed Lots
    • Accessories
    • Cinderella
    • Literature
    • Thematics (Topicals)
    • Countries A to Z
    • Clearance section:  These are lots on which low (but still reasonable) bids will be considered.  What we consider ‘reasonable’ depends on the item.  It is not a fixed percentage of our estimate.
    • Interbid section these are generally inexpensive lots that were already priced and described from our purchase of Interstamps. 
  • Viewing of lots: is normally at the stamp fair 6 days prior to the sale.  This is (see schedule) either at:
    • Basingstoke Stamp Fair, 10.00am – 4.00pm, Costello Technology College, Basingstoke.   The fair is well sign-posted and within walking distance from Basingstoke Railway Station (50 minutes from London Waterloo). 
    • or Thatcham Stamp Fair, 10.00am – 4.00pm, Memorial Hall, Bath Road, Thatcham, Berks, RG18 3AG. The hall is in a side road f short distance from Thatcham High Street on the north side of the A4 towards Newbury.

To book tables at either fair contact Paula Cant, 01256 415699.   Over 95% of our customers do not view and rely on our descriptions and estimates - with our satisfaction guarantee, you can too.
Photocopies of suitable lots - 30p each plus postage.

  • Purchase of unsold lots: After the sale date unsold lots will be available for direct sale at the estimated price.  Postage and packing is extra at our standard auction charges.   Buy 1 item or 5, the charge is the same.
  • Additional notes

o        No quibble refund Guarantee:  We want you to be satisfied with all purchases and be a contented customer for many years.   In the unlikely event that a lot is not correctly described - simply tell us why and return it in its original condition for a full refund.  We get so few items returned (less then a half percent) we can afford to give this level of satisfaction.

o        Further notes and guidance in the help panel on our home page.

No buyers’ premium, no handling charge, no card charges, no added VAT – simply value for money.

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