Material for auction usually comes from 2 sources:

1. House ownership. Our purchases encompass buying at public auction to private purchases from collectors and estates.

2. Consigned material. Items from collectors and dealers for us to sell on a commission basis.

The following information will be generally applicable to our MEA and ABC Sales.

An individual will contact us about stamps they wish to consign. We talk with them to get an idea of what the material is, how much catalog value there is, overall condition, what the consignor thinks his stamps are worth, etc, with questions being more specific on single stamps than on lots and collections.

If it is our determination that the material is appropriate for our auction, we will ask the consignor to ship the material to us.

Upon receipt, we will evaluate the consignment, determine the best method of lotting (breaking up a large group into smaller groups), and determine a value for the consignment. If our evaluation is quite a bit below what the consignor feels he should receive, we will contact the individual and discuss the issue. If discussion does not produce an agreement, we will return the material to the individual. This is pretty rare. In the year and I half I have been working here, I can recall only one consignment that was returned. We mail our Auction Consignment Agreement form which details the terms and conditions pertaining to the consignment. This form is signed by us and the consignor and is a legally binding contract.

Setting up the Spring and Fall Michael E Aldrich Auctions

The stamps are inspected, mounted and placed on the lot cards, descriptions have been written, reserve prices have been set (more on reserves later) and on to the photo boards. The great pictures you see in the catalog are scans of these boards. It usually takes 2-3 days to get the boards finished, another couple days to scan and compile the catalog, and 4-7 days at the printer before the catalogs are mailed. So "preparation week" here can get pretty hectic! In fact, ALL our catalogs are formatted in house by our Super Duper Photoshop and Pagemaker expert Jan Aldrich. After the catalog is compiled, it is forwarded to the printer and then mailer. Throw in advertising and mailing costs, and putting on an auction can be an expensive undertaking.