Stamptrotters Society of the Hudson Valley
Constitution of the Stamptrotters Society of Hudson Valley
Approved January 1978 | Amended July 2005, January 2006, July 2021, March 2025
CLICK HERE to read or download or print the 2025 Constitution.
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Club Auction Guidelines
Proposed 7/12/12 | Approved 8/9/2012 | Amended July 2021
Basic Rules
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Auction night shall be held on the 4th Thursday of the month, or as may be rescheduled by the club president.
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No personal sales of philatelic material is permitted at a scheduled club auction.
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The club treasurer shall be responsible for keeping track of the bidding, collecting the monies and keeping financial records of both expenditures and sales.
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All members may bid.
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Guests may bid at a single meeting, but must join to bid at subsequent meetings.
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Guests may contribute up to 20 lots one time to the auction, with the auction manager or vice president’s permission, and are subject to a 20% commission, which is retained by the club; they must join if intending to submit lots at more than one meeting.
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Meetings should not last past 9:00 pm; if the meeting looks to last longer than 9:00 pm, the auctioneer may revise the order to ensure that all members submitting lots have a portion of their lots offered.
Club Lots
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The Vice President shall request new lot material from the Stamp Procurement Manager whenever deemed necessary.
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The Stamp Procurement Manager shall be responsible for the purchase of new material for auction, the cataloguing and pricing of said material, and the preparation “ready for display” of the material.
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The Stamp Procurement Manager shall be supplied with a new set of Scott catalogues (1 yr. old) every 3 years, for the purpose of pricing updates. The old catalogs shall be returned to the club for disposal at an auction.
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Any other supplies needed, i.e. watermark fluid, display mounts, color charts. Publications, etc. may be purchased and reimbursed by the treasurer, all other purchases to be approved by an officer of the club.
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When requested by the Vice President the Stamp Procurement Manager will break down certain lots and reprice them when deemed advisable for a sale.
Lot Limits, Descriptions, Order and Such
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No limit shall be placed on the number of club lots displayed.
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Club members shall be limited to 20 lots each, except when the auctioneer allows more.
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Club lots are always auctioned first, followed in rotation by member lots. After auctioning club lots, the auctioneer shall determine the order of lots to offer.
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Lots should be properly described, including some ID (catalogue number is best). Other information that can appear might include CV (citing catalogue used and year issued), year of issue, subject, and condition (used, MNH, MLH, etc).
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All defects in single stamp lots and lots containing a single set MUST be described; this includes scuffs, thins, tears, repairs, disturbed gum, toning, creases, etc. For our purposes, please include FDCs and mint postal stationary.
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Defects on covers, other than FDCs and mint postal stationary, need not be described.
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All lots are returnable for full refund for whatever reason anytime within the following 2 meetings.
The Auctioneer
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The auctioneer is in charge of the meeting; this includes insuring that all activities in the room are auction-related and eliminating distractions.
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The auctioneer will call the meeting to order at 7:30, or whenever he arrives, whichever comes first. Other club activity, including the 50/50, should already be concluded.
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The auctioneer will try to call on bidders in the order in which they’ve raised their hands.
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The auctioneer is sole arbiter of disputes during the auction.
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The auctioneer should identify any additional attributes or defects he spots on lots.
Pricing
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Club lots are priced at the latest CV per the Scott Catalogues on hand and then offered at an opening bid of 20% of CV.
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Club lots are offered for 2 consecutive auction nights (and the 1 intervening business meeting as for-sale items).
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Club lots still unsold after 2 auction nights are marked down to 10% CV and marked “red tag”. They are offered as red tag sales for 1 auction night only.
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As an added incentive to bidders an additional 5% discount is offered on cumulative purchases of $20 or more and a 10% discount on cumulative purchases of $40 or more on club lots at any single meeting. This discount does not apply to sales from other members.
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Members will be charged a 10% commission on all items sold.
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The auctioneer will use the following bidding increment conventions: 10c up to $2; 25c up to $5; 50c up to $10; $1 up to $25; $2.50 henceforth. He may round down any increment to make life easier for himself, so, for instance, a 95c item’s next increment would be $1.
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Club members may suggest other bids while bidding on a lot, as long as the bid Is not less than the current bid.
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Sellers may ask the auctioneer to lower the price of a lot. This should be limited to a single instance, but that instance may include all remaining lots.
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On high-value items cataloguing over $200 still unsold after the “red tag” offer, the Stamp Procurement Manager will attempt to trade it to one of the suppliers for credit against future purchases. The trade will be the best possible and at his discretion.
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If still unsold, or not tradable, the $200 CV item will be returned to the vice president, who will make record of the item and give it to a volunteer club member with guidelines to be placed on eBay or other auction site. The club member will be reimbursed all expenses and fees and given a 10% commission on the net sale as an added incentive.
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The auctioneer, if requested by the Stamp Procurement Manager, may bundle club lots or reduce below the 10% mark, or use other techniques when club lots are not likely to otherwise move. The impetus for this must come from the Stamp Procurement Manager or Vice President.
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The Auction Rules are appended to, but independent of, the club's constitution, and may be revised with a simple majority vote at any meeting where the auctioneer is present.