An auction for the benefit of Midwest Philatelic Society (MPS) members is held at each monthly meeting, except that December’s auction proceeds are donated to the club. One must be a member of the MPS to put material in the auction (see below for exception), but non-members are welcome to attend and to bid on any of the lots in the auction. There are no buyer or seller commissions when lots are sold. The monthly auction provides an opportunity for members to obtain new material for their collections.

In the interest of speeding up the MPS stamp auction, the club is planning to implement a small change to the auction format. 

In the past, any auction item which has at least one interested bidder number on the auction form has been offered for bids. Frequently, if the item has only one interested bidder, the item is sold at the initial asking price. 

Beginning in January, 2026, any item which shows only one interested bidder will be collected and removed from the auction tables prior to the start of the meeting and will be sold to the interested bidder at the asking price without being offered for bids.  These items will be collected shortly before the meeting begins to allow time to process these items.  Items with two or more interested bidder numbers will be offered for bids in the traitional fashion.

In order to be successful, there are a couple things to keep in mind:

• Be sure to have all of your items for sale on the tables before 1:30. The earlier you put your items on the tables, the more time buyers will have to look them over.
• If you have interest in an item, be sure to add your bidder number to the auction form. This will ensure that the item is included in the live auction if there are at least two interested bidders.

Procedures for MPS Auctions

• Only club members may offer items for sale while non-members are welcome to purchase items but not sell.  If a non-member wishes to bid on any items, please contact the auctioneer to arrange for a bidder number.
• Members are allowed to place up to 10 items per month for auction.
• All auction items should be on the tables no later than 1:30pm. This allows time to collect the “1-bid” items and get them entered into the computer before the meeting begins.
• All items should have an auction form attached with the seller’s auction number and description shown.  Auction forms are available on the MPS website.
• Please price items to a rounded dollar amount. Prices of “.25” or “.50” complicate making change.
• All items are sold “as-is, where-is” with no guarantee as to accuracy of description, etc.
• All sales are final. No refunds are granted.
• At the conclusion of the auction, it is preferred that buyers come forward first followed by sellers.  The club uses money collected from buyers to pay sellers for their items.  The club does not take a commission from the sales.
• Donations to the club are welcome. Please clearly indicate such on the auction form.
• It is preferred that all sales are paid in cash to allow sellers to be paid more easily.  Credit cards and various forms of ePayments (Paypal, Venmo, CashApp) are not accepted.
• Please remember to take your purchases at the end of the auction.
• Please remember to pick up any of your unsold items before you leave.