Stamporama Online Auctions Frequently Asked Questions
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Why aren't my pictures showing up?
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Could be a couple of reasons. The main reason is that you have the address to the image file wrong. Check that you have copied or entered it correctly. From there there are two areas to consider; firstly, if you have loaded your pictures to the Stamporama website and secondly if you are using a picture hosting site.
Pictures Uploaded to the Stamporama website:
If you are uploading your image files to the Stamporama server and they are not displaying, you either have an error in the file name, or the image file didn't upload correctly. To check that the image file uploaded correctly, go to the Members Area and select the Image Upload link from the left hand menu list.
The Member's Uploaded Images will be displayed. Look through the list of images on this screen and the image that you are trying to display will be present if the file upload process worked successfully. When you have found the image that you want, click on the File Name in the Location column (the 3rd column) three(3) times. The filename should now be highlighted.
Use the Copy function in your computer (usually Ctrl plus "C") to copy the filename and go back to your erronious auction lot, and using the Edit/View Lots function under the Sellers drop down menu, paste (usually Ctrl plus "V") in the copied image filename into image field, overwriting what is already there. Press the Submit button to save the changes and the picture should display correctly. If you are still having problems, contact the Stamporama Webmaster.
Pictures Referenced on a Picture Host Website:
Your pictures must be somewhere on the Internet, and accessible to the Stamporama server. This means that, before
listing your auction, you must have uploaded your pictures to a server somewhere on the Internet.
There are many free picture hosting services you can use such as Photobucket.com.
If you are sure your pictures are available on the Internet (you have typed the URL into your browser's "Location" or "Address" box and have seen the picture),
but they still don't show up when you preview your auction listing, your problem is probably the URL you put into your auction listing.
A couple of things can go wrong here:
- The URL must be complete, starting with the "http:// " part. For example: http://www.mypictureserver.com/mypicture.jpg
- Watch the spelling and capitalization! UNIX servers (what Stamporama uses) are "case sensitive", unlike Windows. If you call
a file "mypic.JPG" and ask Windows to find it telling Windows that it is called "mypic.jpg", Windows will find it with no problem -- but a UNIX server won't!
As far as UNIX is concerned, those are two different files! Always try to cut and paste URL's, instead of typing them out. (Notepad in windows makes a convenient
scratchpad for holding copied items.)
- If it still doesn't work, where are you hosting your pictures? Some free hosting sites will
not send your pictures to another server like Stamporama's. Check their terms of use.
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How do I pay for lots I win?
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That's between you and the seller of each lot. Stamporama does not get involved. Be sure to read the Auction Tutorial.
Some sellers take credit cards, some require cash. If in doubt, contact the seller before bidding.
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How can I change my address or email information?
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Your mailing address and email address are held in the Members Database. Go to the Members Area
and use the Edit function to change your personal information. When you press Submit in the Edit function, the Members Database,
the Auction and the Discussion Board are all updated at the same time. You can't change your mailing address or email address
separately in the Auction or Discussion Board anymore. When you change your email or mailing address, the change will be effective for all open auction lots.
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Whoops! I just bid too high! How do I get out of it?
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Our auction does not have any bid retraction or bid editing features, so be careful when bidding!
However, there is a feature which allows you to change your high bid if you are currently the high bidder.
Let's say you just bid $50 when you meant to bid $5. To change your high bid, simply rebid immediately with the
proper bid. There's one catch! The system will not let you change your bid to anything lower than the amount shown by
"The Lowest You May Bid Is:". So if somebody already had an $8 bid being held by the system when you bid $50, you would be high
bidder at $8.50 and the next available bid would be $9.00 - that would be the lowest number to which you can change your bid.
There is a reason for this. Techniques involving changing and retracting bids can be used by dishonest people to discover a bidder's
high bid and to "shield" lots. Our system does not allow this, however it means you have to be careful when entering bids!
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What currency are bids in?
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All bidding is conducted in US$.
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Why are my closing e-mails sometimes delayed?
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The auction system sends closing e-mails to the buyer and seller with the final auction results. The auction program automatically checks every 15 minutes for auction lots that need to be closed. This program runs on the quarter hour, so your email notifications could be up to 15 minutes later than you expect them.
If you think they are coming much later than that or you are not getting them at all, please contact the Stamporama Webmaster.
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I made a mistake in my listing. Can I stop an auction?
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You have the ability to change the details of your auction. On the Auction screen, click on Edit/View Lots under the Sellers menu drop down.
This program will allow you to fix a typo or correct the URL for your scanned picture. If no one has already posted a bid on your auction lot, you may change the
minimum bid set for the auction. Also, if no one has already posted a bid on the auction, you can delete the auction lot.
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If an auction lot expires without any bids, is there a way to re-post it?
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There is no auto-re-posting. We intentionally left that feature out of the auction.
Some people tend to misuse it, constantly re-listing a long string of items that never sell. This can end up "plugging up" an auction site. That's what happened to Yahoo before they started charging listing fees. They had 300,000 lots of pure
junk offered at retail prices because there was no effort nor expense involved on the part of the seller. Some sellers were
happy selling only 5% of what they listed! We want the Stamporama auction to be a site where things start reasonably, and a
high percentage sells.
To Re-List and auction lot that closed without selling, select the Unsold/Relist function under the Sellers drop down menu on the Auction screen. The Unsold Items List will be displayed. To Re-List an auction lot
click on the Relist link in the Action column on the right hand side of the screen. The auction lot information will be displayed, allowing you to change the number of days that the lot will be listed for and the Minimum Bid Amount.
Each time you relist an auction lot, the program will make you reduce the Minimum Starting Bid by at least 20% of the original listing price.
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And, did we thank you for listing lots in our auction? Good, because we're glad you're giving our members something to look at
even if they didn't bite this time.
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Michael, SOR's auctioneer, and Tim, SOR's webmaster
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Please ask your questions of the Auctioneer at michael78651@gmail.com
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