Welcome to 21st Century Auctions Sale 11, around 1600 lots, and with a pre-sale estimate of around $325,000

This sale will commence at the slightly later time of 1 pm on Saturday, and will allow an extra hour of viewing time on auction day.

Forget high interest rates and petrol prices, the stamp market is actually booming and thanks our higher Australian dollar, imports are actually quite a lot cheaper.

Take the new 2009 Stanley Gibbons Part One Commonwealth Catalogue for instance, it will actually down in price by $30 from $249.50 to $219.50! we will have a few copies on hand here so if you are attending the sale in person, otherwise we will be glad to supply post-free to Australian addresses.

Top prices are continuously being achieved for better Australian items, and fine Great Britain and British Commonwealth is in high demand.

Stamps have traditionally done well in a recession, and many of the great stamp companies around the world were founded during the great depression of 1929.

Simply put, and this is the message I have been spreading for the past 6 years, fine quality stamps will never be cheaper than today, so buy now.

Here are some Australian stamp retail prices from 2002, along with today's prices so you can compare for yourselves:

1st Watermark One Pound Kangaroo fine used, 2002 price $1750, today's price $2500 1st Watermark Two Pound kangaroo fine used, 2002 price $2750, today's price $4500

KGV 1/4d perf 14 multi wmk. mint lightly hinged, 2002 price $175, today's price $325

5/- Sydney Harbour Bridge mint unhinged, 2002 price $825, today's price $1450

That's an average rise of about 12% per annum, and many other stamps have done much better over the same period.

Today's advice is to continue to buy quality classic stamps at today's prices, and the message is the same as 6 years ago!

Prices will never be cheaper!

Our valuation method is quite easy to negotiate, the left hand column is the reserve price below which no bids will be accepted. The right hand column is our estimated value for an item and on average our lots sell for close to or above this figure.

We would like to welcome you to our spacious, well-lit and comfortable auction rooms and hope that you can attend in person. Should you however be unable to do so please study our catalogue carefully and also take time to visit our website where scans of many more items than in the catalogue are available.

Postal, faxed and emailed bids are of course very welcome and to help avoid the chance of disappointment. It is highly advisable to bid very well in advance.

Our internet site is also "live" and you can bid online right up until room bidding commences on each lot. We now accept Paypal for payment of Auction lots, please contact us for payment instructions if you wish to pay by this method. Diners Club and American Express. There is a 3% administration fee for each of these services.

There is no charge for payment by Visa or MasterCard provided that details are given at the time of placing your bids. We do strongly urge you to use a credit card for payment as clients who use this method will generally receive their lots more quickly.

GST is not added to the hammer price of any lot in our auctions, and there are no T lots. Where GST is included in the sale price this will be indicated on your Tax Invoice. Please note that the buyer's commission for this sale will be 15% plus GST.

If you are successful please understand that picking, packing and despatching of lots is a time consuming activity and that you should allow 14 to 21 days to receive your items following payment. Realised prices are available online immediately.

Unsold items are available after the close of the sale at either the reserve or 80% of the estimate, whichever is greater.

If you have not previously bid in our auctions I ask you to peruse our catalogue carefully, and please contact us if there are any aspects about which you are not certain. We will happily answer any questions you may have.

We are always seeking new material for our future auctions; the deadline for lots to be included in Auction 12 is Oct. 20 2008. The sale is expected to be held in late January/ early February 2009. We also expect to run a Private Treaty sale before the end of this year, so if you are interested in submitting any fine single items or collections for this sale, please contact us.

In the meantime please do enjoy browsing the current offerings, and we look forward to receiving your bids.