Frequently Asked Questions
There is an auctioneer on-line during the auction weekend to answer your questions. Over most auction weekends the auctioneer usually answers between 300-700 e-mails. Every message sent will receive a response. However, if your question is one that can be found on this page you will be sent a link back to this page. Therefore it is best to start here and see if you can find the answer you need.
QUESTIONS
#1 I never got my registration codes sent to me.
#2 I forgot my codes. Can you send them to me?
#3 When does the auction end or a specific item close?
#5 A picture is not showing up.
#6 Is your auction hosted by EBAY?
#7 How do I pay for my winnings?
#8 When will the grand total come for all my winnings?
#9 When will my winnings be shipped?
#12 What is the shipping cost if my box is over 1 pound?
#13 Who can attend the auction?
#14 Where are the Free Shipping specials?
#15 What addresses do you ship to?
#16 I made an incorrect bid and need to retract it!
#17 How do I become an Auction Club Member?
#18 My friend and I want to combine our orders to save on shipping.
#19 I also want to buy paper and things from your web site. Can they be combined?
#20 I don't want to put my credit card number on the internet.
#21 I could not attend the close of the auction and I lost my bids. Do you have more?
#22 I do not like auctions and want to just place a regular order.
#23 I have a new e-mail address and need my registration information to be updated.
#24 I have a new shipping address and need my registration information to be updated.
#25 I keep forgetting my username. Can I change it to another word?
#26 I am so confused about how to do all of this. Help!
ANSWERS
#1 I never got my registration codes sent to me.
There are four reasons why this could happen. One is that the e-mail with the codes got lost in cyber space. That does happen occasionally as you probably know. To see if this is what happened ask to have the codes sent to you again. If they do not show up again then you know that the problem is something else. You can request your codes to be sent by going to the auction Log In page. Then click on the Forgot Your Username/Password? link.
The next thing to be careful of is if you have an aggressive SPAM filter. The e-mail with the codes could easily be filtered.
The other thing that can happen is that when you first registered you did a small typing error on your e-mail address. This happens a lot and it is the number 1 reason for not getting your codes. The only way to fix this is to go in and re-register again. If the system lets you re-register then you know that a typo was the reason the codes did not come. Once you re-register the new codes will be automatically sent out.
If you forgot your codes and requested them and they never came you should make sure that the e-mail address you originally registered with is still current. If you registered months ago using an e-mail address that is no longer valid then re-register using one that is. Then your new codes will come to the new e-mail address.
Note: Sometimes bidders register with an e-mail address they actually never use (they set it up special for the auction). That is fine except you may never think to check it for your codes and other auction e-mail. We only send codes, messages, announcement and invoices to the e-mail address that is in your auction registration!
#2 I forgot my codes. Can you send them to me?
The auction system is automated so you can request your codes 24 hours a day with no assistance. Just go to the auction and try to log in. On the log in page there is a link that says "Forgot Your Username/Password?". Click on that link and have the codes sent to you. If they do not show up check out Frequently Asked Question #1 above.
#3 When does the auction end or a specific item close?
All listings are set to close the hour of 3:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard/Daylight Time). However, the exact minute and second can only be determined by going to the item listing and looking at the minute shown. To find that exact time click on the listing you are concerned about. When the page comes up scroll down a little bit until you see the words "Closing On". To the right of those words the exact closing Hour, Minute and Second is shown.
Note: The only reason that the listing would still be open past that time stated would be if it was in an "Extended Bidding" mode. To learn about extended bidding click on the little Questions Mark symbol next to the word Extended Bidding on the auction listing page (it is just up a bit higher on the page from where the closing time is shown).
There are companies out there that offer "sniping services" at auctions. They are able to determine the exact instant an item is going to close. They will then program your bid to be inserted milliseconds before that item is going to close. By doing this they are able to ensure that you will win the bid. The bid is inserted faster than a human can do it. A service can also do this on more than one item at a time.
We DO NOT allow sniping at our auction. If we see it going on the bidder will be blocked from the auction and the bids will be canceled. Sorry!
#5 A picture is not showing up.
It sounds like there is an error in the listing. We would appreciate being told about it. If you can send the name or auction number that you are looking at in an e-mail that would be great. We will then go in and fix it and notify you when it is corrected. Click here to report a broken image: CPG Auctioneer
#6 Is your auction hosted by EBAY?
No. This auction is located at our own site and it is not connected to Ebay in any way. If you thought it was and assumed that we work the same way please take a moment to look over our Policy pages. Our policies are not the same. Our policy page is located at the auction site.
#7 How do I pay for my winnings?
The evening (or morning after) the auction closes we will send you an Invoice via e-mail with a link that you will need to click on. That link will take you to our web site where you will be able to place your auction winnings into one of our Secure Shopping carts. At that point you will be able to add items from our web site inventory (if you want to) or simply checkout.
#8 When will the total come for all my winnings?
Sometime the evening after the auction closes or sometimes Monday morning (if it was a large auction).
#9 When will my winnings be shipped?
Depending on what you ordered, when you paid etc. your order will ship within 1-7 days. We go in the order of who paid first and then where you are located. It is recommended that East Coast people pay right away. If you don't it can seem like forever before your parcel comes (it takes UPS 5-6 working days to go from CA to the other coast).
Here is a link to a page where that feature is discussed: Extended Bidding
Visit the Proxy Bidding Explained web page and read up about it. It is good to know about this feature!
#12 What is the shipping cost if my box is over 1 pound?
If you order weighs under 3 pounds it will probably be shipped via US Priority Mail (between $4.80 and $9.75). If it weighs over 3 lbs it will probably be shipped via UPS Ground. For an estimate of UPS rates you can visit The Auctioneer's Corner web page. Just click on the Shipping Times & Charges link. Alaska, Hawaii and International orders have to ship via US Priority Mail. Exact shipping costs and choices are given when you checkout.
#13 Who can attend the auction?
The auction is open to the public (except the Invitation Only one in the Spring) and anyone is welcome to join us. However, we do reserve the right to block anyone at any time. Reasons for being blocked from the auction is excessive rudeness to other bidders or to the auctioneer, winning multiple bids and then not paying or Sniping.
#14 Where are the Free Shipping Specials?
If you are a regular bidder at our auctions you may have noticed that the free shipping specials disappeared! UPS has raised rates to the point where we could not longer afford to offer the free shipping specials. We really loved offering the special but we just could not continue. The prices at the auction are so low if we were to offer free shipping on top of that we would have to close the doors. Sorry!
#15 What address do you ship to?
This is very important and deserves all caps WE ONLY SHIP TO THE ADDRESS THAT YOU GIVE DURING CHECKOUT AT OUR WEB SITE!
We do not ship to any other address so be sure to double check your address before completing checkout. If we send it to that address and it is not the correct one we will reship it for you (when it comes back to us) but you will have to pay the second shipping charge.
#16 I made an incorrect bid and need to retract it!
Don't panic! Just send an e-mail to the auctioneer with the auction listing number and the amount you really meant to bid. That bid will be adjusted for you and an e-mail will be sent to you confirming that we did the correction. This can be done during the auction but if it happens within 20 minutes of the close of the item we may not be able to get it done in time (we will always try). We will not do a correction for small amounts (under $5.00). Bid Retractions are for situations where you meant to type in $1.50 and you typed in $150.00 .....
Note: Do not call into the office. There is nobody there that can help you with this. Send your bid retraction request to the CPG Auctioneer
#17 How do I become an Auction Club Member?
There is only one way to join our Auction Club- attend and win at 5 different auctions. For more details you can visit The Invitation Only web page and read up about it. We only run 1 a year in the Spring.
#18 My friend and I want to combine our orders to save on shipping.
No problem. All you have to do is have your friend send you their Invoice. You can then click the link in their Invoice and add their winnings to a shopping cart and then do the whole process again with your winnings. There is no limit to the number of people who can combine. Once you have everyone's winnings in one cart you can checkout. This is a great way to save money on shipping!
#19 I also want to buy paper and things from your web site. Can they be combined?
Yes it is easy. Once the auction is over and you have received your invoice you will need to add your winnings to a shopping cart and then you can keep shopping at the web site. When you go to checkout all the items will be combined. It is so easy many people try to make it more complicated and get confused.
If you are running into trouble go back to the Auction Invoice you received and take another look at the written instructions.
#20 I don't want to put my credit card number on the internet.
No problem. You will notice that we offer many ways to pay including e-check, money order, and PayPal. Details on payment are given on the Shopping Cart page when you checkout.
#21 I could not attend the close of the auction and I lost my bids. Do you have more?
We do not sell beyond the close of the auction. It is really difficult for us to do this due to time limitations. It is also difficult due to inventory control. Sorry!
#22 I do not like auctions and want to just place a regular order.
We are not set up to sell auction items outside of the auction format. Hopefully what you need can be found the web site http://www.CaliforniaPaperGoods.com
#23 I have a new e-mail address and need my registration information to be updated.
If you go to the auction and log in you will see a page come up that has a link that says "Profile/Username Editor". Click on that link and make the changes you want to make. Then hit the Review Updates button. Look over the changes and then hit the Update Profile button.
Note: Many times people forget to hit the Update Profile button at the end. That is an important step! If you find that they system still shows your old address it is probably because you missed that last step.
#24 I have a new shipping address and need my registration information to be updated.
If you go to the auction and log in you will see a page come up that has a link that says "Profile/Username Editor". Click on that link and make the changes you want to make. Then hit the Review Updates button. Look over the changes and then hit the Update Profile button.
Note: Many times people forget to hit the Update Profile button at the end. That is an important step! If you find that they system still shows your old address it is probably because you missed that last step.
#25 I keep forgetting my username. Can I change it to another word?
Yes you can. Here are the directions on how to do it: If you go to the auction and log in you will see a page come up that has a link that says "Profile/Username Editor". Click on that link and change your username. Then hit the Review Updates button. Look it over to make sure that you like the new name as it is written out and then hit the Update Profile button.
Note: Many times people forget to hit the Update Profile button at the end. That is an important step! If you find that they system still shows your old username it is probably because you missed that last step.
#26 I am so confused about how to do all of this. Help!
OK. Follow these steps:
1. Go take a break and maybe a short walk.
2. Come back to the computer and click on this link: "I'm New- Please Help!"
3. Follow the instructions exactly.
4. If your computer is acting funny and the pages are not loading or displaying properly go ahead and re-start your computer and log back in to the auction.
5. If you still need help and want to persist, give the auctioneer a call while you are on-line. The phone number is (800) 637-6401 Ext. 1 Use this as a last resort please. It isn't that the auctioneer does not want to talk but time is very limited!
California Paper Goods