Sandafayre is one of the world’s largest companies specialising in the buying and selling of stamps, postal history and other philatelically- related collectibles.
We run weekly “Mail Bid Sales” which appear on our website and also as printed catalogues (we print 52 different Mail Bid Sale catalogues each year!), these sales allow bidders both on and off-line to compete on an equal footing with each other for the lots they want. We also hold 4 traditional public auctions each year under the banner of "Cheshire Stamp Auctions" with a printed catalogue, a room filled with bidders, an auctioneer wielding a gavel and an online platform allowing people from all over the world to bid live!
We are owned and managed by Vincent Green and Michael Harlow who have been full- time philatelists since they were teenagers, now in their 50’s and 60’s they still love the hobby and are proud to run a healthy, happy business which employs 14 people, 9 of whom are stamp specialists.
We occupy modern offices on a business park in Knutsford, Cheshire - just to the south west of Manchester and east of Liverpool, a couple of hours from London. We are easy to find as Knutsford has its own junction on the M6 Motorway and its own railway station, Manchester Airport is just 20 minutes away.
Sandafayre was founded way back in 1976 as a small stamp store on the main street of the pretty market town of Knutsford. In those days our small team enjoyed meeting our many customers who would call into the shop – many of those customers became friends and we enjoyed meeting their collecting needs. Our core values of service, satisfaction and integrity were cemented in those early days and have stayed with us ever since.
In 1980 we produced our first ‘Postal Auction’ catalogue. In the days before the internet it was a novel concept that brought the excitement of stamp auctions directly into people’s homes…such was the popularity of these auctions that we were soon mailing our catalogues to every corner of the globe! We have been running these “Mail Bid Sales” ever since.
In 2001 we were one of the first stamp auction companies to join the internet revolution! Nowadays, all our auctions are available to view and bid online, although many of our customers still prefer to receive our printed illustrated catalogues and bid by post, telephone or email and we will continue to offer this service for many years to come.
Such is the popularity of our stamp auctions that we now have an auction every week of the year! Everything philatelic is offered through our WEEKLY Mail Bid Sales Sandafayre, Hunters, Express or Kwik-Bid), from Abu Dhabi & Aden to Zimbabwe & Zululand, collections, accumulations, postal history, single stamps and complete sets including world rarities and investment grade items (you may also find the odd bank note, post card & map!) and from time to time we also hold a Public Auction which we print catalogues for and stream live online.
From that small shop we are now one of the largest stamp companies in the world! The company is headed by Mike Harlow (our Managing Director) and by me, Vincent Green (Chairman.) Between us, and supported by our experienced and dedicated staff, we make sure that things are run according to our founding principles of service, satisfaction and integrity...how do I know we have stayed true to these values? -because I was there in the early days and have been with Sandafayre ever since!
I do hope you will become one of the thousands of collectors from all over the world who enjoy our auctions and the satisfaction that stamp collecting brings!
Vincent Green
Chairman