Due to our efforts to restore the website, our server has been inaccessible. Normally we would postpone all sales which were supposed to end during this period, but unfortunately we have not succeeded in doing this.
We will keep doing everything we can to solve these current problems and would like to apologize for all the trouble these problems have caused.
With kind regards, Sébastien Delcampe
Difficulties on the website, status on the 1st of Juli
Wed 1st Jul 2009
Dear members,
Since past sunday, we are experiencing some difficulties with our data base.
These difficulties are due to the installation of a new data base tool: MySQL.
This installation has solved many probmlens but made it very difficult for our website to work properly.
We have worked with a team of ingeneers from Sun/MySQL in order to solve these current problems and make the website stable once more.
It was possible to return to our old system, but this would mean that our website would be inaccessible for two days and this would also have triggered a series of old problems that have been resolved currently.
Therefore, we have chosen to stay online and have been working day and night to make this new system work.
Sunday, the website was almost inaccessible. By now the website is working properly 90% of the time, but unfortunately remains inaccessible for 10% of the time. We are well aware that this situation is unaceptable and are trying to solve this problem as soon as possible?
The folowing graph clearly shows the situation for Wednesday (Brussels Time Zone, GMT+1):
The moments when most difficulties occur, in red, are from 15:00 to 16:00 and from 18:00 to 19:00.
We are extremely sorry for the problems we have caused and will do our very best to solve the difficulties during the next hours and days.
With kind regards, Sébastien Delcampe
Difficulties on the website
Sun 28th Jun 2009
Dear members,
Our website is currently facing difficulties with our data base.
Our team has been working since last night with the engineers of Tigron ans MySQL in order to find a solution.
We believe that it may take a few hours before this problem will be solved, and that is why items with offers that were registered between last Sunday 11.25 am (Brussels Time Zone) and midnight, have been postponed for 24 hours.
We apologize for all the trouble these technical problems have caused and we are doing our best to make the website stable as fast as possible.
With kind regards, Sébastien Delcampe
The seller of the month: Scview Stefano and his team, alias “Scview”, open the doors of their store and make you discover their passion of collectibles.
Thu 11th Jun 2009
Dear member,
The Delcampe team is going to make you discover its best sellers through a new feature:
The seller of the month!
Every month you will discover with us a new seller on Delcampe, his way of living and working.
Feel free to print it out for your ease of reading. It might be long, but it's full of good information and tips that you may use for yourself !
This month, you have an appointment with Stefano Neis, our member Scview !
“I got into postcards by accident… A stamp shop I was working for bought a VW bug full of postcards… I was not really interested at the time. I looked through the piles of postcards, found one of a black dancer (Josephine Baker) at the Moulin Rouge in Paris… Eventually over time the cards grew on me and I came to enjoy them.”
Introduction and activity of Scview...
Can you introduce yourself to our members? Who are you?
My Name is Stefano (Steve) Neis. I am 51 years old, married (Wife Linda), with three boys (Antonio 5 yrs, Marcello 5 yrs & Angelo 4 yrs). I am a naturalized US citizen. I am originally from the SAARLAND, Germany. I am an Ex-Submarine officer of the US Navy.
How is your company working?
SCVIEW Antique Images & postcards is a full time store in Columbia, South Carolina (M-F 8-4 EST) with minor online websites at ecrater.com & Playle.com which I use to drive new customers to Delcampe. Our major sales focus online is Delcampe.com. All of our listings at all other websites have hotlinks within them that point back to Delcampe.com. We no longer do shows. We no longer sell on eBay. Sales on Delcampe are outstanding for us. Our main Website is http://www.scartists.com . Most of the links on that page are direct links to Delcampe listings by topic.
Are you working alone or within a team?
I have a well trained staff of three full time employees (Including myself) and three part time employees. My Office Manager's name is "Becki". She handles all email and customers questions. I have another employee "Esmeralda" who handles listing and all communication to Spanish customers. I can read German and speak it poorly. I have a part time employee who only packages our shipments to customers. Two other part timers do our scanning of items.
Why did you choose "Scview" as user name?
SCVIEW = "South Carolina" VIEW, the name is easy to recall. We use this ID on all of our online websites
The Passion of collection...
How did you get into the collectibles' world?
I have collected stamps & coins since I was a child. Postcards is an extension of that. While in the U.S. Navy I obtained University degrees in Art & History. These degrees easily apply themselves to the content of postcard images.
I got into postcards by accident. A stamp shop I was working for bought a VW bug full of postcards for $100 USD. All you could see was the driver and the postcards when the seller showed up at the shop. The store owner realized that most of the cards were foreign. Since my specialty was foreign stamps & coins, he stated I was the new postcard "expert". Yippee.... I was not really interested at the time. I looked through the piles of postcards, found one of a black dancer (Josephine Baker) at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, called a customer and sold it for 100 USD within 15 mins after we had bought the collection. I told the store owner, "Ok, I got your $100 back. Let’s throw the rest of the cards away and get back to stamps & coins. Luckily for me he did not listen to me. Eventually over time the cards grew on me and I came to enjoy them.
What do you collect?
I collect Strawberry postcards & first day of school postcards. Strawberry postcards because my fondest childhood memory is my Oma (Grandmother) making me strawberry sandwiches from wild strawberries I hand picked in the Swarzwald. I collect First day of school cards relating to the candy Cones Children get in Germany on Day 1 of school. I have a picture of me, my aunt and my two older 1st cousins where they have their cones, and I am clinging to my aunt’s skirt & crying. I moved to the USA before I got my Candy cone. My wife says it has affected me ever since :)
Scview on Delcampe...
When did you start selling on Delcampe and why did you choose Delcampe?
We have been on Delcampe for two years now. When eBay started to make more changes to their system than made sense, I started investigating other online selling venues. Of all the sites I tested, Only Delcampe did as well as (And now better than) I was doing on eBay. At the Time I started Delcampe I had been the number one seller of postcards on eBay for 6 consecutive years. Within 7 months of starting on Delcampe.com, I closed my eBay store and concentrated all my efforts on Delcampe. I am glad that I did.
What kind of products do you propose to the Delcampe members?
I try to provide a mix of both the Rare & Common. My Items range in price from a couple of Dollars to 100s of dollars each. I figure that new collectors new more basic common items to get them interested in the hobby, advanced collectors want only really rare stuff and almost everybody like to pick up views of their home towns. We have a formula of 50% overseas, 35% USA views & 15% Topic postcards that we use to fill our Delcampe site. We add 1,000+ views a week to the site using the ratio above.
What is your strategy to make your sales more efficient? (Sales techniques, discounts...?)
We offer private sales to previous customers who have left us positive feedback.
We offer free shipping if you buy ten items or more at a time.
We have an unconditional return policy.
All items shipped are our full responsibility until safely in a customers' hands.
We accept all reasonable offers on our items.
We run major sales every six months to keep the stock fresh and moving.
How do you see the evolution of your Delcampe store in a few years?
I believe that we will be expanding our Delcampe presence at a steady rate up to 250,000 items online. At the moment we have 106,000 items on Delcampe. I think we will continue to expand and will start evolving into more & more rarer items. I am toying with the idea of a second seller ID on Delcampe to subdivide our stock so that it is easier for customers to go through the listings.
Which is the favourite item of your collection and which was your best selling experience?
I have a real photo postcard of Differton Germany (Saarland). It is from the 50s. I can see the roof line of what I think was my grandmother’s house, and the forest where I picked all those strawberries 47 years ago. It is not for sale :)
My best selling experience?
I enjoy it when I sell an item to someone and they find a family member in the postcard image. It has happened several times, and each time it leads a bit of story swapping.
Could you give 3 tips to our members who would like to start selling on Delcampe?
Research Delcampe. Look over listings. Find out who is selling what, and who is selling best. Emulate what you like, and avoid what you do not.
Make it easiest for the customer to buy from you with their systems of transactions (Moneybookers, accepting euros, and the like).
If an item interests you, it will most likely interest someone else. Don't list items you think are junk. Keep your listings interesting & fresh.
A little word to the Delcampe members?
Of all the transactions we have had on Delcampe, in the ones where we did not fare as well as we liked, the root problem was always a lack of proper communication.
We get emails asking "where is my item" without any item number or description. We get payments with no addresses, no item numbers & no description on a weekly basis. We get messages in languages we do not read or understand (Greek, Russian, Turkish, and so on).
Help us serve you better. Please include item numbers with emails & questions.
If an item is slow getting to you. Let us know. Mail from the USA to other countries is not a sure thing. We have a .0097% lost mail rate. If your item gets lost in the mail, SCVIEW will refund you including your shipping costs.
Email us with suggestions on how we can improve our services or listings. The best ideas come from our customers.
Discover our partners for the launching of the stock sales Stamp & Coin Mart and SoftPro 2010
Tue 9th Jun 2009
Dear members,
A few weeks ago, we launched a new sales type on Delcampe: the Stock Sales. Two partners have joined us in order to launch this project: Stamp & Coin Mart and SoftPro 2010.
Stamp & Coin Mart is the UK's fastest growing stamp and coin magazine, with news, views and articles on every aspect of these fascinating hobbies. It is the only magazine to feature the Royal Philatelic Collection in every issue, while in-depth features on country and thematic collecting, postal history, first day covers and coins provide readers with everything they need to know to start or enhance a collection, from up-to-date price guides to research tips.
With auction results, regular technical guides, monthly interviews and comprehensive new issues, the magazine is a must read for every stamp and coin collector.
The July issue of Stamp & Coin Mart features exclusive interviews with stamp designer David Gentleman and former Postmaster General Tony Benn, as they recall the experimental Gentleman Album of the 1960s that changed British stamps forever. With an insight into Lundy's Puffin stamps and a look at duck stamps, July's issue has a feathered feel too, while fans of golf will be keen to see an award-winning thematic display detailed.
SoftPro 2010 has been developing Stamp & Coin Collecting software since 1992. EZstamp offers the opportunity to create an inventory and manage stamps of 170 different countries and your own collection.
SoftPro is the only developer to offer Stamp Recognition Software (SRS). Just scan your stamp, then, SRS and EZstamp will identify it. EZcoin is also available to inventory and manage your USA and Canadian coin collections.
AlbumGen (stamp album & exhibit layout software) & EzGrader (stamp grading & perforation measurement software) complete its product offerings.
Delcampe will attend the APS StampShow 2009 in Pittsburgh!
Fri 29th May 2009
Dear member,
Delcampe is proud to announce that it will attend the APS StampShow from the 6th to the 9th of August in Pittsburgh(Pennsylvania).
Our friends from the American Philatelic Society have given us a double stand, which allows us to meet some of our American members and to present Delcampe to a new audience of collectors!
Peter, Evelyne and I are looking forward to meeting you and will use this opportunity to present a brand new Delcampe post card.
PS: Don't hesitate contacting peter@delcampe.com in case you will attend the APS StampShow!
New on Delcampe: Stock sales!
Tue 19th May 2009
Dear member,
We are proud to present another new feature on the Delcampe website: Stock sales!
These Stock Sales allow our members to buy and sell multiple, new, items through one sale.
How does it work?
For sellers...
When filling in the selling form, you can choose for a "Fixed price sale" and indicate the available quantity, for example 10 pieces.
The buyer can indicate he wants to buy three items when making an offer.
Consequently, the buyer can pay his purchases immediately with the Delcampe E-Wallet or another payment method accepted by the seller.
A new sale with the available amount will be immediately and automatically started as soon as the sale has been registered (10 items - 3 sold items).
Another buyer will be able to purchase the same item at the same time without intervention from the seller!
For buyers...
Stock sales can be recognized because the items are sold at a fixed price and the available quantity is indicated by « /pce » … for example « 10.00 EUR /pce ».
One or more items can be purchased at the same time by indicating the quantity when making an offer. Your purchase can be paid immediately with the Delcampe E-Wallet or another payment method accepted by the seller.
The Stock sales are a very efficient way to sell new items like catalogues, accessories, books, subscriptions to magazines,... and were made available a couple of days ago, along with the new website version. In the meantime, more than 6.000 Stock sales are available!
We wish you a very pleasant time buying and selling items on Delcampe!
Do you wish to voice your opinion or want more information, please contact info@delcampe.com!
PS : If you are a professional seller and wish to use the Stoch sales to offer a large quantity of items, please contact peter@delcampe.com.
Delcampe website improved
@webmaster
Sun 10th May 2009
Dear members,
This Friday, the 8th of May, a new version of the Delcampe website was installed.
This new version has solved many technical problems, but unfortunately triggered some new ones as well!
Check out the list of improvements...
Improvements
For buyers
Making an offer.
This part was entirely reprogrammed and has become much easier and much more efficient.
Main improvements:
- The buyer will receive an immediate confirmation with the "Pay my seller" link when an item is sold at a "Fixed price". This enables you to pay your purchase immediately with the E-Wallet, which used to take approximately 30 minutes. This way, buyers can save a lot of time and process their purchases much easier!
- A maximum offer can be elevated, lowered or withdrawn. The buyer can change the maximum simply by making another offer, and cancel a maximum offer by making an offer inferior to the current maximum offer.
- We have also made some changes to the sales with reserve price. As long as the reserve price hasn't been met, the maximum offers will be registered and the reserve price will be met much more easily. This improvement was quite necessary because it used to be very difficult to obtain a reserve price when less than two members had made an offer...
Lower offers and group offers
Untill today, it was impossible to make a lower offer for sellers with less than 20 evaluations. Furthermore, to enable a lower offer, the item in question had to be renewed at least three times. This criteria has caused many problems for buyers, as well as for sellers. Therefore, we present the following solution: "group offers or lower offers can be made when the item has been on a Delcampe website for at least one month (30 days)".
However, this system will still be improved during the next couple of months.
E-wallet and PayPal
Next to the PayPal logo, a number of other logos like Visa, Mastercard and American Express were shown. However, we have noticed that these payment methods were not available to all buyers in each country.
Therefore, we have decided that only the logos of payment methods which are available to the buyer will be shown.
For sellers
The image system. A couple of problems occured following the installation of a new version. However, these problems were solved almost immediately. This new version is currently stable and available for all members. It appears to be similar to the old one but is actually much faster, because we have installed a new server just for our image system.
Restart a sold item. This option is no longer available. From now on, sellers can use the option "sell a similar item", which is much easier and efficient, to restart an item which has been sold before.
The Delcampe API system. Version 2 is available now. This system enables professional users to link their database to Delcampe's. For more information, please contact matthias@delcampe.com.
Ergonomics and design
- The details about your Delcampe fees, which you can check through "My Delcampe > My Delcampe fees > Account balance", are presented much more clearly and are much easier to use than before.
- The list with all countries and Delcampe websites are adapted as well and have become much more clear.
- An image will be added to the messages you receive about your "watching list".
Technical bugs solved
- Using bad structured HTML code sometimes caused problems on the sale's page. Now, all HTML messages which are used by sellers for sales descriptions or messages in a member's sales conditions are checked by our computer system.
- Sometimes, our computer system withdrew a negative evaluation by accident in a dispute about an unjustified negative evaluation. However, this problem has been solved by now.
- We have noticed that some members were able to initiate a dispute resolution process without leaving a message. This problem has been solved as well.
- We have also noticed that sometimes items were missing from the paying selection on our homepage. This problem was also solved.
Invisible changes
- We have also managed to thouroughly change our website structure, which allows us to maintain the website much more easily, gives us more room for progress and allows you to enjoy a safer and faster website.
- In the past, many of our internet pages were not recognized by search engines like Google. We have allready begun improving the visibility of the Delcampe website, which will generate more visitors to your sales.
We work every day to improve our website as much as we can, and can allready present the approvements which were described in this message. In case technical difficulties would occur, please contact us through the Contact menu.
With kind regards, Sébastien Delcampe
Winners of the Delcampe Quiz organized in partnership with StampListing Who are the lucky winners of the 3 one-year Club+ subscriptions?
Tue 24th Mar 2009
Dear members,
We are pleased to announce the nicknames of the 3 winners of the Great Quiz organized in partnership with the philately web portal StampListing. The first prize was a one-year Club+ Gold subscription, the second a Club+ Silver and the third a Club+Bronze:
Congratulations to all of them and thank you for your participation!
We would like to thank the webmaster of StampListing for his collaboration, availability and reliability.
Sincerely yours, Melanie from the Delcampe team
PayPal: FAQs ! Sebastien Delcampe answered your questions concerning PayPal
Tue 17th Mar 2009
Dear members,
Last week, PayPal was integrated into the site. It has been a great success but it also raised a lot of questions among our members and our support team has received many emails!
To answer your questions as soon as possible, we decided to submit most of them to Sebastien Delcampe. Here is the interview!
Sincerely yours,
The Delcampe support Team!
Sebastien, last week, PayPal was integrated into the site. What are the first results?
It is a very good start. More than 7000 PayPal accounts have been activated on the site and over 8 million items can be paid with PayPal.
PayPal belongs to eBay which remains a rival site for Delcampe. So why did you integrate this payment method?
Although the PayPal society belongs to eBay, they are quite distinct entities. PayPal is a very popular payment service on the Internet used by many people. Integrating it into the site enables us to offer a greater choice of payment methods to our members.
You said that using PayPal is free for buyers. However, some sellers ask for extra charges when using PayPal as payment method. Is this allowed?
The PayPal site does not charge buyers for making payments. However, some sellers add extra fees to the final price when payments are made with PayPal or Moneybookers.
We do not support such practice... but it is tolerated on the site as long as it is clearly written in the conditions of sale. In that case, extra fees are part of the contract between buyers and sellers and both parties have to respect that.
Please note that if extra fees are not clearly indicated on a sale, sellers may not require them after the end of the sale.
Why is PayPal not available in some countries?
Some of our members from Russia, Lebanon, Moldavia, Romania, Georgia, Israel, Belarus, Egypt, etc. contacted us concerning this issue. The decision for restricting the use of PayPal to certain countries was taken by their society and we do not have any influence on it. Moneybookers has the same restrictions but not necessarily for the same countries.
What is the difference for members who already used PayPal on Delcampe?
Until now, Paypal payments were already possible on Delcampe but they were not integrated into the site. To receive payments through Paypal, sellers had to communicate their PayPal email address to their buyers who had to connect to the PayPal site. Then, buyers needed to log in, add all the information related to the sale and confirm the payment.
From now on, buyers can use PayPal in "My Delcampe > Pay sellers". The payment method is automatic so buyers do not need to go on the PayPal site anymore to fill in all the information concerning the sale, etc. Payments are now made in just a few seconds!
Paying on Delcampe via PayPal is now easier... with no additional fees!
Why don't you say that PayPal is more expensive than Moneybookers for sellers?
Those services work differently and although Moneybookers set its fees to 2% for every country, PayPal fees differ from one country to another. Thus, it is not possible for us to communicate PayPal fees because we should do it for every country. For more information on their fees, please consult the PayPal site and click on "Fees" at the bottom of the homepage.
Please note that for "Personal" PayPal accounts, there is no fees for sending or receiving payments... but with this type of accounts, it is not possible to receive payments funded by credit cards.
Paying small amounts with PayPal is difficult. Why?
Unlike Moneybookers, PayPal fees are determined based on a flat rate in addition to extra fees. Thus, Moneybookers is more attractive for small amounts. However, a special PayPal tariff called "PayPal micro payment" which fees differ from one country to another is available. Please contact the Paypal customer service for more information on this feature and how to subscribe to it. I
Does Delcampe have special agreements with PayPal regarding fees or management for example?
Our team worked with PayPal to integrate their system into our e-wallet but we do not have any other special agreements with them. The management and expenses related to PayPal accounts remain exclusively managed by the PayPal society. Our services are quite distinct from theirs.
All PayPal regulations apply when making payments for items bought on the Delcampe site.
Is it possible to open a PayPal account without a credit card?
You do not need a credit card or other payment method to open a PayPal account. You can receive payments on your PayPal account and use the money available to make payments. In some countries, you can even link your bank account to your PayPal account so that money is automatically debited from your bank account to pay for your purchases. So, in that case, you do not need any credit cartd to buy or sell. For more information, please consult the PayPal site.
Some members complained about having received fake emails (phishing) from PayPal. What to do in such case?
PayPal is in no case responsible for such kind of emails as they are not sent by their services. Unfortunately, no site on the Internet is safe from such practise. It is everyone 's responsibility to be careful when opening emails and not communicate nany personal information to fraudulous websites.
Is it possible to pay the Delcampe fees with a PayPal account?
Of course… it has been possible for 6 years now! You just have to choose PayPal on the page "Credit my account"
And for those who do not wish to use PayPal?
It is up to each member to use the payment method they wish. We do not impose PayPal, we only offer it to our members for free. We put the PayPal and Moneybookers payment methods forward because we know that such systems make transactions easier and increase success for both buyers and sellers!
Any conclusion?
The results of the last polls show that integrating PayPal was a good choice. Over 90% voters decided to use our e-wallet. This is more than we thought and is a really good news.
Other new features are already planned in the months to come. We are currently working on new innovations for the site while taking our members' suggestions into account.
Use PayPal as payment method on Delcampe.net!
Wed 11th Mar 2009
Dear member, dear buyer,
Until now, you have been able to use the Delcampe e-wallet to pay for the items bought on the site. But it was limited for paying via Moneybookers.
Many of you have been asking to integrate payments via PayPal too, as this system is easier for most of you.
Our team have worked in collaboration with the PayPal team to prepare a comfortable and pleasant solution. It is now a great pleasure for us to announce thatPayPal is now available for your purchases on Delcampe!
You can now choose to pay with PayPal, just like you could already pay using Moneybookers.
Today, more than 165 million people already have a PayPal account. This payment method is the most popular on the Internet after credit cards!
Note :Moneybookers can still be used as e-wallet. PayPal is just a new payment method integrated to the site. Although we recommend its use, PayPal is not mandatory on Delcampe.
Participate in our great Quiz and win a Club+ subscription!
Sun 1st Mar 2009
Dear members,
We have the pleasure to announce our new competition organized in partnership with the philately web portal StampListing.
So participate now and you may be the lucky winner of one of these three prizes:
A one-year Club+ Gold subscription for the 1st place (value: 60.00 USD/40.00 GBP/72.00 CAD)
A one-year Club+ Silver subscription for the 2nd place (value: 30.00 USD/20.00 GBP/36.00 CAD)
A one-year Club+ Bronze subscription for the3rd place (value: 15.00 USD/10.00 GBP/18.00 CAD)
This competition will start on Sunday 1st March until Sunday 15th March 2009 at midnight.
Participating is free. You just need to be registered on StampListing to play. The Quiz consists of 3 multiple-choice questions related to philately. Contest winners will be chosen on a slot basis.
Some of you contacted us to warn us that they had received an email requesting them to validate their Delcampe account.
This email was not sent by the Delcampe site. It is a fraudulous email (called phishing). Please never click on the link provided in the message. It would take you to another site similar to the Delcampe site but which is not the real one !
Such websites are created by hackers whose purpose is to get your password in order to enter your Delcampe account.
When we introduce new features or when we require from members to take some actions, a message is always displayed on the homepage for all our members to know.
If you already clicked on the link, please modify your password as soon as possible by going to My Delcampe" > "Personal Info".
Please find more information about the phishing in our "Phishing guide" by going to "Help and contact" > "Guides and manuals" > "Phishing guide".
Do not hesitate to forward us the email you received to info@delcampe.com . We examine those kinds of emails to better protect you.
Sincerely yours, Evelyne
Delcampe at Stampex (London) !
@webmaster
Fri 20th Feb 2009
Dear members,
On Wednesday the 25th and Thursday the 26th, we will be attending Stampex Spring 2009 in London.
More than 90 dealers in philately will be attending this show!
On this occasion, the 5th official Delcampe postcard, created in 2008 for the Picture Postcard Show (Bipex) in London (2500 copies), will be offered again.
We are looking forward to meeting you there !
Sebastien Delcampe
PS: We will also be present on Friday the 27th and Saturday the 28th at Philatex in London, but no cards will be distributed.
Delcampe at The Annual Bath & West International Festival of Cards in Shepton Mallet (GB)!
More than 150 postcards dealers will be attending this show!
This event will be a new chance for us to meet you and get to know each other or for some of you, to see each other again.
On this occasion, the 5th official Delcampe postcard, created in 2008 for the Picture Postcard Show (Bipex) in London, will be offered again. Don't miss it, there will only be 2500 copies !
We are looking forward to meeting you there !
Sebastien Delcampe
PS: We only have a few Delcampe postcards left. If you come to this Festival on Saturday, please contact melanie@delcampe.com to book the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd and/or the 4th card(s).
"First arrived, first served" so don't wait !
New website design !
@webmaster
Wed 4th Feb 2009
Dear members,
On February the 4th, a new website design was set up.
This new presentation is clearer, more aesthetic and easier to use.
We hope you like it... If you would like to share your impressions with us on this new design, please vote via our express poll or contact us directly.
Mind you only the design changed. The site is nor faster nor slower than before but we have plans for that
Sincerely yours,
Sebastien Delcampe and his technical team
Before
After
Slowdown on the site ?
@webmaster
Tue 3rd Feb 2009
Dear members,
Some of you may have encounter difficulties to access the site or noticed some slowdown in the evenings (Brussels time).
The reason is that new website traffic records are being broken every day and the server which manages the sales slows up the whole site.
A new server was added but it still has to be programmed to be used efficiently. We are working on it but it will take some more time.
The situation should be improved by mid-February at the latest.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Sincerely yours,
Sebastien Delcampe and his technical team
New sales record: let's celebrate it with a competition! Win 10 wooden pens with the Delcampe logo!
Mon 26th Jan 2009
Dear members,
During the Christmas holiday period, our site reached a new milestone by breaking a new record in the collecting area: more than 20 million collectibles are now on sale on Delcampe!
We also hit another record with the 50 millionth item put on sale on the site! Yes, more than 50 million items already!
For this occasion, we are organizing a competition with a reward thrown in: wooden pens with the Delcampe logo.
These pens were created in a limited edition (30 exemplaries only) and were offered to the Delcampe team for Christmas. We decided to offer you the ten pens left (8 dark and 2 light) through this competition.
How does it work?
Bring as many people to register on the site before March the 1st.
The 10 winners who will have brought the most people win a pen.
In order for us to be able to count the people you will bring, please use the following link: http://www.delcampe.net/page/main/affiliate,xxx.html and replace "xxx" with your nickname.
Example: if your nickname is "vvl_books", the link to send is http://www.delcampe.net/page/main/affiliate,vvl_books.html.
Here is an example of an email you can send to your friends :
Hello,
I would like to make you discover a website that I particulary like: Delcampe, a true collectors' paradise!
Click on the following link and do not forget to register (it's free): http://www.delcampe.net/page/main/affiliate,xxx.html
Regards, John
The competition starts now and will end February the 28th at midnight. So let the competition begin!
Sincerely yours, Mario from the Delcampe team.
PS:
- Only accounts which will have received at least one positive feedback will be considered for the competition.
- For more information, please contact us: info@delcampe.com.
Moneybookers: registration from US residents no longer accepted. Signing in for the e-wallet from Moneybookers is no longer possible for US members
Fri 19th Dec 2008
Dear members,
We would kindly like to inform you that our payment partner Moneybookers has limited its service in the US market and does not support new registrations of new customers and send money transactions between customers anymore. However Delcampe users can still pay via the central Moneybookers Payment Gateway on the Delcampe site. Please note that his change just affects US customers.
Moneybookers service changes:
Moneybookers has restricted the service. It's currently not possible to newly register or to send money via the eWallet as a US customers. Though it's still possible to pay via the Moneybookers Gateway.
To resume the situation, here are some questions you might ask:
When I try to sign up with Moneybookers, I get a message "not available in your country". Why can't I sign up?
Moneybookers is not accepting new customer registrations from the United States at this point of time. Payments to and from US customers should be done only via the Gateway on the Delcampe site from now on.
I am an American member and I have had a eWallet for a long time. Will I still be able to pay my sellers? Members who have an eWallet can still send and receive payments as long as they do it centrally through the gateway on the Delcampe site. Making payments directly by using the Moneybookers site does not work anymore for US customers.
I would like to pay my Delcampe fees using my eWallet. Is it still possible?
To pay your Delcampe fees using your Moneybookers eWallet, please use the "credit my account" interface available in "My Delcampe" > "My Delcampe fees" > "Credit my account". On that page, you have a special link to pay your fees with Moneybookers.
I would like to pay one of my seller living outside USA. Does it work?
Delcampe members who are sellers are considered as merchants and can still send and receive money as long as they do it through the gateway on the Delcampe site.
I live in the US and I would like to know if I can still receive payments from buyers living outside the country? With Delcampe there are no restrictions as to receive money from "foreign" members.
If you still have questions concerning this situation or you are having difficulties to register, please contact the Moneybookers support: delcampe@moneybookers.com
Sincerely yours, the Delcampe Team
New Forum: Advertise your sales! Dear sellers, get free advertising space now! Dear buyers, look for bargains here!
Fri 19th Dec 2008
Dear members,
After reviewing your demands on our forum and the annual poll, we have decided to create a new space: Advertise your sales!
Are you a seller?
You can announce your special offers, your discounts, etc. In other words, this is a place where you can post free advertising for your sales on Delcampe … without getting in the way of the other conversations on our forum.
Are you a buyer?
Get some bargains here, or maybe your favourite buyer will offer you a discount!
Don't hesitate using it… and we hope you enjoy buying as well as selling!
With kind regards, Sébastien Delcampe
It's Christmas time on the Delcampe forum! New colours, new groups, ...
Fri 19th Dec 2008
Dear members,
Our forum, which is the best meeting place in our community, has been decorated for the holiday season!
Besides Christmas decoration, a number of new smileys are at your disposition!
Like every year, we have temporarily opened up a new forum: "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!". This forum enables everyone to give their best wishes to the other members during the holiday season.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Sébastien Delcampe and his team
Security code: no more needed ... for most of our active members!
@webmaster
Mon 1st Dec 2008
Dear members,
On August the 23rd 2007, we introduced security codes for more security on the site.
Today, as technology has developped, we can exempt most of our active members from typing security codes... at least those who fulfil one of those two criteria :
This security code was found to be a waste of time and sometimes poses problems with certain computers' configuration.
Today, we are happy to make your life easier.
SIncerely yours, Sébastien Delcampe
Personal information to be displayed for professional sellers
Thu 27th Nov 2008
Dear sellers,
An important change concerning professional suppliers has been introduced on the site. Some of you are required to display their personal information for other members to see.
So, in order for those sellers to comply with their country's regulations and responsibilities, we modified our Terms and conditions, chap. 7.3 Public communication and added a new parameter in My information - Parameters : you will find in « Misc » a new point « I am a professional seller and I agree to display my address on my personal page to respect the law »
It is up to each seller to choose whether they wish to display or not those personal information on their personal page (the "Who is..." page). Pay attention that this parameter is automatically set on "yes".
Sincerely yours,
Your Delcampe team.
Technical difficulties on the site
Fri 21st Nov 2008
Dear members,
Some of you may have encountered some technical difficulties on the site due to technical changes ongoing for the last few days.
There have been some difficulties signing in, sufing on the site (slight slowdown) and putting new items on sale.
All these difficulties have been dealt by our technical team and it seems that most of them have been resolved by now.
Should you still encounter similar difficulties, do not hesitate to post a message on the forum or contact us.
Please excuse us for any inconvenience. These technical changes were necessary in order to being able to welcome even more members on the site and particularly during this busy time of the year.
Sincerely yours, Sébastien Delcampe
It's your turn to talk! The Delcampe annual great survey is waiting for you...
Mon 20th Oct 2008
GREAT ANNUAL SURVEY!
Dear members,
For more than 8 years, we have been trying to meet your expectations and satisfy your needs. Even if our community keeps on growing, we conduct an annual great survey to record your impressions and opinions concerning the site.
This is an important event for us as it enables us to have the site evolved while taking into account our members' experience, whether they are new or old ones.
Last year, many took part in this survey, sending us their ideas, comments and remarks. We have already been able to fulfil some of your requests (an efficient search engine, the launch of the Canadian site, the addition of new categories, a more comprehensive "help section", new systems for sending and displaying images, more security thanks to postal verification, and many more improvements to make your life easier...).
We hope that you will be even more this year to take part in this survey.
We prepared an online form for you. It enables you to tell us:
what you like ( 5 positive points) ;
what you don't like (5 negative points) ;
what you would like as new features (5 ideas) ;
what our site means to you ;
feel free to leave any comments, encouragements, ...
Click here to give your opinion and contribute to the future of the site !
Your answers will remain confidential. We will not communicate them to a third party.
Thank you to those of you who took part in the survey last year. We are counting on you!
Downloading up to 10 images with the old system (batch mode) Delcampe let you choose between two systems for downloading images
Thu 16th Oct 2008
Dear members,
As some members (less than 2% of sellers), using MAC mainly) encountered difficulties with the new system for sending images on the site, Delcampe decided to let you choose between the new and the old system for sending images which is available in the selling form. We do not want anyone to be penalized by new features.
When you are in the "Image(s)" section of your selling form, you have to choose between two tabs (see the print screen below):
Immediate delivery ("New" system for sending images)
Deferred delivery ("Old" system for sending images)
With the immediate delivery, your images are immediately sent once inserted. You can even see them in the box "Preview of your images". Just click and drag to change the order and click on the red cross to erase them. There is only one "Browse" button because you insert your images one after the other. You can insert up to 10 images FOR FREE.
With the deferred delivery, you specify the location of the images on your computer (using the "Browse" button) for every image. So there is one "Browse" button for one image. With this system, you can insert up to ten images FOR FREE . Your images will be sent when you click on the "Sell" button of the form. That is the reason why we talk about "deferred delivery".
Apart from those tiny details, both systems are completely similar and do not create any differences in selling your items.
You will only be asked one time to choose between the two systems. You will still be able to modify your choice anytime but once chosen, it is set in your parameters. Everytime you go to the selling form, your last choice concerning the images system will have been kept.
Attention : When you switch from one system to the other, the page will refresh. So, if you want to switch system, please do it BEFORE filling in the form in order not to lose all the data (category, title and description) previously encoded. By doing so, you will not have to fill in those fields again.
Should you still encounter difficulties, please contact us and specify your operating systemandits version (MAC OS X or Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista) as well as your Web browser and its version (Example : Internet Explorer 7).If you cannot provide those information, click here, copy and paste the information displayed and send them to us.
We will then be able to help you better. We performed the necessary tests so you should not have anymore difficulties.
With best regards, Mario
Your Delcampe team
Site access difficulties
Mon 6th Oct 2008
Dear members,
The site has encountered some technical difficulties for the last few days due to a lot of visitors surfing, the summer break being over.
We therefore ordered a new server which is being installed. It will be working in the next few days.
Until then, you can still face a slowdown on the site but we are doing everything we can to handle this situation.
Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely yours, Sebastien Delcampe
My Delcampe: printing and exporting lists
Thu 2nd Oct 2008
Dear members,
Club+ Silver and Gold members benefit from special features such as printing and exporting lists from My Delcampe.
Due to a technical mistake, these features have been accessible to all members, including non-Club+ members.
This mistake will be corrected but we wanted to first inform non-Club+ members so that they do not get suprised when they will not access to these features anymore. So they will still be available for all members until October the 15th.
From that day onwards, only Club+ Silver or Gold members will benefit from these features among many other services (click here to subscribe).
Sincerely yours, Sebastien Delcampe
New system for sending images: .tif format now accepted
Thu 2nd Oct 2008
Dear members,
The express poll on the newly introduced system for sending images shows that about 90% of the voters think this system is better than the old one and 69% much more better.
Following your comments and requests, we created a new feature in the system: you can now send your .tif file.
However, we still recommend you to use .jpg format for a faster and smoother sending.
Sincerely yours, Sebastien Delcampe
For more information:
We are working on technical difficulties which occured among some sellers, especially those who are working with Mac.
You will soon have the possibility to choose between the new and the old system.
This sytem is not available with the Delcampe lister which still uses the system with 3 images.
Display up to 10 images with the new sale system
Tue 30th Sep 2008
Dear members,
Delcampe innovates for the fall !
We have just created a new system for sending images.
- This system can be used by all members, even if they do not belong to the Club+.
- If you encounter difficulties or would like to make a suggestion, please feel free to contact us !
Forum access restricted to verified members or members with high ratings A positive decision for the community active on the Delcampe forum
Tue 30th Sep 2008
Dear members,
We first announced that posting messages on the forum would, from now on, only be available for verified members. (see "restricted access to the forum").
Following this information, we received interesting requests from members asking us to adjust these restrictive measures so that most people can still access the forum.
We debated on the forum and many members volunteered to become "moderators on the forum". This was a necessary condition to have a well-managed forum!
So, how does it work? Members who want to participate in a debate or post a new message on the forum (while respecting our Terms and Conditions) must either subscribe to postal verification or have 100 feedbacks at least (a ratings average of 95%).
It should also be pointed out that everybody, member or not, can read messages but not reply or post new ones.
This new rule will be implemented from today onwards.
- A new link "Report this message" has been added on the bottom right-hand corner of each message. Click on it to ask an intervention from a moderator.
- We still have not got the time to contact members who applied to become moderators. We will do it as soon as possible.
Server delay
Tue 23rd Sep 2008
Dear members,
Due to a synchronization fault, certain background tasks were not carried out from Monday the 22nd, 6.00 p.m. until Tuesday the 23rd, 8.00 a.m. (Brussels time).
Affected tasks are:
Alerts (search, seller and category)
Closed sales, restarting of auctions and items sales
Emails sent through Delcampe
Items put on sale with the Lister
These tasks are working now. Everything will be back to normal in the morning of Tuesday the 23rd.
We apologize for any convenience.
Sincerely yours, Sebastien Delcampe
Restricted access to the Forum
Tue 23rd Sep 2008
Dear members,
The Delcampe Forum is an extraordinary meeting place on the site. Available in six languages, it enables you to ask questions, share experiences with other members or talk about the different collections. You can also enjoy yourself in the "Living internationally" section in which you can talk about this and that with other members.
To remain friendly and pleasant for all, this forum has to be moderated to keep away those who deliberately ruin discussions. Such persons are most of the time not even members or members who use a fake nickname to use on the forum only. In Internet slang, those contributors are generally called "trolls".
One of the greatest asset of our site is that it is open to everyone, regardless of the origins or cultural background but it can be considered as a weak point for the forum. People, whose account was closed because of unruly behaviour, can easily create another account with a different nickname and disrupt the forum.
To prevent such behaviour on the forum, we decided to take measures from Friday the 26th onwards: members who have not subscribed to postal verification will not be able to take part in debates anymore. They can read messages but not reply or post new ones.
Since we introduced postal verification, more than 500 members have already subscribed to this service. They will therefore have full access to the forum (but still have to respect the Forum Charter).
Thank you for your understanding and have a nice chat on the Delcampe Forum.
Sincerely yours, Sebastien Delcampe
Postal verification: FAQs
Thu 18th Sep 2008
Dear members,
In order to increase security on Delcampe, we have just created a new service: "postal verification". To help you understand what this service is about, here is our FAQs...
What is postal verification?
With this service, members' postal address provided at registration can be verified. To register on Delcampe, you have to fill in a registration form. When you buy or put items for sale for the first time, this information is not verified because we trust our members and we don't call their honesty in question. As from now on, members who wish to increase confidence towards other members can have their address verified. Those who register to that service will have to activate their subscription with a code that will be sent to them by regular mail. Once received, enter this code on Delcampe: a logo will be added to your nickname to show that you are a "verified member".
Is postal verification mandatory?
Not at all. You can still buy and sell on Delcampe without being a verified member. Postal verification increases security for your transactions. It is recommended but not mandatory.
Who is it for?
Any member who wishes to subscribe to it, whether they are buyer or seller, with or without rating(s), unless they are already Club+ members. In fact, Club+ members already received an activation code which enabled us to verify their postal address. Postal verification is another option for those who do not wish to join the Club+ but who would like to offer a sign of confidence for their transactions. If you would like more information about the Club+ or subscribe to it, click here!
What are the advantages of the postal verification?
It will considerably increase security on the site being an obstacle for those who are trying to do harm to security of transactions. Thanks to this logo :
- you will know that the address of the member was verified by Delcampe.
- you will more easily grant the other member your confidence when doing a transactin.
- we will eventually prevent abusive reregistrations.
Where can I have my postal address verified?
To have your postal address checked, go to "My Delcampe" > "My information" > "Check my address" or click on the following link: http://www.delcampe.net/page/status/page,51,language,E.html
Make sure your address is correct and validate by clicking on "I confirm my request to get sent the activation code".
You will then receive your activation code by regular mail.
PS: All new members without many ratings will be asked to credit their account first to do this operation. To credit your Delcampe account, click here.
When do I have to apply for postal verification and how long does it take?
You can subscribe to postal verification whenever you want even if you do not have many ratings. Better late than never!
Your activation code will be generally sent the day following your subscription. It will take 1 day to 2 weeks for the letter to arrive. Once you enter the activation code on the site, a logo will be added to yor nickname.
How can I have my address verified?
1° Go to this page, read the information and validate your request at the bottom of the page;
2° Your activation code will be sent to your address by regular mail;
3° Once received, enter the code on the site;
4° A logo will be added to your nickname to prove that your address has been verified.
Why was postal verification created?
Our goal is to make transactions between passionate collectors more secure. If your address has not been verified, it does not mean that you are not reliable. This service has been created to improve security for transactions on the site and to make sure that each member is localizable in case of difficulties.
How much does it cost?
The cost price is 5.00 EUR / 7.50 USD / 4.00 GBP / 8.00 CHF / 8.00 CAD for each nickname. Our goal is to increase security and quality of transactions. The price includes costs for printing, envelopes, stamps, workforce, VAT, etc.
I have several nicknames. Do I have to subscribe for each?
Yes, at the moment but we have plans to change that for the postal verification as well as for the Club+ service.
Is postal verification 100% reliable?
Unfortunately not. But if this system enables to avoid as many attempted frauds as possible, it will already be a succes for our Community.
Will my address be visible for other members?
No. The address you provide is used for sending your activation code only. We will keep it for private information and it will not be transmitted to a third party, nor to your buyers or sellers. We will only use it if difficulties should happen.
I subscribed to postal verification by mistake. Can I cancel it?
Since we print your request immediately, it is not possible to cancel it. So please read all the information carefully before you validate your request.
PS: If you still have questions concerning postal verification, please write to info@delcampe.com.
Sincerely yours, the Delcampe team
New service: postal verification For a higher security level on Delcampe...
Wed 17th Sep 2008
Dear members,
Our Community of collectors is growing every day. The very great majority of the members who join us are obviously honest and cordial collectors. However, the experiment proves to us that a minority can prove to be alarming. In view of this potential danger, it is time for us to guarantee you even more security for your transactions.
We are now offering you a new service: postal verification !
2° A validation code will directly be sent to you by regular mail.
3° Once received, enter the code on Delcampe and validate.
4° A logo will be added to your nickname which proves that your address is correct..
5° All members know that your address has been verified.
This new service increases security on Delcampe. In the near future, new functions will be intended for verified members only such as using certain forum or selling a lot of expensive items.
We are now offering you this service at cost price because your security on the site is our priority.
For more information about postal verification (procedure, price, etc), click here.
Sincerely yours, Sebastien Delcampe
The Picture Postcard Show 2008 A great Show, a warm welcome!
During that day, we met many of our members, some of whom held a stand, as well as collectors and old postcards dealers. We also offered the 5th official Delcampe postcard on an exclusive basis.
We would like to thank the organizers of the Picture Postcard Show, especially Sirs Brian Lund, Dave Davis and Mike Day and we strongly recommend this show for 2009.
For more information about this show that we sponsor, please consult our Diary for events.
This event will be a new chance for us to meet you and get to know each other or for some of you, to see each other again.
On this occasion, the 5th official Delcampe postcard will be offered on an exclusive basis. Do not miss it, there will only be 2500 copies !
We are looking forward to meeting you there !
Evelyne, Mélanie & Sébastien
PS: We only have a few Delcampe postcards left. If you come to the Bipex on Friday, you can contact evelyne@delcampe.com to book the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd and/or the 4th card(s).
"First arrived, first served" so don't wait !
Do you use social networking websites ?
Wed 13th Aug 2008
Dear members,
The phenomenon of social networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace or LiveSpace is constantly growing up on the Internet. Those websites enable you to meet friends and to share with them pictures, thoughts, information and other interesting links.
For more information on social networking websites, I invite you to read the following article : "Social network"
We just added this application on the site so you can easily share your Delcampe discoveries (items, research, messages of the forum, etc) with your "social networking friends".
Just simply click on those icons to share your links with more than 50 social networks !
Some of you may have already seen that Delcampe has introduced its first "Tag clouds" on the site !
You can see an exemple on our homepage, in the field "Most frequent".
These words are the most researched within our search engine. They are therefore the most wanted collector's items.
The more popular a word, the bigger and the darker it will be. You just have to click on one of them to begin the search concerning this keyword.
This function is practical and interesting for all ! By simple curiosity or for those of you who would like to know what would be interesting to put on sale, you can now see which items are the most wanted on our site …
These tag clouds are displayed at different places on the site and are different depending on which Delcampe site you are (country, language and category).
Moreover, the three most frequent searches are directly indicated in the search engine (example).
Tag clouds are daily updated based on research of the days before so there won't be 2 times the same !
Don't hesitate to leave a comment or ask questions by clicking here.
Sincerely yours, Sébastien Delcampe and his Team
New system for sending images... on the forum
Wed 13th Aug 2008
Dear members,
We created a new system for sending images.
This system is currently only available on the forum because we want to make sure it works properly before integrating it to the selling form.
You will be able to :
1° send your images more quickly
2° see a preview of your images
3° erase them if needed
4° change the order
If you want to test it, post a new message on our forum and add images... then let us know what you think about it by clicking here !
In case of positive feedbacks, we will integrate this system to the selling form in the days to come.
Sincerely yours, Sébastien Delcampe and his Team
Improvements in the follow-up of your bids and sales
Wed 13th Aug 2008
Dear members,
In your lists "My selling: Closed with bids" and "My buying: Won", you have boxes to tick in order to follow up your transactions: payment requested, payment sent, item sent and item received.
This follow-up is really useful but can take a long time when a lot of items had been sold to a buyer. You then had to tick the boxes one by one.
You can now tick all the boxes related to one buyer/seller in only one click.
Buyers only have to sort their list "My buying: Won" by sellers to see the link "Assign all my payments as sent", "Assign all my items as received".
Sellers only have to sort their list "My selling: closed" by buyers to see the link "Assign all payments as asked", "Assign all items as sent".
Remarks and questions are always welcome... so write to us !
Sincerely yours, Sébastien Delcampe his Team
Difficulties in the sales display
Thu 17th Jul 2008
Dear members,
The sales placed on the site since yesterday evening did not appeared on the site due to technical problems concerning the sales display.
The sales were well created but were not visible on the site.
Everything is in order now.
Some of you, not seeing their sales on the site, may have placed them twice. They are then likely to be found two times on the site. We thus invite you to check your sales.
To facilitate your search, you can sort your bids by title in your ongoing sales. By doing this, you will quickly be able to locate the items placed twice on the site and to close them.
Should you still encounter difficulties in the display of your sales, please contact us to: info@delcampe.com
Please apologize for the troubles.
Thank you for your understanding.
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe
Partnership with the American Philatelic Society
Thu 3rd Jul 2008
Dear member,
I am proud to announce the today's launch of a partnership with the most important philatelic foundation of the United States, the American Philatelic Society comprising 44,000 members.
Thanks to this cooperation, our international collector’s community in the United States will hopefully grow a lot in the next months.
If you are a stamp collector and have interesting American stamps or letters, don’t miss the opportunity and put them on sale now … and if you speak English do not hesitate to show them on Delcampe USA and take the best chance to sell!
Sincerely yours,
Sébastien Delcampe
Charter update
Mon 30th Jun 2008
Dear member,
We have checked the recent modifications in our Terms and Conditions concerning the title and the images of an item for sale, and implemented different slight changes.
We hope these will help you to sell and buy in full respect of all other members, sellers as well as buyers.
As there are still some members who must modify their sales to fully comply with our Charter, we decided to give them two months more time until September, 1, when the holidays are over.
Items put on sale after the publication of this Charter version must comply with the new terms.
Today, we ask all sellers to check their existing sales and modify pictures, titles and descriptions where necessary. All sales must comply to the new Charter version from 1st July 2008.
Please note that the conformity with our updated conditions is immediate as to the Militaria section.
In order to have the time to modify older sales, to replace non contractual pictures by contractual ones and to give the necessary information, June, 15 should be a reasonable time limit.
Thanks to this Charter udpate we improve considerably the security on Delcampe as well as the compliance with legal requirements.
Thank you for your support and help to make Delcampe the best marketplace for collectible lovers all around the world.
Sincerely yours,
Sébastien Delcampe
Picture upload disturbed
Wed 4th Jun 2008
Dear members,
Following the difficulties of one of our display servers we had, by safety, to temporarily block the creation of new sales.
An engineer is on the spot and we are awaiting his approval for the reactivation of the sell form. That should normally be done in the next hours.
The consultation of items and images is still possible, though maybe slowed down.
These last weeks, two new display servers were installed: the difficulties of these last days are related to the necessary adjustments of these machines.
We thank you for your comprehension and please excuse us for any inconveniences.
Sincerely yours,
Sébastien Delcampe
A new site design! Need for a fresh summer look?
Wed 4th Jun 2008
Dear all,
Since last wednesday (June, 4) in the morning you are surfing on a relooked Delcampe website.
This modern presentation wants to be clearer, pleasant and simple of use.
We hope you like it... do not hesitate to share your comments with us via the express polls or by contacting us.
Other innovations which are more functional and awaited by buyers and sellers are planned for the end of this month... please bear with us.
Sincerely yours,
Sébastien Delcampe
Before
After
Difficulties in the addition of the images
Fri 30th May 2008
Dear members,
These last hours, a temporary problem made difficult the addition of images (in particular at the time of the setting on sale).
Delcampe is proud to announce its members the today’s launch of its integrated image zoom tool.
This new system allows users to better view the quality and details of all presented items. What could be more essential to a real collector?
Picture details are not clear? A person shown is not clear enough? There is a blotch on the illustration? A fold? You want to see the perforation or a date-stamp in better detail? Zoom in... and see!
These are the key features of our new tool:
Open an image in an item's list
Simply click on the image as you did before. To close the image click again in the window or on the icon .
Pour déplacer une image
Once you have opened the image, you just need to left-click on it and move the mouse keeping the left button depressed. The image will follow your movement. Release your mouse button to drop the image into place.
Expand or reduce an image
The "magnifier glasses" showing up when moving over the image allow to expand or reduce its size. Click the magnifier glass to zoom in or out the image. This practical function already existed on our website, we will preserve it..
Move between images
The left and right arrows showing up when movin over the image allow you to quickly jump from one image to another. You may also use the keyboard arrows to navigate trough windows.
Compare images
For viewing differences of two separate image files, open both and expand or reduce them as you want. Drag the windows left to right. This way you can easily compare the two images.
It took several weeks for this project to get concluded. It appears our impatience paid off. We hope this new tool will make your visits on our website even more enjoyable!
Do not hesitate to send us your comments or questions using the contact form.
Since its creation in 2000, your Delcampe website is in constant development. We are proud to announce that we have become an international website with more than 14 million collector’s items. However, we still are the meeting point for a community that never lost its human face, and where confidence and user-friendliness obtain highest priority.
In eight years, more than 250,000 people from all over the world have joined our community of impassionated collectors. Our team also grows to keep its standard in helping and advising you in the management of your transactions. Number of technical projects have been carried out and are constantly improving the site. Many more projects keep being added, inspired by your ideas and vision, your mails and the results of our Annual Survey.
To maintain and even raise the consistency of our site’s quality, we need more financial capital. As the commissions on sales have remained unchanged for 5 years now, a revised structure was called for and will end the current one on April, 30. The new structure implies a reasonable increase taking into account the real costs of the website.
This minor adjustment can help us raise quality and reachability of the site and the staff at the same time as it helps to grow a commercially viable website, essential for most of our users.
More than 400,000 collector’s items are sold each month via Delcampe. 400,000 items changing hands... about 20 items since you started to read this information... every 5 seconds another happy collector in the world!
Day by day, more than 200,000 collectors visit our website in a serious and friendly atmosphere.
Do you want us to better help our members with information and guidance? Currently, we are looking for motivated and ambitious people to reinforce the international Delcampe team.
For its office based in Enghien, Belgium, Delcampe is now hiring for the following positions:
· 1 English speaking Support Assistant (M/F)
Helps and assists members.
Translations from French into English.
Excellent knowledge of English, familiar with Internet.
This is an open-ended full time position.
· 1 Dutch speaking Support Assistant (M/F)
Helps and assists members.
Translations from French into Dutch.
Excellent knowledge of Dutch, familiar with Internet.
This is an open-ended full time position.
· 1 Spanish speaking Support Assistant (M/F)
Helps and assists members.
Translations from French into Spanish.
Excellent knowledge of Spanish, familiar with Internet.
This is an open-ended full time position.
· 2 Application Developer (PHP/MySQL/Ajax/Css) (M/F)
Build and deploy the website.
Knowledge of PHP, MySQL, Css, JavaScript, Ajax… (training provided).
This is an open-ended full time position.
Do you have friends or family nearby meeting one of the descriptions above ? Do not hesitate to let them know !
Thank you and see you soon,
Sébastien Delcampe
Information for "Safari" users
Mon 14th Apr 2008
Dear "Safari" user,
It’s been almost 3 weeks now since we first heard members complaining about difficulties when trying to put new items in the "Philately" and "Postcards" sections. Electronic payments trough the Wallet system also seem to be affected by this disorder.
We tried to locate the problem and to understand its possible cause - but currently did not find anything abnormal in our programs. Besides, it seems that only the web browser Safari cannot display pages properly.
In the meantime, we sent an error report to the developers of Safari and asked them whether an adjustment has to be made on our side.
While waiting for the stabilization of the situation, we recommend you to use another web browser, like Firefox for Mac.
We keep on looking for a straight-forward solution,
Sébastien Delcampe & his technical team
Cost of postage from now on obligatory...
Wed 9th Apr 2008
Since Wednesday, April 9, all our sellers must detail their cost of postage (see "My Delcampe > My Information > Conditions of sale". New sales will only be possible when this information is given.
The cost of postage is clearly indicated on each item page, between the "Conditions of sale” and the "Message from the member”.
We kindly request our sellers to take a few minutes in order to detail their costs. It is of big advantage for the good course of their transactions with Delcampe.
This evolution is simple, but will help all, buyers as well as sellers.
Sébastien Delcampe & his team
Address formats
Wed 9th Apr 2008
In the past, member addresses showed in a “Belgian - European” format.
First name Name
Street Number
Zip code City
COUNTRY
Since Wednesday, April 9, addresses are formatted according to the local syntax. As a result, addresses show as follows.
United States, Canada, Australia, Japan:
First name Name
Number Street
City State Zip code
COUNTRY
Great Britain :
First name Name
Number Street
City
Zip code
COUNTRY
…
Don’t worry any longer about the correct address syntax. All will be automatically placed in the right way.
Sébastien Delcampe & his team
Minor Modifications and Bug Fixes
Wed 9th Apr 2008
Dear Members,
A series of bugs has been corrected on the site Wednesday, April 9th.
Here are the main corrections :
- Countdown to close of an auction. In the last hour before a sale/auction ends, the seconds countdown on the screen. With certain slower computers and connections this countdown did not work well. We have corrected this problem and the countdown now re-synchronizes with the clock on our servers every 10 seconds.
- The Moneybookers Electronic Wallet. When paying by this method it was necessary to use a period “ . “ as the decimal. The comma “,” was not accepted. It is now possible to use either symbol as the decimal.
- Delcampe’s on-line search engine. Certain searches did not work. This has been corrected.
- Selling an Item form. The area showing a preview of the description was inactive. This is corrected.
- Selling a similar item. The number of automatic renewals of the sale was set to 0 as a default. This is corrected.
Bugs we’re still working on :
The following bugs are known to us and are being corrected.
- The form for Selling an Item still has several problems with certain browsers such as Safari for the Mac.
- Favorite Searches is not yet 100% compatible with our new Advanced Search engine.
Our technical team is working daily to fix these issues as quickly as possible.
Don’t hesitate to let us know of any further errors you find on the site by using the Contact Us link.
Best regards,
Sébastien Delcampe and the technical team
Your position in the list of Top Stores?
Wed 9th Apr 2008
Dear members, especially Club+Gold members and sellers,
Starting Wednesday, April 9th, you can now see your position in all of the Top Store lists by following this link to your Club+ Subscription page.
You can now see your position in all of the categories and even follow your ranking in past weeks.
This is a new advantage to your Club+Gold membership which we feel will be of added benefit to many of you.
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe and the Delcampe Team
A seller who wants to sell in his own country only
Wed 9th Apr 2008
Dear all,
As a condition of sale ("My Delcampe > My Conditions of sale") a seller has the choice whether or not to sell items outside his home country.
In the past, inattentive buyer living in another country were able to bid in spite of this clause - often with the consequence of a conflictual transaction (and sometimes negative ratings as a result!)
As from Wednesday April 9, the bid form will not be accessible for a buyer living in another country than the seller, if the latter stipulates in his conditions he wants to sell in his home country only.
This important change will avoid conflicts with sellers and frustation on the buyer’s side.
For an easier mail follow up the mail you reply to will be copied under your own text.
Sébastien Delcampe & his team
Starting date of sales more precise
Wed 9th Apr 2008
Until now, the "starting date" on the item description page informed about the date of the last renewal of the sale, which was a not very useful information.
At present, this "starting date" corresponds to the date on which the item was put on sale first. This can be one day ago, one month, one year or even more.
Sébastien Delcampe & his team
Do you have a second mail address ?
Wed 9th Apr 2008
As it can happen to anybody that a mail address fails but unbroken contact with our members is highly important, we decided to give our members the possibility to introduce a second mail address.
The member’s contact page (example) is one of those most used on Delcampe. But it missed some information allowing to conclude your transactions easily.
Currently, we added the languages spoken and the home country of your transaction partner.
Yours Sébastien Delcampe & the Delcampe team
Your last viewed items just one click away!
Wed 9th Apr 2008
We added a frame called “Last viewed items” to the bottom of different pages (categories lists, item lists, item descriptions ...) giving you the last 15 items you viewed on the site. This way you won’t loose the item you want, it is just one click away!
Yours Sébastien Delcampe & the Delcampe team
Automatic picture scale up
Wed 9th Apr 2008
We automatically enlarge pictures which are smaller than the screen. This makes the picture fit on the screen for best viewing of all details.
Members, who want to view several hundreds or even thousands pictures every day, will most appreciate that new possibility.
Yours Sébastien Delcampe & the Delcampe team
Hit counter lets the seller go invisible
Wed 9th Apr 2008
Up to now, each seller visit on his item on sale were counted as one visit, too, fudging the total number of times this page has been accessed.
With the change introduced the hit counter tracks your visitors while you go completely invisible … provided that you are logged in with your user login.
Yours Sébastien Delcampe & the Delcampe team
Payment of Delcampe fees with BIC and IBAN
Wed 9th Apr 2008
Dear all,
More and more European bank companies ask their clients BIC and IBAN codes to be able to pour funds on a bank account. According to our users, this information seems most of all necessary with auction partners in Italy.
To fully meet the European requirements regarding that matter, Delcampe indicates the IBAN and BIC codes for each of its 7 European accounts (see the page "My Delcampe > My Delcampe fees > Credit my account".
Yours Sébastien Delcampe & the Delcampe team
Comeback of the "picture preview"
Wed 9th Apr 2008
Dear all,
A few weeks ago, we decided to withdraw the "Picture preview" window from the sales form. This preview allowed you to view your images most comfortably and see how they would be cropped on the item’s description page.
Our decision was taken because of the technical incompatibility of this function with most of the recent browsers. We currently are able to reactivate it, but only for users of navigator PC Internet Explore versions 6 or older. We continue our efforts to find solutions that are suitable for all browsers.
Yours Sébastien Delcampe & the Delcampe team
Power outage on Monday, March 31
Mon 31st Mar 2008
Dear friends and members of Delcampe,
Due to an unforeseen power outage in one of our datacenters Delcampe was unreachable yesterday from 16:00:08 to 22:30:00 (Brussels time).
Such breakdown is extremely rare because data centers work with batteries and current generators that are most powerful. Unfortunately, the generator supplying the two-thirds of the center did not start to work as he should.
Our servers are hosted by 2 of 3 of the most important data centers in Belgium. Other Belgian Top 100 sites were concerned such as aslpage.be, netlog.be….
Because of the unavailability of our website we decided to close auctions with offers in an extra 24H.
We apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused by this force majeure.
Sébastien Delcampe and the companies Evonet and Tigron
Charter update
Wed 12th Mar 2008
Dear Delcampe users,
The Conditions of use of the Delcampe websites, the "Charter", was updated.
You can consult it by following the link “Terms and Conditions” shown at the bottom of each page of the site.
These texts contribute to keep our site a sure place for its users.
Thank you to all members and visitors for reading and respecting this Charter.
Yours,
Sébastien Delcampe
News from your website
Wed 5th Mar 2008
Dear members,
On Wednesday this week, we have added some more new features to our web and we have corrected some other annoyances. The following lines present an overview of these.
New features
A second, optional, e-mail address. We will use it to contact you if the main address is not working.
The “blacklist” offers the possibility to withdraw entries. It shows the date of insertion and a personal commentary, a sort of an aided recall device.
Red candles near the member login remind others of your Delcampe “age”. You will see them on the presentation pages, on item pages and at the entry to “My Delcampe”.
When performing a global item search, adult category content will not show unless explicitely accepted by the visitor (button “I am of full age…”).
Main categories up to 100,000 items show a link “See all items from these subcategories”.
Ergonomics and design
The personal reference (only Club+ Gold) in "My Delcampe > My Sales" shows more harmonic
In the lower left corner of the “Message from the member” on items and personal presentation pages you will find a link “click here to modify your message”
Our periodical server maintenance (generally between 2 and 4 a.m., Brussels time) involving slowdown will be notified with a text message on the pages.
Only Internet Explorer: Keywords or phrases are highlighted in search results, making it easy to find what you searched for.
Correction of bugs
Some of you have complained that suddenly they did not get any more search alerts. The problem is fixed.
Modification of e-mail addresses in “My Delcampe > Parameters” was impossible when trying to change the login in the same time. The problem is fixed.
On the site map, the links to the Currency Converter and Translator were broken. The problem is fixed.
For different operations the “Multiple changes” device (Club+ Gold) was not working. The problem is fixed.
In "My Delcampe > My sales: Ongoing (with bids)" closures ahead of schedule must be done one by one. The group selection did not work in the past and is disabled from now on.
Only Internet Explorer: The “highlight” disappeared with our spring update and is back now.
International Events Diary: Direct insertion of pictures for a new event was impossible. The problem is fixed.
Lister: The export in .csv did not work correctly. The problem is fixed.
Lister: The Canadian currency CAD was not recognized correctly. The problem is fixed.
The Delcampe Engineering team continues to work for the improvement of Delcampe. The list above is their labor. Help with your feedback, tell us about errors on our website.
Yours,
Sébastien Delcampe & his engineering team
Bolivian Philatelic Centre appeals to help through stamps Interim results of the 2nd Educational Campaign for Bolivian youngsters
Thu 28th Feb 2008
Dear Delcampe members and friends,
In August last year, the Bolivian Centro Filatélico de Cochabamba CEFILCO addressed to us for stamp donations within its second National Educational Campaign 2007 for disadvantaged youngsters in poorer areas.
As collectors always have surplus, we decided without hesitation to relay this appeal to our membership.
In a letter sent in January to Sébastien Delcampe, the association’s President José Barriento de Ugarte, drew a first balance of this campaign.
According to Mister Barriento, 93 Delcampe members from different countries participated, sending Bolivian pupils and students from 5 to 4 800 stamps, a total of about 47 000 stamps. The last letter in 2007 was like a Christmas present, he said. Indeed, our member “Jeanba67” offered not less than 2 137 stamps.
Read here the letter we received and see the full donators list, published in CEFILCO’s philatelic magazine :
The campaign ending on 1 May, CEFILCO hopes to break the limit of one million stamps. For sure the Association is not too far from that goal, as in the beginning of January a total of 765 000 stamps was already reached.
If you want to help CEFILCO to collect more stamps, you can send them to:
2a Campana Educativa de CEFILCO
Centro Filatélico de Cochabamba
Casilla 1235
Cochabamba
Bolivia
Do not forget to clearly indicate your name and address as CEFILCO will inform every donator of the results of this 2nd Bolivian Educational Campaign for Cochambamba.
Thank you all for your support and generosity. Your kindness helps the education of thousands of young people in Bolivia.
Yours Sébastien Delcampe & team
Spring-time news are coming!
Wed 27th Feb 2008
Dear members,
We are proud to present a series of new functions, specially designed for the forthcoming spring period.
1. Search engine
You have been waiting for it for a long time. Here is it! But what are his assets?
He is much (!) quicker.
You can serch in descriptions, too.
Search options are omnipresent, and not only for advanced search.
List updates will be done every 30 minutes instead of every 24 hour.
The search engine presents much more ergonomic than in the past.
For more information concerning the new search engine take a look at our help page.
2. Delcampe-Toolbars for Internet Explorer and Firefox
A new - absolutely free and definitely useful - version of the Delcampe toolbar is at your disposal.
In the past, when doing payments through the Wallet, the buyer could lower transport fees on his on. From now on, in order to avoid fraud and abuse, a modification will be possible only upwards.
A potential buyer introducing a lower offer, will be authorized to modify that offer later on, but only by increasing the price for at least 20 %. This avoids increasing the price by 1 cent only, for instance.
For sellers:
The new search engin plus ...
The automatic sales renewal passes from 999 to maximum 99 times.
Your HTML message editor in "My Delcampe" > "My parameters" presents got a new version and outfit. It presents much more userfriendly, thus easier to use.
For more visibility, the personal sales reference (only for Club+ members) will henceforth introduce the title.
Payment requests and invoices will get an item counter and the total to pay.
In your fees history, you will see cancelled sales before the others, thus getting the list more clear and legible.
Finally, the website's design got a new outfit
The item presentation shows more userfriendly, more compact and clearer.
On the homepage, we changed the selection presentation and created new lists showing all selections in big format, easier to read and clearer.
The description section also dressed new. You mustn’t scroll down and down any longer if an item page is too long.
We hope you will enjoy all these changes. The sunny and warm days are almost back, we use this time to get out our tools and prepare other projects awaited eagerly.
Have a nice walk and see you soon.
Cordially,
Sébastien Delcampe
Wallet activation
Wed 20th Feb 2008
Dear members,
From the beginning of this week the implementation of a Moneybookers account in our wallet has been impossible. Each trial resulted in a withdrawal response saying the account was not recognized by Moneybookers.
Together with the Moneybookers engineering team we have fixed this problem.
From Wednesday morning 1 a.m. (Brussels time), we have diagnosed the Lister freezing all new sales in the waiting loop. The nature of this problem seemed to be a clogging on Delcampe’s side.
Currently, the situation is clearing up and all sales in the waiting loop should be on site in the next 24 hours.
Please do not send your request twice, as this would create duplication of your concerned items.
The plan announced some weeks ago to definitely close different categories in contradiction with the esprit and notion of our website, has come to its end.
Indeed, as we want the categories to be presented for the overall benefit of our members with the latest and most desirable approach, we decided to close the following categories:
A series of photos and postcards currently in these two sections however will find a new place in the newly created category, “Ethnics”. … those items put in “Nudes” because there was no better place.
We are confident that, despite this important decision, you will continue to enjoy this website. And we are convinced that this measures helps us in what we do, we will not fail our members who continue to trust in us.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Yours,
Christine Delcampe Category Manager
No mail getting out
Mon 28th Jan 2008
Dear member,
Our e-mail server is currently down, no e-mail is getting out since Sunday. We are working on it to fix this. A solution should be found in a few hours.
Wednesday to Thursday night (2008/01/30-2008/01/31) we will perform a planned maintenance work at our database servers. This web site will not be attainable starting from 00:00 o'clock during approx. 2 hours.
Sales with offers ending in this time will be extended for 24 hours.
Yours,
Sébastien Delcampe
Server problem repaired
Mon 28th Jan 2008
Dear members,
The server problem I announced in a former news (click here) is repaired.
However, due to the mails in backlog the mail delivery process may take more time than usual.
Thank you for your understanding.
Yours,
Sébastien Delcampe
Delcampe launches its website in Canada !
Thu 20th Dec 2007
Dear Delcampe friends in Canada,
As the end of the year feasts approach, the best time to give, Delcampe decided to offer its members a very special present – the opening of Delcampe Canada !
With Delcampe Canada, we take pride in offering the same tailor-maide quality service you already know from us. The site will be fed in C$ and, of course, be bilingual. Sales started on Delcampe Canada will also be presented on our international website.
For the rest, all local assets will be effective immediately:
- no insertion fees
- definitely the lowest sales charges
- a serious collectors' community
- complete tailored support
- ...
Now we just need to fill your website with content ! Thus, we need your sales listings in the forthcoming days. If your sales are already listed, but you want to sell in C$ on Delcampe Canada, tell us and we will do it - easily and rapidly.
You have friends or family living in Canada? Invite them to join Delcampe on www.delcampe.ca. Where their favorite items are on sale.
Delcampe is proud and honoured as since its creation, more than 10 million items have been sold on our worldwide marketplace!
And it’s simply because you, sellers as well as buyers, are here, that this fantastic success story has happened. Some ten thousands of members give pleasure to others, whose eyes are sparkling with joy as they watch the wide range of items presented on sale.
Thank you all for your cooperation and contribution. Let’s start round 2 and beat the 20 million records.
Yours
Sébastien Delcampe & team
Postponed auctions
Fri 30th Nov 2007
Dear members,
After an unforeseen unavailability of the site on Friday November 30 from 1:36 to 8:00 (Brussels time), we have postponed all the sales with bids whose closing time is in this time frame. They will close 24 hours later.
We thank you for your understanding
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe
Unavailable site during the night between Monday and Tuesday
Tue 13th Nov 2007
Dear members,
A temporary dysfunction of one of the image server has prevented the running of the site between 1:00 and 7:30 (Brussels time) this Tuesday morning. Our technical team has solved the situation.
Thank you for your understanding.
Sébastien Delcampe
Maintenance Tuesday October 30 from 23:30 to 24:00
Tue 30th Oct 2007
Dear members,
On Tuesday October 30 in the evening, we will proceed to a maintenance on our image system. We will install new faster hard drives.
This will mainly improve the speed of the listing of items.
This maintenance should last between 23:30 and 24:00 (Brussels time). During that time, the creation and modification of new sales with images will not be possible. The showing of images on the site will also be stopped from time to time.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Best regards,
Sébastien Delcampe & Tigron.be
Lister and 24h postponing end of sale
Thu 25th Oct 2007
Dear members,
At the beginning of the month of June, our site suffered a major incident relative to our database. To help you, we then decided to deactivate the 24 hour postponing that occurs when the seller wants to close an auction with bids.
This allowed our sellers to be able to manage their transactions that could be hazardous at that time. Indeed, the ability to remove quickly items from the sit was very important in these conditions.
From now on, this postponing has been reactivated.
At that time, we also granted free access to the Lister for all our members. This advantage was foreseen for 2 months, but finally offered it for a longer time. Please note however, that on November 1, you will have to be a Club+ Gold member again to be able to list items with the Lister. For more information and to subscribe, click here.
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe
Great annual survey !
Thu 25th Oct 2007
GREAT ANNUAL SURVEY Dear member,
The site having regained its cruising speed, we can once again concentrate on our numerous projects.
For more than 7 years, we are trying as much as possible to answer your needs and suggestions. It is the reason why, each year, even if our community continues its growth we organize a great survey in order to receive your impressions and ideas on the site.
This survey is an important event for us, because it enables us to make the site evolve with the implication of the experience of the members new or old.
Last year, many of you have sent us your ideas, suggestions, and remarks. We have already been able to create some of these (the Event Diary, an optimized management of sales and purchases, the electronic wallet, a new presentation of lists of items, the rating system, the "I am looking for..." part, the new system of lower and grouped bids, the multiple modifications interface, the opening of the Swiss and Austrian sites).
This year we hope you will be even more to take part.
We have prepared for you an online form. It enables you to tell us about :
what you like (5 positives points) ;
what you don’t like (5 negatives points) ;
what you would like as new features (5 ideas) ;
what our site represents for you ;
a possible message to our attention (suggestions, support, ...)
Thank you in advance for your taking part… To your keyboards everyone!
Your answers will stay confidential. We will not forward them even partially to a third party.
Than you to those of you who already took part last year. We are counting on you again this year!
Hard to give feedbacks (Since Monday 22/10)
Tue 23rd Oct 2007
Dear members,
The adding of feedbacks has been prevented since October 23 at 19 :58 (Brussels time). The cause was quite easy to find, the part of our database dedicated to feedbacks was full. We have increased it in order to find a solution to the situation.
As of now, all feedback operations are possible again.
We are very sorry for this temporary incident and thank you for your understanding.
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe
Sunday 21/10: Difficult listings
Sun 21st Oct 2007
Dear members,
Listing of items has been difficult for a part of Sunday October 21. This was caused by a procedure using too much resources of our image server.
We made an intervention in order to moderate this programm and found a solution to the situation around 18 :00 (Brussels time).
We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused and wish you happy listings.
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe
25 000 English speaking members!
@luke
Thu 11th Oct 2007
Dear members,
The Delcampe English speaking Community has now more than 25 000 members! This makes it the second largest Community of the site right after the French one.
Most of you are coming from the United States, Australia and Great Britain, but many are coming from different countries all over the world.
It is a great pleasure for me to help you and travel so much just by reading about your far locations and knowing my emails are sent worldwide. Whenever possible, I am trying to at least say "Hello" in the language of your country. It is the least I can do.
Thank you all for bringing a little sun in the office as some of you might know, it is some time rainy here in Brussels, Belgium.
I wish you all the best for your future transactions on Delcampe.
Best regards,
Luke
Some members do not receive copies of the messages
@mario
Fri 5th Oct 2007
Dear members, ,
We have been warned by some members that they were not receiving the copies of the automatic mails of Delcampe (start of sale, end of sale, questions asked, feedbacks, messages, etc.) even if the original is visible in « My delcampe » > « My received messages ».
After checking we have managed to find out that :
This situation does not in any case have its source with Delcampe as members find the messages in their accounts, the emails you receive are only a copy.
It seems that some Internet providers have blacklisted us and consider our mails to be « spam » either following descriptions from other users, either after the change in IP address of our server.
If you are concerned by this situation, we invite you to contact your Internet provider in order to warn them and so they can take our name out of their blacklist. You will then be able to receive the Delcampe mails again without making any changes on your side.
Should this solution not work, or take too long, we advise you then to use a free email address such as "Yahoo", "Hotmail", "Gmail".
Once your new address has been created, you can then :
Either send it to us at the following email address : luke@delcampe.comso that we can make the changes.
Thank you for your understanding and collaboration. Please excuse the inconvenience caused.
Best regards, Luke
Your Delcampe Team
Delcampe taking part in the Briefmarkenmesse Berlin !
Sat 29th Sep 2007
Dear members,
We will take part in the International Philatelic Fair Briefmarkenmesse in Berlin (Germany) between October 5 and 7.
Exclusive : The fourth official Delcampe Postcard will be given away. Don’t miss it, there are only 5000 copies! Furthermore, it is the first Delcampe card in German !
You will find all the information regarding this fairsponsored by us in our International event Diary.
We look forward to meet many of you there !
Evelyne, Sébastien & Christine
Reopening of the Forum
@webmaster
Sat 22nd Sep 2007
Dear members,
A few days ago, when we brought back the site to our new servers, wa had to temporarily close down the forum in order to avoid an easy misinformation.
Aware of the real utility this meeting place has for our members, we have decided to open it again as of today, even if we still need to work on the servers.
In order to make this place as convenient and user friendly as possible for all, we remind you the forum Charter.
My team and our moderators will strictly see to its application.
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe
Technical Information of Sept. 22
@webmaster
Sat 22nd Sep 2007
Dear members,
With the installation of the site on our new servers, you are more and more to join us and visit our pages. This Monday September 17, we have even made a historic record ! Never before have there been so many of you to visit Delcampe.net !
The number of listings and offers on auctions is very impressive. We are very happy to finally see the site take off after a long and difficult period of many months.
In the coming days, we will send you a newsletter in which you will find an update of the last couple of months. We will explain to you what happened and why we couldn’t tell you everything even if we wanted to. The life of the site depended on our discretion.
The current technical situation is very good compared to our old servers. We are happy to note it through the numerous mails we have received from enthusiastic members. We are however aware that the site slows down from time to time.
The source of our current difficulty is the key word search engine. We have therefore worked in association with our new technical partners, Evonet and Tigron, in order to take decisions to find a solution for the last cause of the site slowdowns. Somme additional servers have been ordered. They will be delivered and installed in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we continue to improve and optimize the site in order to limit these occasional slowdowns. We will keep you informed of the future changes in this news panel. We would like to thank everyone of you who have supported us and kept faith in us during these difficult months. We hope they are feeling their patience to be rewarded.
We keep and will keep our committments as we have always done.
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe
Blank pages on the site?
@webmaster
Fri 21st Sep 2007
Dear members,
Some of you have mentioned they don’t have access to some pages of the site since we have installed new servers.
After investigating with these members, we have found the source of the difficulty…
By changing the servers, we have changed the geographic place of the site (its IP address).
Some security programs (like the Norton Firewall) checked this IP address and noticed that it had changed and refused to show you the page. Such a change is considered as piracy by these programs.
To be able to access these pages again, you just have to change the settings of the security program installed on your computer (Norton Firewall and others).
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe
Technical update of Sept. 17 : The Lister
@webmaster
Mon 17th Sep 2007
Dear members,
A new version of the Lister is available since Monday September 18. If this program was already installed in your computer, the update should be made automatically. If you haven’t installed it yet, you can discover it on our Delcampe Lister presentation page.
Some of you have mentioned that for some sales sent by the Lister, the images were mixed up. We have corrected this for the next listings.
The ending hour was also different depending on the time of the sending of the items. By transferring the site from the United States to Belgium, we have changed time zone. This is why that sales created with an older version of the Lister (2.30, the latest version), and sent now can have their ending time changed by 5 to 6 hours. All sales created with today’s version will have the correct ending time and date. Make sure to check this before sending your items to our servers !
On a different level, the site a little bit slow this Monday evening, we continue to work on our search engine with the engineers of the MySQL company.
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe
Technical situation - 2007-09-14
@webmaster
Fri 14th Sep 2007
Dear members,
Another night of work is over, in which we continued configuring and optimizing the website. As a result, pictures are again viewable on all pages.
In concrete terms, actually those put on the site since april 2007 are back. The other ones will follow this Friday : first the newer ones, last but not least the oldest ones.
Also, the picture upload in new sales has been fixed. Both picture errors were closely interconnected.
The data base is more stable, but gathers momentum. It still slows considerably down at moments, so we hold on in our optimization process.
As for the Lister, there is still no possibility of use. For facility and security reasons, you will have to reload all new sales you tried to upload, and this from Monday on, we are very sorry. We will keep you informed about the progress and reactivation.
For all technical questions other than those mentioned above, please contact us. It would be a great help for us.
Thank you,
Sébastien Delcampe and his team
The Lister works again !
@webmaster
Fri 14th Sep 2007
Dear all,
A number of you have sent their Lister sales not once, but a many times. The reactivation of the Lister tool would mean these sales to be uploaded more than one time. That is why we decided to delete all concerned lines in our database. In concrete terms, all sales put by Lister from Monday on, have to be reloaded.
If meanwhile you erased these sales off your Lister, contact us by Monday and we will pass them manually, as they have been stored in our backup system.
The picture problem continues to be solved. And whilst te website continues to be slow this Friday, we still work on the database even if you do not yet see the results while "surfing the surface".
Have a nice weekend everybody,
Sébastien Delcampe
Technical situation - 2007-09-13
@webmaster
Thu 13th Sep 2007
Dear Delcampe user,
On Monday this week we transferred our website from the United States host company towards Belgium. This operation was a highly confidential, hazardous and delicate one. Well, given the circumstances, things come up roses ! Our new partners and our internal services show coordinated, professional and effective awareness.
Nevertheless, our seven new servers need to fit in one week only. Different features must be investigated carefully, MySQL, the new host company Tigron and ourselves are cooperating in the optimization of them. Areas we have to focus on actually: pictures, the Lister, the setting up of new sales and data base performance.
We deplore the misinformation and buzz in our forum that exaggerate the degree of disorder in our community. Only the information given in this newsletter is correct and comes from Delcampe services. To stop rumours, the forum part of the site will be temporarily closed.
We will keep you informed as soon as we know ourselves. Thank you all for your comprehension, patience and confidence.
Yours sincerely,
Sébastien Delcampe
Important changes on the site
Tue 11th Sep 2007
Dear members,
As you might have noticed it, we have made yesterday very important changes on the site. We are currently making last fine tuning changes and that is the reason why the site is still so slow. We understand the situation is not easy but we are working on it and we will keep you informed Wednesday or Thursday.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Best Regards,
Luke
A new baby in the Delcampe Team ! Matheo, future delcamper ?
Mon 27th Aug 2007
Dear Members,
We have the great pleasure to announce the birth of MATHEO, Son of Luke and his wife Valérie.
Luke is responsable for the English speaking community of our site.
The newborn baby and his happy parents are well.
If you wish to send them a little word : luke@delcampe.com (It will be a pleasure for them !)
Best regards, Your Delcampe team
Very slow site this Monday
Mon 27th Aug 2007
Dear members,
The site has been very slow Monday 27 evening between 18 :30 and 20 :30 (Paris time). This is caused by a overflow of a part of the database.
the incident was quickly solved but it took some time for the total repair.
We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused.
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe
New on the site : The Security code
Thu 23rd Aug 2007
Dear members,
We have installed a new security feature on the site.
Our community is growing day by day and is becoming more and more the target of malicious people who are trying to abuse it. For that purpose , they use robots to “attack” our web pages.
To stop this before it gets out of hand, We have installed security codes.
It is very easy to use…
You copy the five number in the box on the right
This easy procedure is usefull because the malicious robots can not read the multicolor code.
This system has currently been installed on the pages « contact a member », « Contact Delcampe », « ask a question about a sale » and « become a member ».
Best regards, your Delcampe Team
The 2 iPods nanos have been won!
Thu 23rd Aug 2007
Dear members,
Chance has designated the 2 winners of the iPods nanos among those of you who have used the electronic wallet in July.
The 2 winners are Janssens4420 of Belgium and King27 of Finland.
Congratulations to them and thank you all for your participation.
Best regards, Your Delcampe Team
Moneybookers answers your questions
@webmaster
Thu 16th Aug 2007
Dear members,
Many of you are using the Moneybookers service to pay their online purchases and sales on our site via the electronic wallet.
We have asked and proposed to our partner to be more present at your side to help you.
Moneybookers now has a moderator account on Delcamper : %mod_moneybookers.
You can ask them questions via our Moneybookers Forum, namely by reacting to one of their official message here :
This collaboration will allow to guide all the members that need it.
best regards, Sébastien Delcampe
Blocked Moneybookers account ?
Fri 10th Aug 2007
Dear members,
We have noticed that some of our members have had their Moneybookers account blocked.
We have therefore contacted the company that manages the e-wallet available on our site. They have explained that they have had to increase the security on their site.
The concerned accounts can be unlocked by contacting their client support at the following number +44 8703830232.
Best regards, Your Delcampe team.
Faulse Moneybookers emails Be carefull with mails asking you for your personal information!
Mon 6th Aug 2007
Dear members,
Many users of the Moneybookers system are receiving fraudulous mails whose purpose is to get their confidential information.
As you are many to use this service via the electronic wallet, we want to inform you on that matter.
This way of swindling is called phishing. The Wikipedia site will give you more information. Click here.
We have contacted Moneybookers security service and you will find their answer. Nous avons contacté le service sécurité de Moneybookers et vous transmettons ci-dessous la traduction de leur réponse :
" It has come to our attention that some of our members recently received an email, supposedly from Moneybookers Limited, requesting you to prove your identity.
We would like to confirm that this message was NOT sent by Moneybookers, and strongly advise you not to follow the instructions contained in it.
Please be reminded that: 1.The Moneybookers official website is www.moneybookers.comand any other URL should be considered false.
2. Moneybookers requires that you access your account ONLY using the login link on the Moneybookers homepage.
3. Moneybookers and its representatives will NEVER send you an email asking you to provide your login details within a form provided or to click on a hyperlink to access your account.
4. Always check whether you are accessing your Moneybookers account from a secured conection (httpS:// - the 's' indicates the page is secured). Always check whether a 'padlock' is present in the bottom right-hand corner of your browser. Double click the padlock to verify that the security certificate is issued to www.moneybookers.com.
If you have already followed the link provided in the mail mentioned and entered your personal details, please be advised to immediately log into your Moneybookers account (if you have one) and change your password.
Be very careful on this matter and always check on which site you are on before giving valuable confidential information.
The Delcampe Team has also included a few tips in order to avoid this kind of situation. You will find all the available information by clicking on the following link : "Phishing guide"
Best regards, Your Delcampe Team
NEW : Multiple changes interface!
Wed 25th Jul 2007
Dear members,
During this holiday season for many of you, You are plenty to have asked us the possibility to make changes on the whole of your store. Of course without having to make the changes sale by sale !
Since today, more than ten million items are for sale on the site, this represents a lot of work for many of you.
To help you, Doria, of our technical crew, has programmed a new page in « My Delcampe » : The multiple modifications interface.
Using this interface, in one operation, for all your sales, you can now:
- Change the ending date and/or time ;
- Apply a price decrease or increase ;
- Change to fixed price or auction sale ;
- Move towards another Delcampe site (national or our intenational site) ;
- Change the number of remaining renewals ;
-Plan the closing, the opening, or a suspention period oàf the sales.
Of course, all of these operations can only be done on ongoing sales without bid. The ones with bid(s) can in no way be modified, even manually… Which is normal in respect for your buyers.
Don’t hesitate to send your impressions and suggestions to doria@delcampe.com.
Best regards, Your Delcampe Team
200,000 members on Delcampe !!!
Wed 11th Jul 2007
Dear members,
Once upon a time, there was a small personnal page, fruit of the imagination of a young collector who had a dream : to offer to his close friends a virtual space where they could meet to talk, learn, excange, buy and sell, in a user-friendly, trusting and securized atmosfear.
This personal page was born 6 years ago… It was the beginning of our site, of your site : Delcampe.net
Since, it has evolved , very slowly at first, thanks to local mouth to ear network, then, faster and faster, to become, today, one of the biggest international portal on collecting on Internet!
It has undergone many storms, and never slept… And if today our boat is ready to face the future with confidence, it is because we have you on our side.
As we are ready to celebrate the 10 millionth item in the coming weeks, it is new important step that we are crossing with you : the 200 000th member has joined us this week !
The Delcampe.net adventure is for us a challenge that we take up each day with you… Your presence, from the four corners of the world, at our sides is both a great encouragement and the most beautiful of the rewards !
Our search engine even enables you to find your region.
Great deals to be made!
Dally well... and come back soon to us if leave !
Best regards, your Delcampe Team
PS: If you organize a fair or a collector’s event, add it to our diary, it’s free ! You can also do it if you want to help other members, even if you are not the organizer.
Win 2 iPods nanos thanks to Moneybookers and Delcampe !
Thu 5th Jul 2007
Dear members,
To celebrate the summer, Moneybookers and Delcampe team up to offer you 2 iPods nano !
Nothing easier, use our Electronic Wallet...
and be selected in our lucky draw at the beginning of next month …
We wish you already the best of luck !!!
Your Delcampe team
Installation of the new servers... update of July 5
@webmaster
Thu 5th Jul 2007
Dear members,
Here is some information regarding the latest stages of the server installation.
Images server : The 2 servers have been installed and even if they need fine tuning, the result is more than rewarding. Please note that the temporary image problems for some sales are caused by these servers but by the web servers.
Database servers: the first server has been installed and shows to be quite effective. The second one, showed a weakness with one of its components, and we decided not to take a risk and to change this component. It should be back from repair at the beginning of next week and we will make a new running test.
Web servers : The first new server is almost ready. We are testing it and adding the last touch. We should be able to count on it in the middle of next week.
Since a few days, your site connection has become relatively comfortable. Some slownesses still remain but we are happy to announce that even if July is usually the quietest month of the year, you have never been so many on the site !
Furthermore, the number of sold items is veryimpressive… True, July is only beginning, but more than 10 800 items have been sold each day !
We are on the right track and are maintaining strongly our course… Yes, against winds and tides, the Delcampe Community is alive and well !
We thank you for your support and fidelity.
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe and his team
Difficult Sign in on the site
Tue 3rd Jul 2007
Dear members,
A change in the configuration of one of our servers has made your connections to your accounts difficult.
This is now fixed
We thank you for your understanding
Best regards, Your Delcampe Team
Change of Hard disk in the night of Wednesday to Thursday
@webmaster
Thu 14th Jun 2007
Dear members,
Following the incident that occurred last Saturday, our technicians have kept on testing and investigating our system.
As a hard disk presented a risk, we decided, for security reasons, to close the site the time it take to replace it.
After making a complete safety backup, A Dell technician has analysed and changed the concerned hard disk and some of its linked components.
The activity on the site has started again around 10:30 this Thursday morning In the coming hours and days, we will keep on working on the present and future servers.
Our Community must face hard times for the moment, but we keep moving on for all.
Soon, we will keep on working together to build our international community of collectors, based on user-friendliness, humanity and seriousness.
Thank you all for your patience, your understanding and fidelity.
Sébastien Delcampe
Incident of Saturday June 9 : Answers to your questions…
Wed 13th Jun 2007
Incident of Saturday June 9 : Answers to your questions…
Dear visitors, dear members,
Saturday June 9, an technical incident has touched our Delcampe site and its community. Indeed, we had to come back to a version of May 31. This means concretely that any change made between May 31 and June 9 has not been taken into account on the site.
For the sellers, this concerns the bids (classic, lower or grouped) the buys, the questions, the feedbacks, etc.
For the sellers, this concerns the listing of the items, changes to auctions, closing, received bids, answers to questions, feedbacks, etc.
All the auctions opened on the site on the morning of May 31 have been maintained, their ending date, has just been postponed for 12 days.
We wish, this thursday, to to make an update with you on the situation of the site.
Since this Monday morning , we are aware that it is difficult to use our site. On our side, we are 8 to answer to your mails, but totally drowned in front of the hundreds of emails arriving. Don’t be too hard on us if we don’t answer quickly to your emails, We are really doing our maximum.
We keep on, beside this technical storm, to prepare the installation of more servers and are counting on them to brighten our skies. Some instabilities and difficulties still remain and we are working on them. We keep moving on and are taking important decisions to assure a smoother future for the site. You wish it and so do we.
Soon, we will explain to you more in details how the site is working and the evolution of our technical structure based on several servers.
As it is not possible for us to answer individually to all the emails and to help you better, we wish here to give you the answer to the most frequently asked questions.
We invite you to read them carefully, we thank you for your presence , and are at your disposal, if you don’t find here the answer to your question.
Subscription, Club+ memberships and your account parameters.
- I have opened an account between May 31 and June 9 and I can not access it now.
You then need to register yourself again. Your old password and nickname are no longer valid. You can nonetheless use the same nickname again for your new registration. A new password will be sent to you; To register again please click here :
- I subscribed for a Club+ membership between May 31 and june 9 and this does not appear anymore.
You have to subscribe again. For that, just go to this page and click on “register”:
http://www.delcampe.net/club.php?language=E. If you have received your activation code meanwhile, do not enter your code into your account as it is obsolete and because a new one will be created when you subscribe again. In that case, just contact us at mailto:info@delcampe.com, give us your nickname and your previous code. We will do the necessary operations to activate your subscription without further delay.
- I have modified my personnal info, my parameters or my sales conditions between May 31 and June 9.
All the changes made between May 31 and june 9 are not there anymore. You must do them again.
- I added favorites and items in my watching list (categories, sellers, searches) between May 31 and June 9 and they do not appear anymore.
These elements that you have created are not saved anymore, You must recreate them. For that use the search engine or go through the categories you like and if you can’t find them, you can always contact the sellers to ask them to put their items back for sale that have during that time been closed already.
Bids and buys
- I have placed offers (classical, lower or grouped) between May 31 and June and they do not appear anymore in « My Delcampe », or I am not in the list of bidders anymore.
All the offers made between May 31 and June 9 are not taken into account anymore, you must remake them. To find your auctions back use the search engine or go through the categories you like and if you can’t find them, you can always contact the sellers to ask them to put their items back for sale. We advise you to do it quickly before another bid is placed by another bidder.
- I have won auctions between May 31 and June 9 and they do not appear anymore in « My delcampe ».
If a sale had been closed and won between May 31 and June 9, it will not appear in your winning sales. It is even possible that this item has been put back for sale on the site. In that case, the best is to check in the categories and to contact the seller in order for him to close the sale before a new bid is placed. In the case of the sale being given to another buyer, the seller will have to file a cancel request to stop the transaction. He may then start the auction once again at a fixed price after warning the buyer. As soon as his bid is placed, the item will be awarded to him and everything will be in order. Please note that if you do not go through these steps, you will not be able to leave each other feedbacks.
Sales
- I have placed items for sale nand they are not on the site anymore.
In this case, you muste recreate the sale. Please note that Delcampe is granting free access to the Lister (usually only available for Club+ gold members) for a period of two months in order to list your items on the site easier and faster. You will find all the information and can download it easily at : http://www.delcampe.net/lister_help.php?language=E
- You had bids on your sales and they are not there anymore.
Unfortunately, these bids are lost. The buying members have been warned and should normally make a search for these items and place another bid or contact you in order for you to put the sales back on the site.
- I have answered to lower or grouped bids and it has not been taken into account on the site.
You must reply once again to these offers and inform the buyers.
- I have declared a cancelled request and it doesn’t show anymore.
All the cancelled requests between May 31 and June 9 should be filed in again. This is why, you might have noticed a possible difference in your balance historybefore and after the crash.
- I have closed sales that have disappeared or I closed sales manually (with or without offer and they are for sale once again.
It is appropriate to pay close attention to the sales that are listed in your store at the moment.
Indeed, if you have closed manually a sale or if a sale was closed automatically between May 31 and June 9, it should be once again for sale. It is essential to check correctly the sales of your store. If not, it could happen that closed items are awarded either to other bidders or that the item is no longer available. If you have kept the confirmation mails of your sales in your mailbox, it should be easy for you to update these items.
Please note that due to the disappearing of these closed sales, your commissions of the month of June will be quite less to what they usually are. This is why, if you wish you can give us the sales you have done during these ten days. For that, just send an email at : mailto:info@delcampe.com. You are free to do so, it is optional.
Payments with the Moneybookers electronic wallet.
- I subscribed for the Electronic Wallet between May 31 and June 9and my Delcampe account is not linked to it anymore.
You do not need to make Your subscription with Moneybookers again. It is appropriate to link your Moneybookers email address to your £Delcampe Electronic Wallet again. For that, go to :
"My Delcampe " > "My Wallet" > "Open / Declare an account " :
... There, answer to the question « Do you already have an account with www.Moneybookers.com ? » by ticking the « yes, the address is… » box and introduce your email address linked with Moneybookers. Then click on « activate wallet ».
- I have done payments to my sellers with the wallet and the balance history is not up to date.
Your payement doesn’t have to be done again. It has been taken into account by mb, it will not appear in the history of your payments on Delcampe. Also the follow-up of your transactions for your payments done with the wallet (or even without it) is not up to date. It is appropriate to tick the boxes manually in “My Delcampe”.
- I have credited my Delcampe Account but the balance has been modified and my last payments do not appear in the history anymore.
It is not necessary to make your paiments again. They are being encoded again by our accounting. This is a long process and should be in order Thursday noon.
Feedbacks, messages between members and disputes.
- I have given or received evaluations.
Unfortunately you have to give these feedbacks once again or ask the other members to place them again. If the transaction is going on once more and is not closed anymore, it is best to contact the seller to warn him. You can then at the sale close give each other feedbacks again.
It is therefore possible that your feedback average is slightly modified, This will quicly comme back in order.
- I have asked questions, contacted a member or replied to messages and it doesn’t appear anymore.
These operations don’t necessarily have to be done once again because the members concerned should have received a copy in their personal email boxes.
- I have started a dispute resolution and it does not appear anymore.
Unless the dispute has been settled, we advise you to restart the procedure. In that way, the other party will have the opportunity to react, give his version and the resolution process will be easier.
Very important informations for all members !
Sun 10th Jun 2007
Dear visitors, dear members,
You are many tens of thousands to have noticed it, the Delcampe site has been closed down a great part of this week end. This was caused by an important accident that happened during an unsuspected and dangerous repair Saturday afternoon.
For more than 6 years, now, the Delcampe site has evolved, grown, developed with and thanks to you all. By reading your testimonies and encouragements arriving per thousands in our mailboxes, we are proud and happy to have been able to make a success of the unthinkable; to bring together hundreds of thousands of collectors of the whole world within an easy user friendly Internet site, and managed by a small team of people impassioned by their work.
Today, the site must face its largest hard blow since the whole beginning. We will need all your support and your confidence.
The repair operation didn’t go well and we lost two important hard disks. The first contained our data base, the second part of our last safety backup of yesterday morning. Despite our devotion during several hours, and the intervention of specialized experts, it proved to be impossible to restore this information.
There remained for us the possibility of sending these discs towards a laboratory likely to recover the data. This operation would have cost more than 15,000 EURO with an announced success rate of less than 5%, even completely none. Moreover, the time of implementation was 7 days. We thus chose to give up this option.
You are more than 30,000 collectors to daily use our site to buy, sell, look around, discuss… to live our so beautiful passion here! Even some, professionals, make a living with their sales on our site. We cannot thus deprive to you of the site during a whole week. You need the site, as we need you, whether to live for it or from. You are our reason to exist and we must come back for you. We are there!
Also, the second, and single other, option which was available to us, was to restore the site starting from the last intact backup, the one of May 31 in the morning.
Approximately, that means that we have, together, to reconstitute 10 days of the life of the site: Setting on sale, offers, purchases, feedbacks, etc, etc... You will have, with the help of our team, to update what has been done since this 31 May. We are ready, Evelyne, Elizabeth, Christine, Doria, Mario, Luke and me to help you and answer all your questions. It is our role, our mission, we must be there for you. Our moderators are also fully engaged in this action.
Yes, it is a hard blow for the site and its members, and a decision very difficult to take in the current last night. The moment has come to stay together; More than ever, we must come out of this bad experience with a reinforced Community. It is possible!
Beyond the financial loss that is to us, which amounts of tens of thousands of euros, it is your presence at our side which is most important. We do not give up, nor lower the head, we have still have much road to travel together! A little courage and tenacity will help us to overcome this difficult test to which we are, and you, today, confronted.
In order not to lengthen this mail in a disproportionate way, the concrete consequences, regarding of your offers and sales are below detailed. Do not hesitate to ask us your questions, preferably on the forum than by email because we will not be able to face thousands of individual electronic mails.
We sincerely thank for all your support testimonies to the site and to us.
We remain close to you,
Sébastien Delcampe, Evelyne, Elizabeth, Christine, Doria, Mathieu, Mario and Luke
- All your won auctions done before the May 31 are, of course, maintained and we confirm their validity.
- The auctions won between today and May 31 are to be done again. You can contact your seller through the email that we have sent you to confirm the end of the auction.
- Payments done through the Electronic wallet have been made on the Moneybookers site. But they are not copied on the balnce history on our site. You have to ask your seller to check your payments on Moneybookers and not on Delcampe.
2. As a seller
- All the sales started through the site or with the lister after May 31 have to be restarted. The last saved sale has the number 23076242.
- The sales that ended between May 31 and today have to be done again. You can contact your buyer through the email that we have sent you to confirm the end of the auction.
- Sales that have started before May 31 and that are closed with or without bid have to be checked.
- Payments done through the Electronic wallet have been made on the Moneybookers site. But they are not copied on the balnce history on our site. You have to ask your buyer to check your payments on Moneybookers and not on Delcampe.
- Your commission fees for the month of May will be recalculated and should be smaller as there is a day less. Also the ten first days of June will not appear on the next balance. (Regarding this point, see point 4 « To support the site financially »).
In short, if possible, check your sales and update them. We are there if you need our advice.
In order to to facilitate the relisting of your items on the site, we will give you the opportunity to use our Lister, without being member of our Club+until the end of the month of July. You can inform yourself and download the program here : http://www.delcampe.net/lister_help.php?language=E
3. As a member in general
- Members that have subscribed after May 31 have to subscribe again. The same goes for the Club+ member, you will have to start over the subscription process.
4. To support the site financially through these rough times
The Delcampe site is run by a (very) small company. It’s financial resources are small also and this test is very hard on the financial side. We do not like to ask but seeing all the messages asking the question, we wish to answer you all, if you want to help, you can :
- In any case, continue to sell and buy on the site, do not diminish the rhythm, even try to make it rise.
- For the transactions made between May 31 and today, we have no record of them, so no fee will be charged. If you put these items back for sale on the site and warn your seller, we will be able to collect our commission. If you have the total amount of these sales, you can forward it to info@delcampe.com. We will make the necessary arrangements.
Exceptionally, we will reactivate the possibility to close without delay a sale with one or more bids.
- The most passionate of you are talking about donations. Yes, they are possible. You can take contact evelyne@delcampe.comregarding this matter. It is unhoped for, and moving for us to receive these propositions.
- And to support us moraly… keep on sending us your emails ! They are comforting. Please send us also your Delcampe Experiences, they remind us of our reason to be there for you : http://www.delcampe.net/page/delcampe_xp/language,E.html
Yes, the site is slowing down... Again
@webmaster
Wed 30th May 2007
Dear members,
Since a couple of days, the downtimes on our site have further increased. This is caused by the slow transition to our new servers that is still in progress.
Indeed, the new servers are being synchronised with the old ones… which as the effect of slowing down even more the old servers. It is a necessary present for a better future.
We are testing and observing the reaction and stability of the new servers before putting them to real use in the management of the site.
These tests are necessary for the security and the future performances.
Currently, there are important delays in some functions such as the renewing of the auctions. A normal rhythm is a renewing of 50 000 objects every hour, We are far from that number for the moment.
We keep on working of course, day and night, to resolve theses nuisances.
Thank you for your understanding.
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe
A new member in the team: Luke !
@webmaster
Wed 16th May 2007
Dear members,
I am very happy to announce to you the arrival of Luke among our support team.
Big fan of puzzles and concentration games, his patience and thinking are great assets to help the members, whether they are beginners or experienced.
Luke joined the team to put his knowledge in computers, journalism and international communication to profit.
His main task is to take care of the Delcampe English and Dutch Communities. He speaks English, Dutch and French.
He loves Photo, Internet and his asian stamps collection.
If you wish to contact him to welcome him or ask him a question; luke@delcampe.com
Best regards, Sébastien Delcampe
PS: You can meet all our support team on the page page "L'équipe du site"
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.gif)
will be added next to their sales. 
on the site so you can easily share your Delcampe discoveries (items, research, messages of the forum, etc) with your "social networking friends".
.
Once you have opened the image, you just need to left-click on it and move the mouse keeping the left button depressed. The image will follow your movement. Release your mouse button to drop the image into place.
The "magnifier glasses" showing up when moving over the image allow to expand or reduce its size. Click the magnifier glass to zoom in or out the image. This practical function already existed on our website, we will preserve it..
The left and right arrows showing up when movin over the image allow you to quickly jump from one image to another. You may also use the keyboard arrows to navigate trough windows.
Dear member,
