PiPa Collectors Edition V 1 Dear pigeon fancier, It feels like yesterday when we launched the PIPA Collectors Edition, yet this is already the 5th edition. What once started as a small project has in the meantime become a real collectors item. We still receive daily requests for previous editions from people all over the world. No matter where I go, I always see this book in the library of nearly every single fancier. Something which I am very proud of! I would therefore like to thank all pigeon fanciers participating in this edition for their trust. The 2019 Olympiad will take place in Poland, just like it did a couple of years back. We will not only distribute our book there but at the Fugare, Houten and Lang Fang (China) pigeon shows as well. A total of 20,000 copies will be distributed, in addition to the digital version which we published. We have offered people a digital version before and will continue to do so in the future. We at PIPA have not been sitting around doing nothing as well. Many things have happened such as us selling the most expensive pigeon ever, Nadine, and having the pleasure of organising the auction of world’s most-renowned pigeon fancier Gaby Vandenabeele in 2018. When reading this preface you will probably already know the proceeds of the Vandenabeele auction but whatever the proceeds may be I am proud to say that all of the world’s best fanciers choose PIPA to sell their pigeons with. And I repeat: I am very proud of that. It is a sign of respect for what we have built with our team! I would therefore also like to thank every single person that is part of the PIPA team, from employees and agents over writers, translators and handlers to suppliers, buyers and stake- holders. Many thanks for what you have done to turn our company into what we are now: the global market leader in trading exclusive pigeons. Growing was never a goal in itself but the result of our striving for excellence and never being satisfied with something which is just good. We wanted and want to be the best in all fields, to trade the best pigeons, to offer the best service to our buyers, to have the best employees, to co-operate with the best and most reliable pigeon fanciers, to run the best website to organise pigeon auctions, etc. Our auction site has therefore been completely renewed. All that striving has resulted in the past financial year breaking records and in the coming financial year probably even surpassing that record. We are still growing every year even though it is not our goal. It is merely the result of the way we work. To conclude I would like to wish everyone reading this book, so all fanciers and their friends, a fantastic 2019 with first and foremost an excellent health and next to that of course a successful racing season. Yours in the sport, Nikolaas Gyselbrecht CEO & Founder of www.pipa.be 2 Pipa sales quality control and selection Dear pigeon fancier, PIPA has been organizing pigeon auctions for fifteen years, and these have now become the international benchmark for exclusive pigeon auctions worldwide. From the very beginning, PIPA has aimed to auction only the very best pigeons on the market, and the idea to offer nothing but top quality proved a major success. Already in its second year of existence PIPA was able to attract some of the most successful champions to the now world famous "Jewels of the Sky" auctions, in which only the very best fanciers and their most successful pigeons are included. Coming season 2018-2019 PIPA will held its 14th edition of the "Jewels of the Sky" auctions and the 5th edition of the "Jewels of the Sky - Hyper Exclusive". Every participating fancier will be offering just one pigeon from his very best breeding pair. This concept illustrates what PIPA has in mind with its pigeon auctions. We aim for top quality and exclusiveness. Martin Martens; one of our experts checking the quality of the pigeon by hand. Only the very best is good enough, as you can tell from the auctions that will take place in the coming few months. First of all we have the total auction of Gaby Vandenabeele. But that is not all, a month later we sell all old birds of short/middle distance icon Stefaan Lambrechts. Another 2 months later, in February, PIPA organises the auction of all old birds of Team De Jaeger, including the 1st international Barcelona 2018! And another month later the best long distance bird ever in Belgium will be sold: "Armando" of Joel Verschoot, in his auction of all his old birds. "Armando" won 1. Nat. Ace KBDB Long Distance with the lowest % ever, he won 1. and 2 X 2. National on the long distance. As you can see, only the best is good enough for PIPA's auctions! In addition, we continue to closely monitor the quality of our examinations in the hand. PIPA has been publishing quality control reports for every individual pigeon in auction, but our team of experts is continuously looking for ways to refine and perfect. To give you a better understanding of the methods PIPA uses to select pigeons for our auctions, we provide a brief explanation: The selection procedure which precedes the actual auctioning of the birds on PIPA is twofold: The first part of the selection is based on the information provided by the fancier: • When someone offers a proven breeding pigeon, we will first ask the fancier for the breeding details. If everything is in order the pigeon can go through the second part of the selection procedure (see below). When a breeder is to be auctioned we look at many aspects of the bird, for instance its age. There is a significant difference between a seven year old bird that has bred only one good racer and a four year old bird with several top class youngsters. The first of the two is likely not to be auctioned here, whereas the pigeon with four good youngsters is. • If someone wants to sell a proven racing bird we will first ask him for a list of achievements and their respective dates. The dates are important to us: fanciers would sometimes offer a five or six year old bird with an impressive list of achievements, up until their second season. However, closer inspection reveals that the bird in question has not won any prize or has not bred any top class pigeons anymore after its second season. Such a pigeon will probably not pass the selection procedure because we think that any bird that has had the chance to prove itself in the breeding loft should have bred a few good birds already. If this is not the case PIPA is not likely to auction the bird, despite a decent list of achievements as a racing bird. 3 BODY No. Ringnumber Sex Length Strength Tail bone Tail bone Muscles Balance Back 1 BE12-3456789 M Medium Medium Strong Little open Strong Leaning forward Medium WING GENERAL Primaries Plumage Feathers Back wing Suppleness Breeding feathers Size Thickness Vitality Colour density Long small Strong Soft Short Rather supple Square & short Big Normal Medium Strong Above is a fictive example of which criteria is shown and judged on each pigeon. • The second part of our selection procedure is particularly important for fanciers looking to sell a young bird. For the first part of the selection procedure we consider first of all the pedigree and the results of the pigeon, as well as the breeding qualities of its sire and dam. Every young bird should be a direct youngster of a proven breeder or a top class racing bird. Exceptions are possible if a fancier wants to offer the grandchildren of a top class breeder or breeding pair of which the direct youngsters are no longer available. In the second part of the selection procedure we monitor the quality of the bird in the hand: we think it is very important to have the quality of every single bird checked in the hand by one of our experts before auctioning it on PIPA. We do not claim that we can distinguish a good bird from a bad one, but thanks to our experience and the feedback from our customers we now have an idea of what kind of pigeon people are looking for. There are a few basic features that every pigeon should have before it can be auctioned on PIPA. Jelle Jellema and Thomas Gyselbrecht To conclude, PIPA would like to thank both the sellers and buyers for their confidence in PIPA over the years. We have enjoyed your confidence for fifteen years now, and we will do our best to earn your confidence in the coming years as well. Thomas Gyselbrecht and Bart Geerinckx during a pigeon sales meeting. Thomas Gyselbrecht, Sales Manager PIPA 4 How to bid on Pigeon Paradise? PIPA's record-breaking sale prices make the headlines, but did you know that many of the racing pigeons sold in our auctions are just within your reach? We bring the excitement of the saleroom right to your desktop or smartphone! You can participate in our online auctions in real time as you place bids with a simple click of your mouse. Our website features many elements of the traditional auction process enhanced by a unique online browsing and bidding process. Here's a quick step-by-step guide to our buying process. It's perfect for first time buyers and a good reminder for our regular buyers. 1. Registration Before your first auction, we invite you to create an online account and complete the bidder registration form on www.pipa.be/en/user/register You may also submit a buying order. Our bidding system will then automatically place bids on your behalf, up to the amount of your buying order, to maintain your position as the highest bidder. 6. Transport PIPA provides a full range of services for you, including facilitating shipment, collecting your pigeon and auction related documents and preparing your pigeon's travel basket. 2. Approval We will contact you within 48 hours to verify your registration. Once your registration has been successfully approved, you will be able to start bidding. Nothing can be more frustrating than getting excited about a pigeon on PIPA that you really want only to be outbid by another bidder. We outsource our transportation activities to professional external couriers who are fully knowledgeable on all regulations for international and domestic transport. We don't want you to miss out on the chance to buy the pigeon you desire and offer you the option to receive instant notifications by e-mail and/or SMS when you are outbid. 7. Aftersales PIPA maintains a strict selection procedure and will only ship healthy and well-prepared pigeons. However, should there be any problem, please immediately report your concerns to your local agent or PIPA Headquarters. 3. Browsing Log in to your account and find out what's for sale by browsing the Auctions menu on our website. You will have the benefit of each pigeon being fully illustrated, including photo, pedigree, race results and quality control report. 4. Bidding Once you have found your pigeon of choice, you can place a bid by clicking the "Place a Bid" button. Let us take you through two easy steps to complete your bid. 1. Choose a bid amount, and then click "Place a Bid". 2. Review your bid, and then click 'Confirm your Bid". 5. Payment We will send you an invoice by e-mail on the first Monday following the end of the auction. Payment is due within seven calendar days after the auction. You can pay by using a bank transfer, credit card or payment to your local sales agent. Please note that your pigeon can only be shipped or picked up once we received your payment in full. For a full description and FAQ: www.pipa.be/en/pigeons-for-sale/online/ auctions/help/auctions-faq Having an e-mail address is no longer required to register, thanks to an innovation from our IT team: you can now register directly from your mobile phone, using a mobile telephone number. It is easy, quick, and user friendly. You can now login directly from your mobile phone and join the bidding.