So you filled out the form correctly, made it to the bank on time and got your Telecom Eireann shares. The next challenge is how to go about selling them, if that is what you decide to do.

The shares price has been quoted on the market since yesterday, but official dealings in the shares starts on the Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the same day the dispatch of share certificates begins. Those who chose to hold the shares through the Telecom Eireann Nominee Account will receive nominee account statements.

As soon as you get your share certificate or statement in the post, you will be able to sell your shares as you will then have concrete proof of ownership.

In the package with the formal documentation, you should also receive a personalised share dealing form with a list of relevant stockbrokers, their addresses and contact numbers.

The last few weeks have been lean ones for those in the investment business as money flowed out of savings accounts, piggy banks and even appeared from under mattresses to buy Telecom shares.

From next week, however, institutions are braced for a flood of business as many investors choose to sell their shares and take their profits.

Mr John Keilthy, head of the private client division at NCB Stockbrokers, advises investors not to get carried away with the price action in the first few days of trading. "The important thing to realise is that this is just two days in what could be the 100-year history of this company."

Instead, he urges investors to consider whether they are in Telecom for the long or the short haul. Those who believe the stock is a good long-term bet and want to hold onto it until they get their loyalty bonus next July should store their certs - which are valuable and important documents - safely until then. The loyalty bonus will give each investor one new share for each 25 they hold for the year.

Those who have already earmarked - or even spent the money - and want to sell need to decide what they consider a reasonable rate of return. Are they happy with a 10 per cent gain, are they prepared to wait for 15 per cent or will they hold out for 20 per cent? Decide what rate of return you want and when you get it sell, brokers advise.

"The thing is not to be too greedy," says Mr Keilthy. "Those looking for the top of the market should remember that it's difficult to get it and more often than not it happens by luck rather than design."

While buyers of shares face stamp duty of 1 per cent, those selling Telecom stock should incur just a single charge - the dealing commission charged by the stockbroker who carries out the transaction. To ensure that it makes financial sense for those who bought reasonably small amounts of stock to sell, most of the major stockbrokers are offering discounts on their normal rates.

Goodbody Stockbrokers, which handled the Telecom flotation for the Government, is offering a share dealing service through any AIB branch. The minimum charge to sell shares will be less than £10 for those with shareholdings up to £4,000 in value while those holding stock above that level will be given a discount of at least 50 per cent on the standard rate of 1.65 per cent that the broker normally charges.

Most other stockbrokers are expected to follow Goodbody's lead so compare the charges on offer from the likes of Davy, NCB, ABN Amro, Bloxham and BCP to get the best deal.

However, Fexco - which already offers rates that are significantly below those of the other brokers - says it will not offer special rates for the Telecom issue but will charge its usual commission of 1 per cent on sums up to £5,000 with a minimum fee of £12.50 and 0.35 per cent on the balance above £5,000.

Most brokers will not sell the shares until they are in receipt of share certificates or the nominee account statements which prove you own the shares you are about to sell.

"We won't deal until we get the share certs," says one stockbroker. "The only exception we would make is a well-known, existing client who holds the stock through the nominee account."

So this means that most members of the public will not be able to sell their shares in the first few days of unofficial trading, but will have to wait until the end of next week.

Aside from the dangers of selling stock on behalf of someone who has not proven ownership, brokers want to avoid late delivery of share certs as this involves significant penalties.

As a result, the public will have to post or deliver their share cert or nominee account statement along with the personalised dealing form containing an instruction to sell to their brokers.

Investors will also have to sign the CREST transfer form on the back of the share certs to allow the shares to be traded and settled electronically.

For those unsure what to do, Goodbody will continue to provide an advisory service for Telecom shareholders through the AIB branch network.

Goodbody says that if an investor goes into an AIB branch and puts in an order to sell, this will go into a queue to be matched to a buyer. "If there is a good market, the trade could be dealt that day and the client should get the cheque five working days from the day it's dealt," says Mr Eamonn Glancy, finance and operations director at Goodbody.

The problem with having to post or deliver the certs is that investors cannot be sure when their orders will be received and processed and, as a result, at what price the stock will be sold. Those who are determined not to sell their shares below a certain price can include an instruction to their broker to sell at no less than that level.

But NCB's Mr Keilthy warns that if investors put limits on deals, the shares might come within a cent or two of that level and the broker will not be able to sell. "In a reasonably orderly market it may be better not to put in a price limit but in volatile conditions it's different," he says.

Shareholders should note that those who hold their shares through the Telecom Eireann Nominee Account will not be able to impose price limits, an option open only to those with share certificates.