Does "ANYONE" actuall buy anything from the auction sites?

[Mosko]

I find myself in posession of some "disposable" funds, and decided to check out the auction sites for something different. I have never purchased any firearm from auction sites before, and thought I'd have a look to see what was there.

Well I have looked at at least a thousand weapons worth $400 or less with "ALL" of them being technically priced 400% high!

It seems to be a standard, take the fair "what it's worth price times 4, and wait for some stupid sucker to bite!

Or, start the bidding at a penny, with a $2000.00 reserve, and waste 50 peoples time for three weeks, just to have the acution close with "Reserve not met"!

Have you seen the page, after page, after page of auctions that have been running for days with "0 bids", because the starting bids are so redicuously high.

Read the add below, for a piece of absolute "junk" that I cut, that has a starting bid of $500, naturally with no bids.

This rifle is too rusty to make a tomato stake that would last one summer. If the stock was off, it might be worth the current $0.08 / lb scrap black metal price.

Notice how the seller says it's also for sale off the the shelf in his store, can he do that, what if he has a bid, can someone still purchase it from the store? What will the bidder be told, or does he know that no real person would actually ever bid?

Is this the way these auction sites have always been? It's my first look, and I see no reason to go back!

THIS IS SOME TYPE OF OLD REMINGTON ROLLING BLOCK RIFLE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE CALIBER IS. A 4570 ROUND WILL WOBBLE AROUND IN THE CHAMBER AND ALMOST FIT ALL THE WAY DOWN BEFORE IT STOPS.. THE 35" BARREL IS PITTED THE LENGTH BUT STILL HAS ABOUT 30% OF THE RIFLING LEFT. NO BLUE IS LEFT AND THE METAL IS PITTED AND RUST BLOTCHED. THE 3 BARREL BANDS ARE ALL LOOSE, THE BUT STOCK IS A LITTLE LOOSE TOO. THERE ARE 3 CRACKS A HALF INCH LONG BEGINNING BEHIND THE RECEIVER TANG. THERE ARE 3 CRACKS ON THE FOREND TOWARD THE RECEIVER EACH ABOUT AND INCH AND A QUARTER. THERE ARE MANY CRACKS FROM THE METAL BUTT PLATE FORWARD. THE REST OF THE WOOD IS WEATHERED AND RUFF. ALL THE SCREWS ARE BOOGERED AND THERE ARE BEAT MARKS ON THE METAL. THE ACTION WORKS BUT SOME TIMES THE BLOCK NEEDS A LITTLE HELP TO CLOSE COMPLETELY BEFORE THE HAMMER WILL FALL. THAT BAYONET DOSE COME WITH IT. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ASK BEFORE AND NOT AFTER YOU BID.

BUYER PAYS A FIXED AMOUNT OF 20.00 UPS GROUND INSURED SHIPPING TO THE LOWER 48 MAINLAND STATES. SHIPPING TO ALASKA, HAWAII OR PUERTO RICO WOULD MORE THAN DOUBLE AND BE SLOWER.

THE ITEMS FOR SELL ON THIS AUCTION ARE ALSO FOR SALE AT MY GUN STORE SO IF YOU WANT THIS ITEM BID BEFORE IT SELLS OFF THE SHELF.

[WmRoy]

Most of the auctions are just goofy....... I have only purchased one rifle through Gun Broker, that was a sporterized m1917. I paid $190 for it, and it has an excellent bore. I have had the front and rear sights replaced, and I'm looking for a stock set right now.......

I almost bid on a sporterized 03 on Auction Arms and I'm still kicking myself because it went for $250 and had what appeared to be a very nice stock.....

I have seen some m95 mannlichers that seemed fairly enough priced lately..... but you are correct most of the guns are horribly over priced.....:BangHead: Of course most of us are used to looking at wholesale prices and you should expect to pay at least retail prices on the auctions....:D

[Rustybore]

Some of the pictures of the guns are good, allowing one to actually see what he is buying, unlike the wholesale places. I was just following the bidding on a nice Enfield No. 4, but it went for over $285, I forget the price now, but it was nice.

I bought a bayonet on Ebay for one of my rifles, was able to get the specific one I wanted, and for not much more money than the wholesale price, in fact, less than some places.

Overall, the sellers are really proud of their guns, most not getting bid on whatsoever. I notice a lot of b.s. when the owner is making comments about how "rare" a specific gun is, and the fabrication of history concerning the particular piece.

Still entertaining to look, though.:)

Kevin in Or.

[TaosBob101]

Yes

Small stuff,militaria (Swiss/Finn) parts. But it does help me locate things I want to save for down the road. "What the market seems to be bearing" info.

[CoorsLightGuy]

I've never bought a gun from an auction site, but as someone else said, militaria items, spare parts, etc. are the most common items and they are generally pretty fairly priced. Even if there is a slight premium, if it's a hard to find item and they've got it, then I feel it's worth the premium to get my hands on it.

[Mosko]

I saw on one of the sites where an M38 Russian, or maybe an M91/59 sold for $255, plain Jane worth about 80 or 90 bucks tops.

I think that the problem is that there are a "few" folks out there who will pay 4 prices for something, and most of these sellers are posting weapons hoping to latch onto one of those people.

Do the auction sites charge a fee for listing the items? If they don't, they should. That would stop these sellers from rediculous reserves and minimum bids over and over on the same item, waiting for a pigeon.

I understand market bearing and all that, but if there's no charge for listing, we all should do the times 4 value, minimum bid, list every weapon that we have and don't want to sell, and list them over and over for years until someone bids so much on one of them that we'll have no choice other than to sell.

Well no, I suppose that's what those other folks are doing, that I am griping about!

Also I noticed that the "Antique" weapons requiring "no papers" seem to be gouged the most.

[SAC22PPC]

try looking on aa for a 98/22 thats got a starting bid of $350...been there for months.
i think some of the bidded up prices are high but then again i would rather grab something mailorder. i know i get the you can see it thing but i still cant see blowing that much on a gun thats already avalible on the market. now if you had a hole in your collection that needed filling yes i could see someone going all out on it too.
anyhow in closing i still cant get over the 98/22....i dont care if its gold plated its not worth that much to ME.


0] SAC22PPC 0]

[WmRoy]

Antique Weapons are a gouge no matter where you go....:(

[Waldo]

My son has bought three rifles from on-line auctions (Auction Arms and Gunbroker) and I have purchased a pistol:

1) 1967 Ishapore 2A1 with M-1907 bayonet in original leather scabbard, pristine bore, beautiful stock and typical locomotive paint on metal = $145 + $20 shipping.

2) Spanish FR-8 in excellent condition except for a small crack near the receiver = $235 + $20 shipping (this is his second favorite rifle)

3) Polytech M-14 with USGI bolt and 2 spare mags, looks like it's had about 300 rounds through it = $700 + $25 shipping (this would be his first favorite rifle)

4) NIB Ruger 22/45 Blued with 5.5" bull barrel = $265 + $12 shipping

It's just like everything else... caveat emptor. Know what you want, know what you want to pay for it, wait patiently and strike at the right time.

All of the above have been highly satisfactory transactions with no problems and no complaints. Maybe you can do better in your neighborhood but the above are all excellent prices in SoCal.

Waldo

[keithreid]

i've bought quite a few. if i see something that i can't find anywhere else, i'll put in a bid if as much as i'm willing to pay. sometimes i win the auction, sometimes not. i have picked up firearms cheaply from the auction sites, but usually when the seller misspelled the name of the rifle.
quite a few of the rifles you mention with high opening bid or penny bids and high reserves have been there for months, and the seller is quite literally looking for someone dumb enough or desperate enough to pay his price. y'all have a good day! Keith

[DOGolden]

I have never bought anything from Gunbroker. I did buy a French MAS36 a few years ago for $40 shipped {beater grade, dropped/surrendered beaucoup times}. And also bought a Norwegian Krag {6.5x55} for $440. And I even bid on some books from AA. :grinning-thumbsup:

Stan thinks I'm weird because he says I am the only person he knows that will go to a gunshow and buy a book {like I did in Charlotte two or three years ago}. :dontknow:

[CoorsLightGuy]

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger!

All I bought at the gun show in Knoxville this weekend was a new cleaning rod for $7.00. Hell, it cost me $27.00 to get into the show (I had the wife and my youngest daughter with me).

[BnSC]

I purchased a Stevens 325B bolt action 30-30 from AA a little while back. I feel I like I got a good deal on it for $151.00 delivered. The stock was refinished, and a scope mount added. Bore and mechanics are in great shape. I'll probably have the steel reblued on it to complete the project.. Since it is a commercial gun, I can't see the harm in the restoration.. BTW it is old enough to be C&R.. This has been my only auction purchase to date though.

There are a lot of high priced auctions on there, some even to the humorous point...

[Spuds]

Simply put, auctions are a sellers market. Any desirable item, even if started at a cheap opening bid, will soon be bid into a price that the seller is more often than not extremely pleased with.

There are some folks who list items at reasonable, cheap even, starting prices. I've purchased many pistols and a few rifles on Gunbroker and Auction Arms over the years, most of which I was the only bidder on. You simply have to wade through the chaff to find the wheat.

Most of the obnoxiously priced items are listed by only a few sellers. AA does not require any fee for listing until you list over 200 items, and gunbroker has no listing fee at all. Were they to change this, folks would whine and moan and they'd lose sellers. A compromise of some sort is sorely needed. Among the worst of the offending sellers are folks like "oldguns.net" and "kid billions". When folks like these two actually sell an item, it encourages others to pursue a similar pricing strategy on their auction listings.

[sc-closer]

I bought a dou 45 k98 on auction arms once a few years ago. I got a pretty good buy on it. I have bid on rifles, but never seem to win. I have sold a couple on Gunbroker. On all but 1 I got more than I was willing to sell it for locally, but no one seemed to want them around here.

sc-closer