Online gun auctions dying?

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Rod
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Online gun auctions dying?

Post by Rod »

Put 4 guns up on gunbroker. Sold a Nylon 66 for $250.00. Other three have been put up twice now. One c**ksucker bid last time on a Merwin and got his bid up to $550.00 (reserve was higher). Put up the exact same auction and the fuckwit bids $404.99 on it. I'm actually pricing them about right but no bids on the other two. Looking at it and other sites, 95% of the guns listed don't even have one bid, even those that are decent deals.
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BDK
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Re: Online gun auctions dying?

Post by BDK »

Wait, you're selling a Merwin, and you didn't tell us first?
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evan price
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Re: Online gun auctions dying?

Post by evan price »

People are buying tactical whatzits nowadays. Oddball older stuff you have to find that one person that wants it. Use the free renewal on Gunbroker until it sells. People are buying plenty still but collectors are being more picky.
I'm always looking for bargains. They are out there.
Oh and the bidder for the Merwin? Bid lower than previous top after reserve not met is a code. He wants to know if you will drop reserve or negotiate a price because he is still interested.
Imho reserves in auctions are stupid. Put your starting price at bottom dollar. I exclude reserve auctions from my searches 100%.
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Darrell
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Re: Online gun auctions dying?

Post by Darrell »

I've been getting a lot of email invitations from GB, trying to entice me back to the site. Haven't been in the market lately.
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Jered
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Re: Online gun auctions dying?

Post by Jered »

+1 one the no reserve auctions. If I'm looking on gunbroker, I automatically filter them out.
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HTRN
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Re: Online gun auctions dying?

Post by HTRN »

I'm just the opposite, most of the no reserve auctions have a ridiculously high starting price, with a buy it now maybe 10% more than the opening bid.

You want to sell your Gun? Do an opening bid of 1 dollar, with a reserve, and a buy it now that's on the high side. This advice came from a friend who does a lot of eBay sales (over 10K of them, last I looked, some of the items in the 6 figure range). High opening bids turn people off, and smacks of greed. If you get them involved, making multiple bids, they're more likely to bid beyond what they initially are willing to, due to becoming psychologically involved in the auction, "bid fever".
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D5CAV
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Re: Online gun auctions dying?

Post by D5CAV »

I bought some guns on auction several years ago. I haven't for years.

1. I got some good deals and I got shipped some junk. In balance I guess I'm even, but it still p####es me off whenever I look at those junk guns.
2. So much of what separates a good deal from a bad deal is all clean screws or a couple of buggered screws, which is easy to hide in on-line pictures
3. Since I've gotten burned on some on-line purchases, whether auction or boards (Guns America), where there is a fixed price, my new rule is I don't buy a gun unless I've put my fingerprints on it.

I don't buy on ebay either. I've gotten shipped junk from 99% positive vendors. Yes, I can unwind with Paypal, but its still a PITA.
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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Rod
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Re: Online gun auctions dying?

Post by Rod »

BDK wrote:Wait, you're selling a Merwin, and you didn't tell us first?
If it's all right, I'll post the three sales on here and, when the time runs out, I'll offer them to members. Don't bid on Gunbroker if you want one. The Merwin's a baby pocket in .38 S&W and is pretty beat up.
one can be a Democrat, or one can choose to be an American.
Good acting requires an imagination; reality requires a person not getting lost in their imagination.
"It's better to have a gun if you need it". Felix's opthamologist
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Gunnuts
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Re: Online gun auctions dying?

Post by Gunnuts »

I hit auction sites when I'm looking for something particular that I can't find otherwise and when I have the funds available for it. Unfortunately that last thing is what keeps me away the most. :-P

It may be slower in general these days because people are diverting funds to buying ammo or the supplies to reload for what they have. Expanding the herd for fun is taking a back seat. :|
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PawPaw
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Re: Online gun auctions dying?

Post by PawPaw »

I've never bought anything on an online auction site. Generally, the sellers have an inflated idea of what the item is worth.

An item is only worth what someone else is willing t o pay for it. You might have a widget, made in the 1800s with an appraised value of a thousand dollars. I don't want a widget. It is worth exactly zero to me. The true value probably lies somewhere between 0 and 1000, but I'm not in the market.

I'm a big fan of live, absolute auctions. I've been to thousands of them over the years, and have bought and sold lots of stuff at auction. I've even toyed with the idea of going through the classes to get licensed as an auctioneer.

Couple of years ago I was at an auction, and they had a table full of .22LR. I asked the auctioneer about the asking price and he told me that the owner had a reserve on it (This was just after one of the big ammo scares). At the time of the auction, .22LR had become once-again available and the owner had priced it with a reserve price that reflected underground pricing at the height of the scare. Needless to say, it didn't sell. The bidders were pissed off that the ammo was laying there with a reserve that was too high. The auctioneer was pissed off that no one wanted it and he lost the commission. The seller was pissed off because his ammo didn't sell.

That's what a too-high reserve price gets you. Nobody wants it, and everyone is pissed off. Business is a gamble, and auctions are business. What you lose on the bananas, you make up on the peanuts. Evidently, no one wants your gun at the reserve. It's too bad, but that's the nature of auctions.
Dennis Dezendorf
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