What Possesses People???

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Racinfan83

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Went to an auction yesterday with 50odd guns, NOS ammo, reloading supplies, lots of reloaded ammo, etc. Prices paid were for the most part above what you can buy new off the shelf. I don't understand why someone would go to an auction and not know what current prices are? There were 2 decent deals out of all the guns. .223 ammo for $1.25/rd. Armiscor .308 FMJ I can buy right now for $17.99 box new went for $37.50/box. Used powder went ridiculous and you have no idea if it's even good. Reloaded ammo - same. I wouldn't take reloaded ammo for free, much less buy it. Who knows how it was loaded - could be double charged for all you know..
I told the wife I need to auction 2/3 of my stuff and double/triple my money....o_O
 
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(1) People treat auction bidding like a game, and their ego gets involved. They don't want to "lose," so they forget the true value of the items they're bidding on.

(2) Don't overlook things like shill bidding, etc. Sellers play these sorts of games as well as buyers. The end result that you see may not be the actual result.

The way to approach an auction is to set a target price and stick with it. If you get the item for less, well and good. If the bidding exceeds your target price and you don't get the item, that's good too because the apparent "winners" are really losers. They could have gotten the item for less elsewhere. The laugh's on them.
 
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Well,the "used" powder would make fair-to-middlin' garden fertilizer... slow release nitrogen,

As for the auction, I gave up trying to figure out mass behavior quite a while ago. I got as close as observing that the more people involved in a behavior, the stupider the behavior got. Could never reduce it to a rigorous mathematical statement, though.

Just had to leave it as a general inverse function:
Practicality or intelligence = f ( 1 / number of people )

AlexanderA's observations are valid, but I can't develop decent math from that.

:D

Terry, 230RN
 
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(1) People treat auction bidding like a game, and their ego gets involved. They don't want to "lose," so they forget the true value of the items they're bidding on.

(2) Don't overlook things like shill bidding, etc. Sellers play these sorts of games as well as buyers. The end result that you see may not be the actual result.

The way to approach an auction is to set a target price and stick with it.

Very good advice. I went to an auction once where the same guy "won" over half the stuff. The bill of sale for the next auction still had all that stuff coming up for auction again.

A lot of times the first item in a group of similar items set a floor. If someone else buys a box of ammo for $25 that must mean it's worth $25 bucks, right? Not necessarily...
 
Well,the "used" powder would make fair-to-middlin' garden fertilizer... slow release nitrogen,

As for the auction, I gave up trying to figure out mass behavior quite a while ago. I got as close as observing that the more people involved in a behavior, the stupider the behavior got. Could never reduce it to a rigorous mathematical statement, though.

Just had to leave it as a general function:
Practicality or intelligence = f ( 1 / number of people )

Terry, 230RN
The individual is smart, people are dumb, panicky animals...... Pretty sure the "everyone is out of everything so I need to get it at whatever price I can" mentality still exists even though supply is slowly catching up with demand.
 
On the vast spectrum of human behavior, any one person is capable of any one behavior at any one time. To try to understand any one behavior of any one person is a waste of time. If you recognize that humans are capable of any behavior at any time, then you are never surprised or disappointed. That is why as a society we focus on the gun or the skin color or the sex or the political party instead of the behavior - it is much easier to control the narrative with simple focal points - speaking to a person’s behavior in our primal minds is simply too messy.
There are probably thousands of reasons why people will overpay at an auction - as a simple focal point, I would bundle it all into the primary human drivers of behavior - greed and/ or fear.
 
(1) People treat auction bidding like a game, and their ego gets involved. They don't want to "lose," so they forget the true value of the items they're bidding on.

(2) Don't overlook things like shill bidding, etc. Sellers play these sorts of games as well as buyers. The end result that you see may not be the actual result.

The way to approach an auction is to set a target price and stick with it.

Yup, I've "lost" 4 auctions on GB this past week alone. I know what it's worth to me, and just don't go higher.
 
I chalk that kind of behavior up to fears of shortages and fears of future inflation. The sequence in a buyer's mind goes like this:

That's the only one of those for sale here.
Other people want it.
It must be in short supply.
It'll just cost more in the future.
I have the money today.

Sold!---Winner! (really loser!!)
 
Went to an auction yesterday with 50odd guns, NOS ammo, reloading supplies, lots of reloaded ammo, etc. Prices paid were for the most part above what you can buy new off the shelf. I don't understand why someone would go to an auction and not know what current prices are? There were 2 decent deals out of all the guns. .223 ammo for $1.25/rd. Armiscor .308 FMJ I can buy right now for $17.99 box new went for $37.50/box. Used powder went ridiculous and you have no idea if it's even good. Reloaded ammo - same. I wouldn't take reloaded ammo for free, much less buy it. Who knows how it was loaded - could be double charged for all you know..
I told the wife I need to auction 2/3 of my stuff and double/triple my money....o_O
Beats me? I went to an auction with a friend since he pointed out there was a Colt 1911 gun. Browsing the stuff I looked at it. It was a Colt Series 80 Government, not a Gold Cup, a nothing special gun. The bidding starts and I gave my last bid at $800. The gun sold for $1500 and the guy who bought it told me he thought he over bid. :) This was maybe 10 years ago. Well if you wanted that gun that bad and you are happy with it then cool with me. I have seen people do some weird stuff at auctions. I always say any given gun on any given day is worth what someone is willing to pay, no more and no less.

Ron
 
Uncertainty of supply chain and "a bird in the hand" as in, its here and immediate.

Used powder and hand loaded ammo, . . . simply no, never.

I just ordered the first small rifle primers I've seen since early 2020, $75/thou.

Who knows how long they will remain available or if again unavailable, when next?
 
Oh I saw an even better one a few auctions ago. Ruger MarkIV .22 stainless. New in box. Two guys went at it. Ended at $2100. I saw the FFL guy who does paperwork/admins the guns for the auction house (he owns a well known range/gunstore/training facility here) and asked him what I missed on that gun. Like serial #1 or something? He laughed and said no, just a normal stainless Mark IV - I have one on my shelf right now for $649....LOL
 
Went to a farm auction probably 40 years ago, figuring I could get some good deals for my new house. I was amazed at the auction-fever. Lots of folks paying more than new price for old rusty, busted crap. I walked away empty handed and determined to not go to any more auctions. Have not been to one since.
 
I have never got anything at an auction, seems someone always has the Ferengi or Klingon attitude.
Ferengi are for buy it, clean it up, and sell it for more, Klingon are like, don't try to outbid me, I will stop at nothing
to get what I want.
Really humorous to watch any two go at it. Like it is a battle of honor, and no matter which one
gets the rifle or whatever, the other says they paid too much, when they both bid way over what it
was worth in the first place.
 
I’ve shared the story where several years ago a friend of mine got into an alcohol-fueled bidding war over a rifle (sporting a nice Leupold). Ol’ Jim Beam was on his shoulder whispering into his ear as he went bid for bid with another couple of guys at a fundraising dinner for Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation or some similar group.

He won, and ended up spending thousands on a beautiful rifle. that to this day I believe he still has never shot.

It’s a Lazzeroni 8.59 Titan.

He offered to trade me straight up for my CMP rack-grade Garand. Knowing that a) I’d never find ammo to feed it, b) I’d never hunt a critter that would justify it, and c) I couldn’t ever find a buyer to make the trade worth my while…I passed.

As the others said, I’ll set my GB price and forget it. If I win I win, if I lose I lose.

Stay safe.
 
Went to a farm auction probably 40 years ago, figuring I could get some good deals for my new house. I was amazed at the auction-fever. Lots of folks paying more than new price for old rusty, busted crap. I walked away empty handed and determined to not go to any more auctions. Have not been to one since.

Well that said - I went to a couple of these gun auctions 3-4 years ago and scored big time. Wife and I bought several at 40-50% discount from retail. I've also scored quite a bit of stuff from regular household auctions at far below worth. Kept the stuff I wanted and ebayed/FB Marketplaced the rest to pay for all of it even.. So I like going - it's just that right now gun auctions are just for the entertainment value...
 
The real secret of doing well at auctions is that you must really know what you are bidding on.
Get there early, closely examine each item, decide if it is something that you actually want, THEN set your maximum bid.
Don't get distracted by the shiny stuff.
Don't get excited by the chanting auctioneer and the waving hands.
Just decide if it is something that you ACTUALLY want and how much that you are willing to part with to get it.
THEN bid - to your max.

-I made a fair living out of buying and re-selling auction lots in my youth.
It can be done.
 
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