about " starting bid and reserve price" in Gunbroker.com

[Mosin77]

When I sell on Gunbroker I start at 0.01, no reserve. Items generally always bring what they should, if I do my part and take plenty of good photos and discuss the item in the body of my listing.

Even if my photos aren’t that good, with only a half dozen and a 2 line description, I still generally get what I should -the caveat here is that on average a couple items go low with this minimal effort template, and a few go high anyway. So if you’re selling a lot you can average out your gains and losses, and save on labor time with a minimalist listing. If you’ve only got one or two personal items to sell, by all means put in plenty of effort, you can’t afford the risk that it’ll go $100 under the going rate.

Use Gunbroker advanced search > completed tab, and sort by bid count (to filter out the numerous unsold items with a high initial starting bid) to get a realistic idea of what your gun should *actually* be bringing in the market.

 

[Rule3]

When I sell on Gunbroker I start at 0.01, no reserve. Items generally always bring what they should, if I do my part and take plenty of good photos and discuss the item in the body of my listing.

Even if my photos aren’t that good, with only a half dozen and a 2 line description, I still generally get what I should -the caveat here is that on average a couple items go low with this minimal effort template, and a few go high anyway. So if you’re selling a lot you can average out your gains and losses, and save on labor time with a minimalist listing. If you’ve only got one or two personal items to sell, by all means put in plenty of effort, you can’t afford the risk that it’ll go $100 under the going rate.

Use Gunbroker advanced search > completed tab, and sort by bid count (to filter out the numerous unsold items with a high initial starting bid) to get a realistic idea of what your gun should *actually* be bringing in the market.

Have you ever gotten burned? I would never have the guts to post a penny auction. As I mentioned earlier why post a 0.01 on and item worth hundreds or thousands. ? Do people really think they will win at a ridiculous price?. Like playing the lottery.

This doesn't apply to you but I think there is a lot of shill bidders out there. Can't prove it.

 

[AlexanderA]

If you hate bidding, don't go to auctions. Believe it or not but that's the point of an auction.

GB (and ebay) are no longer primarily "auction" sites. They are marketplaces, with an auction being just one option. I'll bet a lot more sales volume results from fixed-price "Buy It Now" than from auctions.

Online "marketplaces" have caused the demise of small brick-and-mortar retail. The gun trade is a minor exception, because of the FFL requirement. This keeps a lot of small dealers in business, servicing transfers for guns bought online. They could not compete on actual sales of guns, either on selection or price.

 

[tarosean]

Do people really think they will win at a ridiculous price?. Like playing the lottery.

You would be surprised at the number of sellers who type-o or not sure exactly what they have. I’ve basically stolen a couple guns due to the sellers dumbassery.

 

[AlexanderA]

I’ve basically stolen a couple guns due to the sellers dumbassery.

More than once I've seen sellers misspell the name of the item, list it as the wrong item, etc. This frustrates the search function. As a buyer, I've found items by searching for common misspellings and other errors. Sometimes I'm the only one making an offer!

Then there are sellers that try to get around the rules. For example, ebay prohibits pistol magazines of greater than 10 rounds. Plenty of times I've found, say, 15-round magazines described as 10-rounders. The ebay staff apparently doesn't have the expertise to tell the difference, but you do. Look carefully at the pictures! (And, btw, don't post feedback saying the item was misdescribed. The seller did you a favor by risking being banned forever.)

Sometimes items slide by, and the listing ends with nobody making an offer. It pays, as a buyer, to search for completed listings that have not been sold. Contact the seller and make a reasonable offer. I've found several items in this way, that I would have missed otherwise.