Auctions make me sad

[Vaarok]

I just went to a local auction, a bankruptcy dispersal. The bid amount didn't include tax, which was eight percent, or buyers premium/commission, which was ten percent.

I saw an Auto-ord tommygun go for $1900
A Marlin 39a missing the magazine rod go for $450
A 7.62x51 conversion MAS-49/56 for $450
Buttstock-loading noname .22 for $375
Sears pump shotgun for $350

Is it just me, or do live-auctions just defy logic? How do people do this? I'm not even talking about the guys who bring Blue Book Of Gun Values to an auction and try to thumb through as each item comes up, but rather the way .22s and junk shotguns seem to be worth tons, and good guns go for ridiculous prices.

Why does it happen, and how can people be so stupid?

 

[Feud]

I ask the same question every time I see someone driving a Hummer, and the answer is simple. A product's value isn't judged by what the owner charges, but by what the buyer is willing to pay in order to obtain it.

Let's take the .22 for instance. To you it may be a no-name .22, but to me it might be the same kind that my dad first taught me to shoot with. As such, you may only be willing to pay $100, but I may be willing to out bid anyone under $500 because that is how much it is worth to me.

Or, if someone is selling water bottles for $1, you might not want to pay anymore then .50 for it, while a thirsty person may be willing to pay $2. To you the water is overpriced, to the thirsty person it is a bargain. Value is relative, the only way to know is to ask the person who bought it why they felt it was worth what they paid.

 

[JesseL]

I think that a lot of the profitability of auctions has to do with bidder's competitiveness over-riding their common sense.

People seem to get so caught up in winning the auction that they totally lose sight of the value of what they're buying.

Sensible bidders will decide their maximum bid before the auction and bow out when the price exceeds it, but there are always a few bidders that lack the control to make that choice stick.

 

[snorko]

I just attended an auction a week ago. Bought a S&W 627-5 "8 times" performance center revolver with case, excel cond. for $525, a 629 Classic for $400 and a S&W 317 for $225. Of course, I have paid dearly before and suffered when selling. They are hit and miss.

 

[kentucky bucky]

I worked in an auction house as a "hired hand" for many years in my youth. There are many factors that inflate or deflate prices. Let's say you have a predominately antique glassware crowd and you throw in a rare bowie knife. It could very easily go cheap if that's not what the crowd came for. But if the auctioneer is good at gab and knows the value of the knife, he can build it up in the eyes of the bidders and raise the price. I used to be able to get good deals on occasion this way. I once bought a nice antique fiddle and 2 bows for 50 bucks at an estate sale because nobody, including the auctioneer knew anything about it. I could have easily sold it at that time for $600.00 . As you said there are always those folks that get a rush out of the very nature of bidding and buy stuff for a "war price" just to say they won the bid over "Mr John Doe" that got him P.O.'d. When you work in a place, you can often read a crowd. I've stuck in items of mine at the last minute and made a killing just because I paid attention to who showed up.

 

[jaholder1971]

I don't know what some of these fools are thinking.

Some neighbors had an estate auction a few years back. In the auction they had a Winchester 191 semi-auto .22, a wall hanger sXs shotgun and a Remington 1100 with a plain jane modified barrel. I'd seen the Winchesters in pawn shops for about 120 bucks.

Well, the Winchester went for $275, the wall hanger went for $320 and the 1100 went for $575.00! One of the local gun shop owners was there in the crowd with me and we laughed our butts off loudly.

 

[AirplaneDoc]

Just went to a gun auction with 1000 firearms and at least 1000 firearm related items in addition. Saw original Henry rifle sell for $32K. 10 min later I watched a 1 gen SA Colt fully engraved go for 1800. Guy behind me was complaining that things were selling high, an hour later he was buying like crazy because things were going so low. Watched a new bushmaster AR go for $490 to a 12 year old kid at the end of the day. The only thing AI have figured out at auctions is junk is high, and quality/valuable stuff is dirt cheap. I spend most of the day shaking my head and jumping on a deal or two if the opportunity prsents itsself.

At the previous gun auction I watched a m-38 Willys jeep sell for 3X what they were worth. I own one and another guy at the auction also owned one. We just sat back and laughted at the people bidding up the thing, Guy ended up paing 3X the going rate for mint condition jee. The one he bought was well under par and needed a lot of work.