Darn auction sites... teach me to make a last minute bid

[tallpaul]

I have been wanting a ruger lw commander in .45 for a couple years but never got too serious about it. Well with all the festivities going on I started looking only to find out as many of us have that a lot of good guns are hard to find. In my searches I found out about the Talo Night watcthman edition of the lw ruger... mostly the same gun without the two tone finish night sights and different grips...

I found one of an auction sight a week ago or so and being early the prices were at the low starting prices... the regular LW ruger pushes 800- these 900 and up... I threw an early bid in the 600 range not thinkin anything of it. Sure enough I was outbid. well I was half watching it and was home 15 minutes before the scheduled end... I was surprised it was listed at under 725... I threw a bid of 730 and set my computer down not wanting to see or get into a bid war... I have some money set aside for savings and did not need tempted to be stupid - like I need help for that sure enough my phone alerted me to an email notice saying I won the auction...

I never won a gun auction on one of the gun auction sights before... A bud owed me a transfer and shipping was cheap so in a day or three I will hopefully have a new carry piece that I have wanted to try for a while- I have its heavier brother that I like - the light weight was not out when I bought it...

I like 1911's and while I like the newer polymer guns I really prefer the trigger and feel of the 1911's but I grew up on them and quality smith n colt revolvers so it may be oldmanitis

 

[CDW4ME]

I have never seen guns sell the way they are now, 1911's included.
I've bought on GB before and have looked recently out of curiosity, glad I don't "need" a pistol, prices aint cheap.
I'd say you did alright, on the bid and the pistol.

 

[tallpaul]

I have never seen guns sell the way they are now, 1911's included.
I've bought on GB before and have looked recently out of curiosity, glad I don't "need" a pistol, prices aint cheap.
I'd say you did alright, on the bid and the pistol.

I thought the price was great for now- I paid 650 for the stainless ruger commander several years back and I figure the night sights covered the difference form then alone let alone inflation and the panic hopefully she runs fine as is but if not I know ruger will take care of it I always had full size 1911's until the first ruger commander and I like that set up a lot... then again I like the full size ones also -

 

[flightsimmer]

It's a secret, I could tell you but then I would have to kill you. Sorry.

 

[potmetal]

Guns sell here for MSRP, even some used ones. You got a good gun at a fair price. Congrats to you.

 

[748]

It's definitely a sellers market.

 

[bannockburn]

tallpaul

Definitely sounds like a Win/Win for you! Got the gun you've wanted for awhile and at a decent price!

 

[Tallball]

Good job!

 

[TTv2]

It's not an auction until it's 15 minutes until the auction ends. When I make bids I make them 16 mins before they end so the auction doesn't get extended. Dunno why people wait for the last minute to make a bid when all that does is extend the auction 15 more mins.

I've lost more auctions than I've won and the best guns I've bought on auction were the Charter Arms .357's and the H&R Handi rifle with .308 and .223 barrel and scopes already mounted.

I think the key to winning auctions is to bid on less popular brands. You'll never win an auction at a good price for a S&W or Colt or even Ruger these days.

 

[MrShooter]

Sometimes you're up against computer guys like my little brother who wrote a program for auctions. It will wait till the last minute then up the bid by 1 dollar if it's already not over a set price. It's pretty hard to beat someone like that!

 

[armedwalleye]

Sometimes you're up against computer guys like my little brother who wrote a program for auctions. It will wait till the last minute then up the bid by 1 dollar if it's already not over a set price. It's pretty hard to beat someone like that!

...until you get up against another guy that wrote the same program......one saw two guys set a high number on an auto Id for a plastic Blue Fox fishing marker buoy, long since out of production. I was watching the auction myself and laughed myself stupid when one of those two paid $151 for a $15 marker buoy.....

 

[Riomouse911]

I had a last-minute Larry try to swoop in and buy a nearly new Ruger Flattop .44 Spl. 5.5” that I was bidding on yesterday. I put in a higher bid long before it ended and won it for $545.00.

Based on his profile it looks like he’s a dealer looking to score deals to resell. His bid cost me an extra 25 bucks, but at least I got a gun I wanted for less than MSRP.

I love my commander-sized Ruger 1911 .45, it’s more accurate and easier to shoot than my loaded SA 5” .45. I think you’ll like it, too.

Congrats! Let us know how it shoots for you.

Stay safe.

 

[Armored farmer]

You're going to like the LW commander. I sure do like my standard commander.

 

[Redcoat3340]

My auction strategy is simple: If there's a gun I like I figure how much I want to pay for it, make the bid and then come back after the auction is over to see if I "won." I figure there's always another gun.

 

[tallpaul]

You're going to like the LW commander. I sure do like my standard commander.View attachment 930930

Like I said I have the regular stainless Ruger commander- I like it enough to have wanted to try this one also...

 

[WVsig]

My auction strategy is simple: If there's a gun I like I figure how much I want to pay for it, make the bid and then come back after the auction is over to see if I "won." I figure there's always another gun.

This is a good approach which definitely keeps you from getting into a impulsive bidding war. I do think that sometimes you end up paying a little more because the fast rebid can cause impulsive bidding from someone else where a so more measured approach sometimes puts the breaks on a bidding war.

It's not an auction until it's 15 minutes until the auction ends. When I make bids I make them 16 mins before they end so the auction doesn't get extended. Dunno why people wait for the last minute to make a bid when all that does is extend the auction 15 more mins.

I've lost more auctions than I've won and the best guns I've bought on auction were the Charter Arms .357's and the H&R Handi rifle with .308 and .223 barrel and scopes already mounted.

I think the key to winning auctions is to bid on less popular brands. You'll never win an auction at a good price for a S&W or Colt or even Ruger these days.

+1 to this. I will often place a feeler bid early in the process to see someone had thrown in a high bid early. From there I watch it and the day it is ending look at it again. If it is still within my budget range I bid with 16 minutes left with a number close to what I ultimately want to pay. Then go from there but I never go over my max budget. The key to winning auctions at a decent price is know when to walk away.

Congrats to the OP!

 

[hemiram]

Congrats to the OP, too.

The prices right now are crazy for some guns. I could have/should have bought the gun I bought on Sunday morning for $300 less a year ago. I bought it for a couple reasons, the first was it was a gun I've always wanted, and Prelock S&W N Frame guns have never decreased in price as far as I know, and it's 31 years old and is basically NIB, so I went ahead and put a bid in that I could live with and not get angry about paying. There were two identical guns, the one I bought with just the box, and another one with all the paperwork including sales receipt. Sorry, $200 for the warranty card, etc? Nope..Another one was in great shape with aftermarket sights for another $100, and I admit night sights/FO sights on an N Frame would be cool.

 

[JR24]

My auction strategy is simple: If there's a gun I like I figure how much I want to pay for it, make the bid and then come back after the auction is over to see if I "won." I figure there's always another gun.

I do much the same, and with places like GunBroker doing to auto bid thing it's even easier. Put my max price in and ignore it till the auction is over.

In person auctions are harder for me to reign in the impulses.

 

[rdnktrkr]

I've found a few deals at auctions like Glenfield 12ga pumps for $80, M&Ps for $225, when everyone wanted Glocks, Howa 1500s with Leopold scopes for $250-$300, Arisakas for $150-$175, but recently prices have gone crazy, people paying over MSRP for guns and ammo. I have not found any auction deals this year. Online I never bid over %75 of selling price since I have to go pick it up at a FFL.