Gun Crazy Auction??

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Sniper66

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Just sharing>. Went to an estate auction today. All guns and a couple gun safes. Many of the guns sold for average retail with some notable exceptions. There were no bargains. This one floored me: A Browning A-Bolt 6.5 Creedmore sold for $1100.!! Seriously. It was a plain-Jane, not an X-Bolt, I double checked because I intended to bid on it. A Palmetteo AR 15 .556 sold for $1800..I looked on line and one very similar rifle on GB is listed for $1200. Most sold at the top of average retail like a Remington 870 Wingmaster 20ga for $700. Several Heritage 6-guns sold for twice their typical sale price.
The only "bargain" was a stack of about 50 boxes of Eley 17Mach2 sold for $9 per box. That really is a decent price in today's market. I talked to the guy who bought it and he said he plans to resell it for $15. He'll get it.
Hold on to your wallets guys. It's a crazy world out there.
 
I don't care what others pay, one see me over pay for a gun. The A-bolts can bring some money, especially if it's a higher end model.

I remember my dad telling me guys were paying 3-4 thousand for a sks after 9.11 here in N.Y..
 
I have been hearing from some of my friends about how the auctions have been going crazy with the bid pricing on guns lately! Some friends are auctioning some of their guns because of the top dollar they will get for them.
 
Yep, it's a crazy world. I bought a K6s just before things went wackadoodle. I was following a couple of fixer uppers on Gun Broker at the time as well. Evidently there wasn't much demand for bolt actions chambered for obsolete cartridges. I went to a gun show a couple of weeks ago and was astounded at the prices that were being asked. Just a quick check on line showed they were the going rate.
 
Auctions are funny. The prices just depend on who shows up.
A couple of years ago I attended an estate auction at a local auction house. All the items were firearm related, over 200 lots.
Everything was going dirt cheap. I bought a 1958 Win 94, a 1981 “Antique” model Win 94 SRC, a 1968 Marlin 39A and a 1918 Colt 1911.
All at great prices. I should’ve bought more but didn’t.
The same auction house had a similar auction 6 months later with lots of guns and there wasn’t a bargain in the place. I bought a 1961 Ruger Bearcat and that was it.
I attended an estate auction about 10 years ago and got several bargains on big boxes of ammo etc. Things were going so cheap that one of the heirs talked to the auctioneer and they stopped the auction. I thought that was kind of cheesy since I had driven 35 miles to attend.
 
I also went to an estate auction - with a number of firearms. (Nebraska)
The bulk of the guns were centerfire rifles. Most in good at least condition. A couple of them appealed to me, but I saw a number of people representing gun stores and 'vendors' of firearms.

In short, I was outbid before anything began.

And, the reinforce the perception, most reports I get from auctions such as this indicate participants being possessed by 'auction fever', rather similar to 'buck fever' and 'gold fever'. The mental induced myopic condition of 'needing' to win the auction at any price. So far, that hasn't got me and I intend to not be subject to such.
 
Sniper66 said:
Hold on to your wallets guys. It's a crazy world out there.
Click to expand...

My experience with auctions here in East Tennessee has been you're rarely getting anything without overpaying for it. Add the "buyer's premium" (the auction house's cut) and you often pay far more than you planned. Toss in the current panic buying and the prices go even higher.

I'm helping liquidate a friend's firearms/ammo/knife estate and I'm setting ammunition prices based on online pricing. I'm not dropping shipping or taxes in that calculation either. People may hesitate to buy, but it hasn't stopped them since I keep copies of the first page of Ammoseek print outs so they can see the rising trend in prices.
 
hso said:
My experience with auctions here in East Tennessee has been you're rarely getting anything without overpaying for it. Add the "buyer's premium" (the auction house's cut) and you often pay far more than you planned. Toss in the current panic buying and the prices go even higher.

I'm helping liquidate a friend's firearms/ammo/knife estate and I'm setting ammunition prices based on online pricing. I'm not dropping shipping or taxes in that calculation either. People may hesitate to buy, but it hasn't stopped them since I keep copies of the first page of Ammoseek print outs so they can see the rising trend in prices.
Click to expand...
Not only the buyer's premium (and a seller's one as well), but the buyer will usually be tapped for sales tax, BG check, etc. and if it has to be shipped to his home state FFL, add in shipping.
 
Locally there is an Auction house that has 2 firearms auctions yearly, the first one this yr was stupid high, 223/556 $.40+ea, used pistols above retail, ARs well above retail, I'm hoping the one in November will be back to normal. The few estate auctions I've see with firearms recently had them going for more than I'd pay before 10%auction fee and 7%tax.
 
The auction companies here announce at the beginning if there is to be a buyer's premium and/or sales tax. You should never be surprised by such charges. If it's not clear, ASK. When you register, you can ask and numerous workers have that info.
 
I've been looking for an opportunity to reduce the size of my collection, and this is a good time. All of what I'm auctioning is as common as dirt, but I'm tending to get what I paid, or a little more, which for me, is unprecedented.
 
People go crazy at auctions and often pay too much. I went to one probably 20 years ago. An outfitter who ran a business renting canoes, taking people upstream and dropping them off closed up. They had about 40 canoes to auction off. About 8 or 10 were like new, the rest junk. I didn't stay long. It became apparent real quick that prices were going to be insane.

We had the former maintenance director of out local school system get caught in a scheme where he had embezzled about $6 million over the course of about 10 years. He is now in prison and all of his assets were seized and sold at auction to get some of the money back. That included a rather large gun collection. Most of these used guns bought more than local stores were selling the same guns for new. Then the buyer had to go to a local gun store and pay a $50 transfer fee to pick them up.
 
Sounds like different states have different rules. Here in Kansas it is cash and carry. At auctions they record your driver's license so they can accept checks and to make sure buyers are Kansas residents. And frankly I don't know if they keep the info or not. They do warn everyone that if they are not legally entitled to own a gun, purchasing one at an auction illegally is a felony.
Oh...and to find local auctions just look on the internet or ask a friend to do so if you do not have access.
 
Worse part about auctions is the buyers fees included in most of them.

I have got some great deals but like eBay they are few and far between, most people that “win” are often really losers from a financial gain standpoint. I bet my “wins” are < 1:100 but the few I do get keep me playing the game.

My best auction win was this $46 shipped bergmaster.



Estate sales can be good too, have a couple 510’s ($35 & $60) that are better shooters than new rifles costing hundreds more.
 
Mars5l said:
How does one find out about estate sales and firearm auctions?
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If in a fairly rural area, the local paper will post a listing. There is almost always just ONE auctioneer for such doings....you can get his name by asking any gun dealer. Give him/her a call if you need further heads up. Also check out large auction houses like Rock island as they will have auctions of more common firearms....like a giant estate or local auction....in addition to their high-end offerings.
 
No matter what the auction is for, I set the max I’ll pay on a GB auction for my first bid, then let it run its course. If I get outbid, I get outbid. I’ve certainly lost more auctions than I’ve won, but I’ve never gotten into a bidding war that I regretted later.

I’ve won two auctions in the last week for handguns I liked; a Model 14 S&W as a companion for my Model 17 and Model 48 rimfires, and a .32 H&R Ruger Bisley because I wanted something completely new. With shipping I still don’t think I paid nearly what they would’ve sold for at the LGS, so I think I did ok.

There is no way in hell I’d pay 1k for a 590... 2k? Man folks are nuts. o_O I think I have some OO buck laying around that I’ll be happy to sell him for five bucks a round.

tuckerdog1 said:
I was watching this one last week on GB. I don't know what gets into people during an auction. There may be a case of buyer's remorse when it sinks in.
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/876812561
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Buyers remorse is right, paying about 3x value for that shotgun is gonna burn for a looooong while. :eek:

Stay safe.
 
I've found that estate auctions where firearms are heavily advertised and are a primary draw, leads to prices higher than your LGS. Auctioneers know what the market is and right now they will push/advertise everything gun related. My only real bargains with firearms at auctions came when there was only one or two guns for sale and the main draw was antiques or farm equipment. One problem I have with firearms and estate auctions, is many times, due to there not being a will, or a will that does not designate exactly who gets what, leads to siblings bidding against each other and others, for "Dad's" or "Grandpa's" guns. Usually when I see siblings bidding against one another, I quit bidding.
 
I think the terminology used may have a lot to do with people getting carried away and bidding too much for certain items.

Instead of "Winning" an auction, look at it as: "I paid more than anyone else was willing to pay".

If you can turn around and resell the item for more than you just paid for it, you won, if you just contracted to pay $2,125 for a $500 shotgun, you lost.
 
Remember that the auction house tries to get the bidding up and sell any item for as much as possible. Many auctioneers are good at doing just that. They try to encourage and exploit “auction fever.”

Ambrose Bierce called an auctioneer:
A man who proclaims with a hammer that he has picked a pocket with his tongue.
Click to expand...
 
Man this has me thinking about letting my ruger pcc. I like it enough. But if I can get more then I paid. I can replace it in a year. Depending on election.
 
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