I'm a nooby at gun auctions

[NorthBorder]

So I registered on Gun Broker because I saw a rifle I would like to bid on. I have never bid on any auction of any kind and I am a natural skeptic when it comes to buying on line. So, if the seller has an A+ rating on Gun Broker with over a thousand listings or transactions can I realistically expect that this guy is that good or reputable? I may sound like some kind of candy azz but I am talking about a $1000 check sent to some unknown person in NV.
BTW how does the transaction generally occur if I should win?
Thanks in advance

 

[General Geoff]

If its an FFL, rest assured their license would be revoked in short order if he was scamming customers. FFLs need to keep meticulous records for atf compliance, and a single complaint to ATF about it will light a fire under their ass.

Now if you're sending a personal check it would be prudent for them to hold the gun for a week while your check clears to make sure you're not scamming them. So don't be surprised if it takes a while to get the gun sent out to your local FFL.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

So, if the seller has an A+ rating on Gun Broker with over a thousand listings or transactions can I realistically expect that this guy is that good or reputable?

Yes.

I may sound like some kind of candy azz but I am talking about a $1000 check sent to some unknown person in NV.

Use a credit card for online auctions. Many GB vendors now use the GB checkout system. If you ever get scammed or fraudulent charges, it's easier getting the charges cleared on a credit card than to get your money back if you send a check or use a debit card.

I have bought several guns on GB over the years. If it's a used gun, make sure there are a lot of very clear pictures. Checking the sellers feedback is a good thing.

If you allow proxy bidding where you put in your max bid, do yourself a favor, put in your REAL max bid and GB will increase your bid incase you are outbid. Then ignore it until you know the auction ended. It's easy to overpay if you get itno a bidding war, and some sellers have been known to bid on their own guns to drive up the price. If they win their own gun, they relist it often with the same pictures and start over hoping to hook someone.

If they don't use the checkout, they may email you a payment link, or some will take credit card numbers over the phone. Communicate early on if you win so they know you are taking action to make things move along. Notify your FFL and have a copy of their FFL form to email to the vendor. If you do those things, shipping is usually pretty fast.

 

[indy1919a4]

I never bid till the last moment because if you bid early you are only bidding against yourself.. everything 460 said is spot on, my only thought if seller is an individual and not ffl, remind him to send a photo of his drivers license to the FFL.

My only thought on setting a max bid, its good if the item warrants it.. But some items are so cool you must slug it out to the death .. Or Poor house, what ever is the situation .... and have fun!!!!!!

 

[Poper]

If you allow proxy bidding where you put in your max bid, do yourself a favor, put in your REAL max bid and GB will increase your bid incase you are outbid. Then ignore it until you know the auction ended. It's easy to overpay if you get itno a bidding war, and some sellers have been known to bid on their own guns to drive up the price. If they win their own gun, they relist it often with the same pictures and start over hoping to hook someone.

This cannot be over emphasized to a newbie! Even to some of us that have been using GB for years need to give ourselves a reality check now and then.

ETA:

Go into the rating and look at the actual comments, especially any less than perfect comments and the seller's response to those.

Absolutely read the comments! Especially the bad ones and the responses to them.

 

[cjwils]

Almost everyone on GB has an A+ rating. It doesn't mean much. Go into the rating and look at the actual comments, especially any less than perfect comments and the seller's response to those.

 

[Poper]

if you bid early you are only bidding against yourself.

Nonsense. Your bid will only go up if another person bids.
The 15 minute rule enables the shill bidders, anyway and if someone is going to to shill-bid you up they will use the 15 minute rule, too. Pay attention, though, because a shill bidder will usually have few or no transactions and little or no feedback.

When I see one of these bidders pumping up my bid on the item, I immediately reduce my maximum bid to the next increment and if the shill out bids me, he can have it. I make a note of the seller in my seller's notebook and will avoid their auctions after that. In very rare instances, I will allow a shill bidder to take me as high as my initial maximum bid if I really desire that particular item. Mostly I just let it go and wait for another one to come along.

 

[indy1919a4]

Nonsense. Your bid will only go up if another person bids.
The 15 minute rule enables the shill bidders, anyway and if someone is going to to shill-bid you up they will use the 15 minute rule, too. Pay attention, though, because a shill bidder will usually have few or no transactions and little or no feedback.

Let me explain, You are of course right, the bidding only goes up when others bid.. But Lets say you were willing to bid an amount, if you bid early then your bid gives others more time to bid against you, to test the upper limits.. To get use to this higher price. Where the same bid may be shock an awe at the right time. Bidding is like warfare when you bid you let the world know you are out there.

Now darn it you are so right about that 15 min rule.. its been the ruin of many a poor boy and God I know I'm one.

 

[NorthBorder]

If I put a max bid on the gun, every time somebody bid my bid would go up incrementally as I understand it. Sine it is my first time would I be suspect as a shill bidder?

 

[George P]

I sent a $6K MO to a guy in Idaho and a week later, my Beretta shotgun showed up at my FFL..............just the way things works...........

 

[MedWheeler]

NorthBorder writes:

If I put a max bid on the gun, every time somebody bid my bid would go up incrementally as I understand it. Sine it is my first time would I be suspect as a shill bidder?

Yes, if you post your maximum bid, your initial bid will be the next one required for the item. If others keep bidding, you will also (automatically) until someone outbids your maximum. Then, you'll be out and the auction continues on without you (unless you re-enter a new maximum bid.)

Example: The gun is initially listed at $400, with $10 increments needed to bid, and is now at $460. You enter a maximum bid, the most you're willing to pay, of $550. The site will post a bid for you, bringing the price to $470. If others bid against you, it will keep raising you until the item reaches $550. As soon as another bidder takes it above that, you're out (unless you bid a new maximum.) If no one does, the gun is yours.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

If I put a max bid on the gun, every time somebody bid my bid would go up incrementally as I understand it. Sine it is my first time would I be suspect as a shill bidder?

That’s just proxy bidding. If you’re willing to pay more than everyone else it ensures you don’t pay more than your closest rivals max bid.


Typically there is a 15 minute rule also. If someone tops a bid in the last 15 minutes the clock resets to allow a new max bid to come in. The seller gets the best price possible and it avoids people sniping the auction at the last instant like what happens on eBay.

Don’t know if they all get the 15 minute rule though.

 

[MedWheeler]

That "15-minute rule" got me on my only GB purchase. I really wanted the Smith and Wesson 67-1, to replace the long-lost first sidearm I'd ever been issued. As it turned out, the seller was a gun shop in my own town. When I won the auction and went to claim the gun in person, I found that it still had a store tag on it marked with a price $200 lower than I was paying. I don't know if the gun was displayed in the store's case during the auction. I'm guessing not, since that price would have resulted in a quick sale. The price I paid is right about where I have always seen a good 67-1 at.

 

[MCFLYFYTER]

Let me explain, You are of course right, the bidding only goes up when others bid.. But Lets say you were willing to bid an amount, if you bid early then your bid gives others more time to big against you, to test the upper limits.. To get use to this higher price. Where the same bid may be shock an awe at the right time. Bidding is like warfare when you bid you let the world know you are out there.

Now darn it you are so right about that 15 min rule.. its been the ruin of many a poor boy and God I know I'm one.

I cant figure out why this is hard for people to understand. The more time you give someone to justify a higher bid, the more likely they will justify it.

 

[Riomouse911]

I lost a Smith model 18 I was bidding on last week....I set my max and it sold for 250 bucks higher than I was willing to go. May the buyer enjoy!

I’m seeing a LOT of low-count GB people bidding on smiths now, I think they believe they’ll increase like snake guns did.

Oh well, you win some, lose some...that’s the free market for you.

Stay safe.

 

[Riomouse911]

I cant figure out why this is hard for people to understand. The more time you give someone to justify a higher bid, the more likely they will justify it.

I set my max and forget it. If people are going to outbid me when I bid early it makes no difference, because their max will be higher than mine whether I’m bidding early or late.

If they do outbid me, then it’s clear they have a deeper well to draw from than I do. I’ve won nearly 45 guns on GB, and lost probably 45 others. I’m not losing any sleep one way or the other.

I also set my max by taking into account the cost of the auction plus shipping, sales tax, my FFLs transfer fee, the state DOJ fee, etc. Add up all of those extra costs to an auction buy and it will easily add $200 to the sales price of a $750 dollar Smith...and it only goes up from there.

Once you’re looking at what is now $925, most of the time the luster of winning isn’t quite so bright.

Stay safe.

 

[MCFLYFYTER]

I set my max and forget it. If people are going to outbid me when I bid early it makes no difference, because their max will be higher than mine whether I’m bidding early or late.

If they do outbid me, then it’s clear they have a deeper well to draw from than I do. I’ve won nearly 45 guns on GB, and lost probably 45 others. I’m not losing any sleep one way or the other.

I also set my max by taking into account the cost of the auction plus shipping, sales tax, my FFLs transfer fee, the state DOJ fee, etc. Add up all of those extra costs to an auction buy and it will easily add $200 to the sales price of a $750 dollar Smith...and it only goes up from there.

Once you’re looking at what is now $925, most of the time the luster of winning isn’t quite so bright.

Stay safe.

Like I said, I don't understand what is complicated about it. You cannot be out bid if you haven't bid yet. It is extremely common for people to increase their max bid when they are outbid. Nobody is claiming that if you bid late you will get it cheap. Why give people 5 days to acclimate to the higher price and raise their bid, when you only have to give them 15 minutes.

 

[indy1919a4]

. Why give people 5 days to acclimate to the higher price and raise their bid, when you only have to give them 15 minutes.

Whats sad is when the 15 min rule stretches the end a couple hours unless your the seller There is always Yin & Yang.. Sometimes you are the Yin sometimes the Yang..

 

[film495]

my experience is it is like ebay, where that seller rating is of ultimate importance to the seller. if you aren't happy, for any reasonable concern, they'll jump through hoops to make it right to keep the high rating. don't big yourself up - pick your price, and be willing to take a pass and look for the next one that comes up.

 

[Riomouse911]

Like I said, I don't understand what is complicated about it. You cannot be out bid if you haven't bid yet. It is extremely common for people to increase their max bid when they are outbid. Nobody is claiming that if you bid late you will get it cheap. Why give people 5 days to acclimate to the higher price and raise their bid, when you only have to give them 15 minutes.

Provided you want to sit around and wait for an auction To end, then yes, last minute bidding may work out.

Or you’ll get into a bidding war at the close and to justify sitting around for X amount of time refreshing the auction over and over you’ll bid and bid and bid until the other guy quits or until you’re outbid. Either way you’ll (Hopefully) have a max bid that you’ll stick to, whether it’s while you’re away working or while you’re there on GB trying to outbid another last minute Charlie. The simple fact is the only time you can’t be outbid is if you’re the highest bidder, period. It doesn’t matter if that bid is placed on day one or thirty seconds before its end.

I fully understand the concept, it doesn’t take my graduate degree to figure out there are numerous was of looking at the bidding and seeing who is in it to win it and who is testing the waters for a later plunge. I simply don’t have the time to sit down and refresh an auction that’s about to end time and time and time again hoping Charlie will quit or click “increase bid” fifteen minutes and ten seconds after my latest high bid. If I’m bidding, I’ll set it and forget it. My max isn’t shown to anyone but me and the site will increase my bid incrementally as others bid it until I win the auction or I lose it.

Again; it’s the size of the purse, not the hour of the bid, that determines the winner.

Stay safe.

 

[MCFLYFYTER]

I gotcha, just a different kind of bidding. I was speaking of really wanting an item and trying to get the best price reasonably possible. I have no problem remembering to place a bid a few days later for something I really want.

Sounds like you are just tossing out bids that likely wont win, but if they do you'll get a great deal. I've seen that happen when there has been a short term flood of something and all the serious buyers are already out of the market. Still, the 15 minute thing drives me out of the buyer pool. It is amazing how badly people want to win.

 

[Waveski]

I rarely max bid early and just ride it out bid. My reasoning , correct or not , is that the more bidders the more tendency for a higher winning bid. Great for the seller , not so great for the buyer. I generally predetermine my max bid , but I do not enter it till late in the auction. Often I never even enter it as an automatic max bid , I just limit my bidding to my predetermined max ... usually. (there is , of course , more temptation that way.)

Each auction is individual ; every now and then one will , for some odd reason (chance) escape the attention of many bidders. That's where the bargains are.

That "15-minute rule" got me on my only GB purchase.

If I may say so , the 15 minute rule didn't get you , you got you.

 

[P5 Guy]

I think they believe they’ll increase like snake guns did.

The very guys that inflated snake guns pricing are now going after S&Ws. Can't wait for them to go Taurus hunting.

 

[Texas10mm]

Nonsense. Your bid will only go up if another person bids.
The 15 minute rule enables the shill bidders, anyway and if someone is going to to shill-bid you up they will use the 15 minute rule, too. Pay attention, though, because a shill bidder will usually have few or no transactions and little or no feedback.

When I see one of these bidders pumping up my bid on the item, I immediately reduce my maximum bid to the next increment and if the shill out bids me, he can have it. I make a note of the seller in my seller's notebook and will avoid their auctions after that. In very rare instances, I will allow a shill bidder to take me as high as my initial maximum bid if I really desire that particular item. Mostly I just let it go and wait for another one to come along.

Or it could be a new person, like the OP, who really wants that firearm.

The thing with shill bidding is if they win the seller still has to pay the fees.

For a $500 item that fee is $23.75, for a $1500 item it's $58.75. If that happens a couple of times it starts to cost real money.

Of course many people when they see things selling for more than they would pay imminently start to scream shill bid, but almost every time it's just someone willing to pay more.

 

[Walkalong]

I have bought several guns on GB over the years. If it's a used gun, make sure there are a lot of very clear pictures. Checking the sellers feedback is a good thing

Absolutely do not bid on guns without good pics. Some sellers are excellent about angles that hide flaws as well. Ask questions, ask for a pic of an area if you are concerned, most long time sellers with good feedback and good pics are more than anxious for you to be happy with the purchase. How sellers answer questions can be very telling.