More Auto-Relist "Trolling For Suckers" auctions on Gunbroker?

[GBExpat]

I have been relatively inactive in this hobby for a few years. Within the past couple of months I have started surfing Gunbroker again and it seems to me that there is now a much higher percentage of the Auto-ReList "Trolling For Suckers" auctions ... y'know, the ones with the initial HIGH price that just keep repeating?

This is the same kind of auction parking philosophy that I actually saw work (sort of) once in about 2006, or so. For a couple of YEARS a fellow had let his SVT-40 with its ridiculously high initial price re-list every 2 weeks. It was on there for so long that the market value finally inched up reasonably close to what was a silly price just 2 years before and the auction finally garnered the one bid that it required.

Anyone else noticed this or is it just an effect of my 2-3 year hiatus from the site?

 

[mustang_steve]

GB has, like all other auction sites, it's share of unrealistic expectations.

Much like the guy who keeps putting up auctions for $300+ for a Davis Derringer (seen it a few times), to some guy that puts loads of utter junk on the site (rusted out barrels, recievers with cracks--but is honest about them all, etc)...we'll see all kinds in there.

What they need is an ignore function...if you can ignore the problematic accounts, then things clean up.

 

[hammerklavier]

Don't they charge for a listing?

 

[GBExpat]

Don't they charge for a listing?

Not unless the item is sold ... at least, IIRC, that is the way it used to be.

Mustang_Steve, the addition of an ignore function/filter would be great ... first string that I would add is, "Lee Enfield No1 Mk1 303 Brit Volley Sight Pakistan" to disappear the myriad, duplicate Khyber rifle auctions when I am perusing the Lee Enfield offerings ...

 

[CraigC]

Oh yeah, lots of speculators on Gunbroker. Folks trying to get rich off every sale. If they ever change their policy to where you have to pay for every listing (no auto-relist for free) things will change drastically.

 

[Shear_stress]

Probably not too new of a phenomenon, just a lot more people using the site. There are a few items that have been listed in perpetuity since the Phoenicians first crafted the Internet from lead pipes. Though it is kind of comforting to see that same "Double Deuce" .22 pistol pop again after all these years.

The thing that really bugs me is when retailers cut and paste the entire Davidson's, Zanders, or RSR inventory but don't let the total lack of bids stop them from relisting that huge mass of idiotic boilerplate every 24 hours.

 

[zoom6zoom]

I think some of them are guys who promised their wives they would sell some of their stuff and just put high prices on so they won't actually have to.

 

[GBExpat]

Hahahaha ... I think you have it figured out, z6z!

 

[alohachris]

I do see these on GB, but they're mostly retail shops that just list their stock at retail or higher. I don't really see many that I would consider 'absurd', like a used Glock 17 for $2,500.

I use the auto-relist feature for the custom kydex holsters that I make & sell. When I make a holster for a Glock, it sells in 3 days. When I make something obscure, like a left-hander or a holster for a Taurus Tracker in .41 magnum, the auto relist is great because it's always there for the 1-3 people who might be looking for what I have to sell.

 

[teumessian_fox]

Many of those weapons are listed by retail dealers w/brick and mortar operations who simply have them in inventory. They're the guys who, when you go into their store, have the weapon at an unrealistic price and aren't interested in coming down. They just keep relisting the same crap over and over.

And if you notice, some even use stock photos. I suspect those clowns don't even have the weapon in inventory, but if they can find some sucker willing to pay the asking price, will "get it for you."

Thus far, unless I'm looking for a particularly unique firearm (say, a S&W 27-2 w/3 1/2 inch barrel), my local dealers can beat anything I find from a retailer on GB.

 

[ZeroJunk]

Never mind.

 

[statelineblues]

What I find annoying are the people who have an item listed for 24 hours, and keep auto re-listing it for the same 24 hours...

 

[WardenWolf]

I just avoid those clowns. It's hilarious what some of them want. Turkish Mausers at $400+, and Nagant revolvers at $150? You've got to be kidding me.

I've gotten tons of good deals on Gunbroker. It's all about knowing what you're looking for and getting a little lucky. Some auctions just don't get the attention they deserve. Take my PA-63 pistol, which I picked up for $200. It didn't sell. No bids at all. I contacted the seller before he relisted it and asked if he'd be interested in selling it directly. We did the deal, he saved the Gunbroker fees, and I got a very nice pistol at a good price. I've also sold my father's .225 Winchester Model 70 for him. Some nutjob paid the $625 Buy-It-Now price. It takes all kinds.

 

[DRYHUMOR]

Use the "new in past 24 hrs" search, there is less crap to wade through. And, something nice may be right there, all new and shiney....

 

[EddieNFL]

What they need is an ignore function...

I would like to see separate categories for businesses and private sellers. Why would I pay retail when I can visit a LGS and buy face to face (usually for less) and not worry about dishonest sellers?

 

[evan price]

Gunbroker does not charge to list, only when they sell, so people can list all the pie-in-the-sky listings they want. GB makes it looks like they have more stuff for sale on their site than they really have (honstly and realistically I suppose it is for sale technically).

There's a specific pawn shop I know lists a lot of guns with STRICTLY NO RESERVES DISCLOSED!!!1!1!!!! and I know that their price is easily 2X-3X what it should be going for. They get people to bid, then they offer to sell locally off the site for a negotiated price. I know this, becasue it's what they did to me. I told 'em to EFF-OFF.

 

[SaxonPig]

Welcome to Econ 101.

This is called the Free Market System. Sellers are free to ask whatever price they think they can get and shoppers are free to buy or move on and keep looking.

Complaining won't change anything. At least it hasn't in the last 5,000 years or so.

 

[alohachris]

What they need is an ignore function...

They do. You can find it under "Price Range".

 

[TexasGunbie]

There are people that post three ad of the same gun, and make the price high. So that the market value would look higher.

 

[mnrivrat]

I think this post explains it all for those who want to read it .

I just avoid those clowns. It's hilarious what some of them want. Turkish Mausers at $400+, and Nagant revolvers at $150? You've got to be kidding me.

I've gotten tons of good deals on Gunbroker. It's all about knowing what you're looking for and getting a little lucky. Some auctions just don't get the attention they deserve. Take my PA-63 pistol, which I picked up for $200. It didn't sell. No bids at all. I contacted the seller before he relisted it and asked if he'd be interested in selling it directly. We did the deal, he saved the Gunbroker fees, and I got a very nice pistol at a good price. I've also sold my father's .225 Winchester Model 70 for him. Some nutjob paid the $625 Buy-It-Now price. It takes all kinds.

 

[Bluehawk]

Take my PA-63 pistol, which I picked up for $200. It didn't sell. No bids at all. I contacted the seller before he relisted it and asked if he'd be interested in selling it directly. We did the deal

You did the deal alright...you broke the rules of the auction site by buying it away from the auction which could get you both banned from there. Also, a PA63 is worth...at the most...$150!!!!!

 

[hemiram]

I have to admit, I get a laugh out of the ridiculously priced auctions, where they have the price on a used gun over $100 more than a new one. There's one I see every so often, it goes away and comes back. I bought a new gun just like it for $125 less than his opening price, and a slightly used one for almost $200 less than what he wanted for it.

You just have to ignore the dopes, and know what a decent price is, and it's hard to get screwed on GB or any other auction site. I know my day is coming where I will get a gun that doesn't work quite right, but in five years, I haven't had a turd, new or used, yet.

 

[redneck2]

"I've also sold my father's .225 Winchester Model 70 for him. Some nutjob paid the $625 Buy-It-Now price. It takes all kinds."

Uhhh...if it was a .225 it was most likely a pre-64. If so, that would be an excellent price IF the rifle was in good shape. If it was a push feed, the guy was a nut job.

 

[rbernie]

Welcome to Econ 101.

This is called the Free Market System. Sellers are free to ask whatever price they think they can get and shoppers are free to buy or move on and keep looking.

Complaining won't change anything. At least it hasn't in the last 5,000 years or so.

Worth repeating. Oh, and this phenomena has nothing specifically to do with guns, and everything to do with how folk buy and sell commodity items.

 

[Z-Michigan]

This is called the Free Market System. Sellers are free to ask whatever price they think they can get and shoppers are free to buy or move on and keep looking.

+1000

I laugh at posts like the OP's. GB is an auction site; sellers can ask whatever they want, and buyers can bid whatever they want, or no bid if the minimum bid is more than they're willing to pay. I wouldn't call it "trolling for suckers" unless the opening bid is 50% higher than any reasonable gun store would ask, and that's very uncommon in my experience (e.g. if someone asked $1500 for a plain-jane DPMS AR). When I read questions like the OP's, it comes across as if they think they have a "right" to buy stuff at 3% over dealer cost.

I use GB a lot as both buyer and seller. I've gotten some GREAT deals, and I've sold a bunch of items to buyers that are very happy with their purchase. But I wouldn't be selling if I didn't like the price I was asking too. See the quote above.