What's the deal with overpaying on Gunbroker?

[Tomahawk674]

I don't know if you guys window shop on GP as much, but I've seen some people mindlessly over pay for items that they could have gotten cheaper from a retailer. For example:

A blued Rogers and Spencer sold for $425, no extras. DGW sells it for $350. S&S Firearms has it for less

A Spiller & Burr has a bid for $245 with $25 shipping right now on GB. Dixie has the same price but I know they are not about to charge $25 shipping.

People really need to learn how to shop...

And then there's the crowd of people trying to sell brass frame .44 colt piettas for $200... seriously...

---- End rant ---

 

[Hellgate]

There are different markets: the fools and the savvy are two.

 

[LiveLife]

This past year, my local gun stores have beaten Gun Broker prices time after time - and I live in California!

 

[PTK]

I tend to post items to GB now and then for one reason only - a hot item has a bit of a cult following, and I can get a premium there. I then post well above value but about 20% less than other auctions, and get a decent bit of money for an item I no longer need.

It's just a large, online gunshow - and everything is overpriced just like that.

 

[madcratebuilder]

It's just a large, online gunshow - and everything is overpriced just like that.

+100

I very seldom see a 'good deal' on gunbroker any more, and when you do it's on higher end fire arms. I always have a half dozen or more guns in my watch list but 99% of the time the bid gets way to high for me. That 1% can bruise the heck out of my visa.

 

[Rock Island]

I see it happen all the time, and this is because people tend to become (or already are) idiots when the bidding gets going. " that guy is not going to outbid me" sort of crap. I know what you mean about the Brass Piettas, cracks me up.

 

[Foto Joe]

So far I've purchased "1" gun on GB and the price was fair. I've at times sold just about anything that isn't bolted firmly to the concrete on eBay and I learned a lot doing that. Some people will bid and buy just about ANYTHING!! I bought an air-tool at Harbor Freight years ago that I paid $27 for. I used it once and it sat in my tool box for two years. During one of my selling sprees I posted it with a starting bid of .99 cents. It sold for $87.00 and I about fell over!!

If you keep a watch on stuff and check every few days you CAN find some deals. The trick is not to get caught up in the frenzy.

What worries me about GB is an unknowlegable seller over-stating a piece and finding out too late that I bought somebody elses problem.

 

[Old Fuff]

Yup, many of the prices are out of sight - especially on popular models that are in short supply.

But on the other hand I have made some major killings on seriously underpriced guns that weren't attractive to the general run of Gunbroker bidders.

It boils down to knowing the market, and what you are doing. Never forget that window shopping is free, and you never know what you might find.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

I don't buy complete guns on GB. I have bought receivers and other parts for my Mauser sporter builds. Some of the parts can't be found elsewhere.

 

[ClemBert]

I like GunBroker as I do AuctionArms and GunsAmerica. Like anything you need to do your homework. Some of the best pricing I ever got was off those sites but I always research the hell outta things first. I've bought new guns that my local dealer/FFL said even he couldn't get for the price I paid.

 

[Texas Moon]

I don't understand it either.
With just a moderate amount of internets snooping you can usually locate something much cheaper than on GB.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I love auctions.

Folks will bid like crazy for the shiny stuff and ignore the dowdy or unpopular items.

On-line or in the auction hall, it's all the same thing. Know your values, know what you want, know your limits. You'll have no problems.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

I always have at least a dozen items on my Gunbroker watch list and in the past two years I have not bought one. They always end up way over what they are worth. On the other hand the four guns I did buy in the last two years I have bought from the various forums for sale listings.

 

[madcratebuilder]

On the other hand the four guns I did buy in the last two years I have bought from the various forums for sale listings.

+1

The best deals I have got have been from other forum members by far!

 

[D.Delozier]

I scored one very good deal on GB ,last year it was a new listing with a buy it now price of 575.00 for a Uberti revolving carbine in exelent shape and a Uberti 1858 NMA ,again in ex shape W/ an R&D conversion cylinder for each!! I jumped all over that one.

 

[CrazyIrishman]

I got a fair deal on Gunbroker about 2 months ago. I traded one rifle for another plus some cash. It wan't a "I just gotta have it" type of deal, but I won't lose a dime if I ever had to sell!

The rifle I got was a very nice commercial FN Mauser 98 (made 1948).

The communication & shipping time from the FFL I was dealing with needs some improvement but overall it was ok.



Thanks,

CI

 

[RyanM]

I'm probably not qualified to comment since I just spent a ridiculous amount on a gun on Gunbroker, but there are rare guns that come up occasionally. A lot of times, an auction is your only option for the rarer stuff, since most sellers know that they can get a ridiculous price for a rare item (or "perceived rare," sort of like diamonds), if they get the right crowd.

Personally, when I'm selling something, I always make sure that the auction will end around 9-10:00 PM Eastern time. That means most of the potential bidders will be home from work. The gun I just got ended at 11:30 in the morning, and I'm pretty sure that's why I managed to get it for about $175 less than the last similar gun I saw on GB.

 

[toivo]

I once sold a lightly-used synthetic stock for a Marlin 60 on Gunbroker. The winning bidder ran the price up to more than he would have paid to get a brand new one from Marlin. I felt bad, so I didn't charge him for shipping.

 

[goon]

The prices are nuts on there sometimes. I do most of my buying in the classifieds on here when I can find it or at local shops.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

The local classified gun ad forums in Portland Oregon have crazy high prices too. There are two used NAA 22 mini's that are priced at $300.00 on one, that is $100.00 over new. Now on THR classifieds there was one for $125.00. I don't understand some people's minds.

 

[Fingers McGee]

I've run into numerous good deals on GB in the past. You just have to be patient. Just bought a limited edition engraved 2nd Gen Colt Percussion for a decent price - well below blue book.

Having said that, I track a number of items on GB and it never fails to amaze me that someone will list an item for literally years with a high reserve and/or openng bid price and not realize they are pricing the item too high. I've watched the same Sig Series Colt for over 3 years. Opening bid has not moved in all that time & no one has bid on it.

 

[CraigC]

On new stuff that you can get from retailers like the examples you gave with DGW, it makes absolutely no sense. On older stuff, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Like the S&W M24 that I bought late last year. I've been wanting one for years. The prices just kept going up and I never ran into one in a shop at a fair price. Now that I live in the sticks of TN, I would win the lottery three times before I found a sixgun like that at a decent price so I found one on Gunbroker. I paid a little too much for it but I got exactly what I wanted and it was NIB. I'm a happy camper and don't miss the money one bit.

 

[mykeal]

it never fails to amaze me that someone will list an item for literally years for with a high reserve and/or openng bid price and not realize they are pricing the item too high.

You're assuming they actually want to sell it. My wife deals in antique china teapots and she runs into the same thing both here and overseas. In her line the articles are rare enough that she often knows the seller, and in virtually every case where it's priced too high for a long time, the seller doesn't really want to sell the item; they are just offering it for a price they can't refuse to accept in the off chance that someone might actually want it that badly. That way they don't have to make a hard decision to get rid of a 'treasured' item.

 

[scrat]

same with the 1858 you usually see the piettas going for up to 300 when cabelas had them on sale for 199

 

[ClemBert]

The deal with overpaying on GunBroker is the same deal with overpaying at the gun show, Bass Pro Shop, your local gun dealer, et al. People either don't do their homework on pricing or they just gotta have it now and are willing to pay a high price. Its the American way...you'll always have a group of people that need instant gratification....they just can't be patient and wait....they "need" it NOW!