I had bid on a couple of items at the most recent https://www.onlinehuntingauctions.com/ gun auction.

Crap I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole sold for 40-50% plus the 20% buyers premium.

I don't get the point.

I think there's a lot of that going on. I get on Texas Gun Trader every night mainly to see if any of my stolen ones show up but while cruising the ads I'm surprised at the prices that folks are asking. Well above new cost.

They are just hoping to snag a few fools.

I remember the HSN (Home Shopping Network) back in the late 80s. My son was into baseball cards. They were selling crap on the HSN channel that was worth pennies, asking as much as 100 times the actual value, then marking it down half price. People were actually calling in telling the host what a wonderful bargain they got. You can't cure "stupid".

They are all using the same business model. It's called "Screw You".

Same thing happening on ebay with used Honda motorcycles. I don't need another one but find it entertaining to look.

There was an "estate Sale" that a friend of mine told me to look at. Lots of guns and ammo. over a hundred lots. The first day there was no Min. Bid. A few days later, there was a min. bid. Only 6 or 7 names showed up as the high bidders on all lots. Depending on value, every one was ether $15, $50 or $150 over the min. bid. Exactly those prices. The prices were as new or better. Used Glock 19's were $800 etc.

Most do not look beyond the thumbnail picture but I did. All had price tags from a gun shop and you could see the prices on many of them. Of course, the min. bid price was higher than the tag price.
Ammo was the same way. Prices scratched out or missed. Way over market.

Some people tend to jump at auctions without the background on what they are buying. It can be a feeding frenzy.
Buyer beware.

There was a used Glock 19 that went for $800.

I can pick one up 10 miles down the road for $550, and some judicious looking on the internet will probably get a better deal.

I remember in Australia, for fun, we went to an auction one Saturday. There were probably less than fifty people at the auction, but they had some nice jewelry. When my wife and I got married in Venezuela, she had chosen two gold bands. Sixteen years later there laid nice diamond "engagement" ring in the auction with an appraisal certificate for just over $10,000. After I had seen it, I noticed my wife picked it up and was looking at it. I asked her if she wanted it. She said it was beautiful. There was no minimum, and the bidding was unenthusiastic, but I didn't raise my hand. To my surprise, the bidding stalled at $2,500. So I bid once and got it.

Unfortunately there was also a nice ring with a big sapphire surrounded by diamonds. We both liked it too. It had a minimum of $650. I took it to $625 and of course the auctioneer was begging me to go $50 more. I didn't do it.

The following month we went back to the auction and there was the sapphire ring. Still looking gorgeous. I went after it to $650, and the bidding didn't stop. It finally sold for $900. Just goes to show. You never know.

Back in the States later, I had the diamond engagement ring appraised, and a jeweler in Dallas priced it at just under $10,000.

Auctions are quirky. Normally I just avoid them.

In the early 80s bust in West Texas I saw oil rigs that wouldn't even get a bid for any of their main pieces of equipment, but people were fighting over their Port-O-Potties and steel tanks.

First thing you learn about auctions is, people leave common sense at the door when they bid.

Grizz

As with any auction, when you want something, your mind cannot calculate the buyers premium as fast as you bid!

The rules for auctions:
1 Carefully appraise the item that interests
you.

2 Set a maximum price you will pay including
buyer premium.

3 Stick to your price.

Dave

quote:

Back in the States later, I had the diamond engagement ring appraised, and a jeweler in Dallas priced it at just under $10,000.

But what was he willing to give you for it right then and there.

That is the true value.

I have a love/hate relationship with auctions. If I am selling, I love them, if buying, I hate them. Several years ago I consigned a few at a local auction. I sold a pretty well used Stoeger coach gun for almost double what I had in it, and the selling price was 50 bucks more than you could go down and buy a new one for. I saw a Ruger Blackhawk, used, go for more than a new one retailed at. Of course if you find that one of a kind piece, at least to you, I guess it is worth it.

I notice when jewelers start assigning values, that normally means they will give you half of that number if you were offering to sell. I don't think I specifically asked what he would give me for it. I figure $5,000 on a $2,500 investment is a good enough deal.

The last bit of jewelry I did get specific about was my Rolex. They (Rolex) valued it at $24,000 about five years ago, but offered me only $12,000.