Auction Guns

[jasonville43]

Just wondering if it is just a local thing but have any of you noticed that people are REALLY overpaying for guns at auctions! The wife and I went to a couple of auctions recently to see if we could pick up a couple guns. We had our eyes on a couple rifles and a couple shotguns that are not "collector" guns and all had seen better days in regards to condition. An example was your run of the mill 10-22 that has some pitting on the outside and the stock was not pretty at all but the inside all looked ok. The darn thing sold for $200, I can drive down the road and buy a brand new one for dang near that!! Just wondering what makes these people pay way more than the gun is worth!

 

[localone]

just like ebay people get caught up in a bidding war and some people just dont like to lose

 

[boogieman]

its the excitement of the bidding, I do alot of auctions myself and rarely buy any guns because of that same reason. If you go to enough of them sometimes you can get some decent deals on stuff like shotguns, but dont get too excited about finding an ar or glock for a decent price, it aint usually going to happen.

 

[CountryBoy19]

From my experience the best chance you have to find a great deal at an auction is something that is "special" but "subtly special". Example, just this past weekend my dad paid $800 for an AK47 at an auction and everybody thought he overpaid for it. But what seemingly nobody else noticed was that it was a pre-import-ban Chinese AK47; they typically sell for $1200-1600 depending on condition. This one was complete with bayonet, sling, & cleaning kit but the wood was mis-matched in color. Easily worth $1200 or more, but only an educated buyer would notice that.

 

[dbrier]

I went to a couple of sheriff auctions in Kokomo 20 years ago looking for good deals and noticed the same thing right away. People buying junk guns for more then new retail prices. I haven't wasted my time on a gun auction since.

 

[Mackey]

I went to a couple of sheriff auctions in Kokomo 20 years ago looking for good deals and noticed the same thing right away. People buying junk guns for more then new retail prices. I haven't wasted my time on a gun auction since.

Same here. Stayed for nearly an entire auction to see what a Desert Eagle .50 would go for (it went for about retail), and watched people pay crazy money for the junky little caliber pistols. I couldn't believe it.

 

[iwearcowboyboots]

Just wondering if it is just a local thing but have any of you noticed that people are REALLY overpaying for guns at auctions! The wife and I went to a couple of auctions recently to see if we could pick up a couple guns. We had our eyes on a couple rifles and a couple shotguns that are not "collector" guns and all had seen better days in regards to condition. An example was your run of the mill 10-22 that has some pitting on the outside and the stock was not pretty at all but the inside all looked ok. The darn thing sold for $200, I can drive down the road and buy a brand new one for dang near that!! Just wondering what makes these people pay way more than the gun is worth!

At least they paid less than retail. I went to an auction where a keen eyed collector paid $225 + 10% bidder fee + transfer costs for a used Hi Point handgun. At the same auction, a lucky bidder "won" a S&W Sigma for only $450 + 10% + transfer.

 

[KJQ6945]

Went to a DNR auction 20+ years ago. It was the last gun auction I went to. I was amazed at the prices people were paying.

Some of the stupidity of it was because people were trying to buy back grandpa's shotgun that little Johnny got confiscated. The rest was just people determined to buy a gun and having NO idea what it's worth.

If you want to spend $1000 for a New England Firearms single shot, I would highly recommend.

 

[Sullivan_pbr]

At least they paid less than retail. I went to an auction where a keen eyed collector paid $225 + 10% bidder fee + transfer costs for a used Hi Point handgun. At the same auction, a lucky bidder "won" a S&W Sigma for only $450 + 10% + transfer.

 

[LarryC]

I used to attend estate auctions about 2 or 3 times a month. Did this for about 15 years (and collected guns for longer than that). I can't ever remember buying a gun at one of these auctions. I have seen $20 single shot 16 gage shotguns sell for $100. An old 32 cal Smith in poor shape worth at the most $75 sell for $200+, JC Higgens and other off brand single shot 22's go for over $100 (15 years ago). I have bid on a few war relics but they always went way over retail value. I think the people buying these are persons that do not own a gun or see one like they had years ago and "must have" mentality takes over. Wouldn't be surprised if a few gun dealers didn't have some in on consignment. Actually some of the guns on Gunbroker and Guns America are also way overpriced - don't know it they do sell though. I have seen $99 Nagents on those sites for $150, and $200 Romanian TTC's for $275. I'm sure local dealers will beat the prices. Occasionally a decent priced gun is available on these sites, but very rarely at Estate auctions.

 

[PGRChaplain]

The 'Auction Action" sucks them in and it's spend, spend spend. I've seen items go for over 3X what their worth. Then the buyer brags about what a Deal they got. No auctions for me.

 

[jtdet01]

Part of the auction mentality is due to the $25 increments that raise a $100 gun to $200 in the blink of the eye. $100, $125, $150, $175, $200. . . . and gets overpriced real quick.

 

[jasonville43]

I know, I get the auction "fever" people get but I think it is a"super fever" in regards to guns because at the same auction where everyone was paying at least 50% to much for guns I bid on and won an 18" craftsman chainsaw for $50 came with case and 2 extra chains, not a darn thing wrong with it!!

 

[remauto1187]

Ive found its alot easier to get a deal at an actual Gun Auction vs. Auction that has a handful of guns. I nabbed my CZ75 P01 for $320 (No Buy Prem nor Transfer fee). It was NIB with tritium nightsights and all factory papers. PM me if you wanna know where this auction is....next one is coming in Nov! They usually have 700-900 guns.

 

[jspy5]

I've only been to one auction ( a couple yrs ago ) specifically for firearms and my observation is similar to others, buyers almost always overpaid what prices would be outside of the auction arena.

 

[dubsac]

the deals are there to be had, but yes there are guns that go for way more then they are worth. for instance my father recently picked up an inland carbine dated at 1-44 with 90% parkerized finish for 685.00 where i bid on a g27 till it got above 400 and ended up at 525 then the buyer had to pay the 13.5 percent auction fee on top of that. sheesh

 

[Stang51d]

I went to a sherifs sale a while back, pretty much yard sale crap but they did have some of what I thought would make a good truck guns. There were several of them, Ruger, kinda reminded me of a 10/22 but in 40 cal and took the same mags as the side arms that they carry. I think they were the ones that the county cops had in the cars. Anyway, interesting guns but I figure them to be worth less then a 10/22. No range to them, not cheap to shoot, can't really hunt anything with them, having a cheap plastic stock,, they were not nice looking at all. I figure they would be ok for $100. Maybe $150 if I really fell for one. The cheapest they went for was $275 and up. Then after a while, I see them on Hoosier topics for something like $400. Pretty crazy.

 

[Gunaria]

Please stay home and don't attend the auctions.

The auctions I tend to stay away from are ones that have live internet bidding as well.

 

[Lammchop93]

There was an auction near me and mismatching serial Mosin's were going for $175. I am seriously thinking about buying a bunch for $110 and selling them there for profit.

 

[hdchaplain]

My experience with any type of auction is you can buy whatever you want as long as you want it bad enough. Any thing I ever bid on, I have a set price in my head before I ever bid and I stick to it. I bought one gun at a gun auction by sticking to my price, it may have been too much for some, but I wanted it and got it at my price. I will say I was bidding against an internet bidder which is wierd because you can't get a real feel if they are faltering. For most it's like the thrill of the hunt and price is no object.