Rules of buying a gun at Auction

[Indyrich]

So I am looking at buying some shotguns, possibly hand gun at a couple different estate auctions. Does anyone know the procedure, and if anyone has been able to buy for a better deal at an estate sale vs. used at a gun shop? Thanks for any help/ suggestions!

 

[dukeboy_318]

So I am looking at buying some shotguns, possibly hand gun at a couple different estate auctions. Does anyone know the procedure, and if anyone has been able to buy for a better deal at an estate sale vs. used at a gun shop? Thanks for any help/ suggestions!

Some times it depends on the actual auction and who shows up, if the items have been appraised and have a reserve set, you may not get a big deal and depending on exactly what weapon it is, condition etc can drive it up, you just have to do your homework a head of time to avoid getting ripped off

 

[loony1]

It's a crap shoot, i feel estate auctions are better than gun auctions at a auction house (aka christys). Yes you will find alot of good deals, unfortunately the hot ones are mostly semi-autos, pistols, rifles, etc, so they usually go for retail. My dad really scores big on the old guns and then ends up making a little extra $ down the road.

 

[loony1]

oh yea, if it has a proxibid, check it the night before. If the guns are already high, it will only get worse the day of, so save yourself the drive sometimes.

 

[Indyrich]

Thanks for that insight, I will definitely check, but I don't recall seeing anything about a reserve in the listings of the auctions I was looking at. I will probably call them ahead to make sure.
I know I have bought other things at auctions that "fall through the cracks" I just wondered if anyone had a similar experiance buying firearms at an estate auction.

 

[mike4sigs]

In this area if a gun is advertised at an auction and if it is desireable it goes higher than normal. auction excitement gets to a lot of people!
Do your home work on the gun and auctioneer and dont forget that you may have to pay a transfer fee so make sure you add that onto your final price!

 

[Indyrich]

Who determines if there is a transfer fee? Is that dictated by the Auction company or the seller and will it be the same price (20-$35) as a normal transfer fee?

 

[boogieman]

I have bought a few guns at auctions and gotten some great deals, and seen stuff go way to high. I have never had a transfer fee, but some auctions do charge a buyers premium usually 10% of the final bid price. If you win the bid at $500 you have a $50 premium and $35 sales tax so you need $585 for that. Just find out if the auction house has the premiums ahead of time so you dont get burned. If anything just go to one and look at all the pretty guns and how some people get stupid around them. I go for the enjoyment as much as anything.

 

[Clay]

I actually have a few friends who are auctioneers.

This is for personal property auctions, but if the firearms are sold on the owners property, they can be transfered to the auction winner as if it was a FTF transaction.

If the firearms are removed from the owners property, to say an auction house, for the auction, then they must be transferred through an FFL.

 

[SSGSAD]

I bought several guns, at auction, in Shelbyville, and even tho, the dealer, made one phone call, for check, I paid a per gun charge...
don't remember how much, 10-20 $ per gun, I think...

 

[Dawall]

Attended a auction by Cookes in NWI. They paid the transfer fee and the 4473 was done at Westforth's. Sold prices varied but in all there were some deals.

 

[shootinghoosier]

Are there any good auctions coming up soon with guns for sale?

 

[planedriver]

just an observation.... I have never had any luck buying at an auction... seems that the nephew 5x removed who married Aunt Nellie's now dearly departed neighbors cousin wants the gun for sentimental reasons and pays 4x what it's worth.

 

[Indyrich]

That makes sense on the transfer fee only being applied if removed from the owners home.
I also thought about family bidding high at a personal property auction.

I would pass along the auctions I am looking at going to, but then you would be a competative bidder

 

[figley]

I have started making a cheat sheet of bid price vs. final price. It includes taxes, premium, txfer fees. I've bought many fewer guns at auctions since I started this process.

 

[Indyrich]

Would you say gun broker is a good place to get a current pulse on the used gun market?

 

[E'villeGunner]

My only experience with an auction where there were a LOT of guns was at an auction house and I ended up spending the whole day there just watching for the most part. Was looking to bid on some .22 rifles they had listed but they ALL went for $250 and up. So I just gave up and just watched till toward the end there was one .22 rifle left and I guess everyone that was there to bid for a .22 had theirs. I got it for $100 and its a Savage Model 6 Deluxe. looked like it came off the showroom floor.
Pretty much everything went for way too much in my opinion.
They did the transfer right there at the auction house.

 

[DarkRose]

Would you say gun broker is a good place to get a current pulse on the used gun market?

I'm not extremely well versed in current market values, but I've been on a lot of gun sites lately doing research, and they seem pretty in line with what I've found elsewhere. New guns are where the real variation seems to be. The gun I just got is listed on there anywhere between $510 and $600 currently (only one listed at the moment, $600) last week it was between $510 and $750... Lots of variation on the same model.

 

[Indyrich]

I guess homework, homework, homework.....which is why I thought I would use all of your guys experience as a reference!

 

[Farmerjon]

My experiences were pretty much what is listed here earlier. Family members couldn't decide who got what gun so they put it on the auction and let the family fight it out that way. Thus the gun brings more than actual value to regular joes like you and me. The other thing I have seen, a couple of the auctioneers that sell on the estate and do it basically as a FTF sale, well those guns bring people out of the woodwork that maybe can't buy a gun at a store for whatever reason, so they pay a little more for the opportunity. But an auction is a crapshoot, the one you don't attend will be where the guns bring fify bucks each and the one you attend will be thousands of dollars per gun. It is purely the "thrill of the hunt" so to speak.