I just -LOVE- Gunbroker!

S

Sevens

New member
I have an absolute blast digging through listings and dreaming and occasionally bidding and even more rarely winning, and I have had fantastic purchases on Gunbroker and I could list more things about Gunbroker that I really love... but...

Holy crap, there are no proper words in the language and allowed on these pages to succinctly describe how I feel about hidden reserve auctions.:eek::(

For simplicity, I will say that I hate them with the seething white-hot intensity of a thousand suns.

What does a hidden reserve do?!
Wastes time. Gets people to click on junk auctions where they otherwise would not spend HALF A MOMENT if they knew your bottom price. Waste of time and bandwidth. The struggle is real.

Of course absolutely EVERY seller should be able to set his bottom price! I would never suggest nor even hint that anyone should feel compelled to risk selling any item under what they wish. No hassle with that, none - zero. This is absolutely easy... just start the opening bid at your floor.

I have never once understood the hidden reserve, I am sure I never will. I can't really "get" any contrary argument but I'll keep my mind open because as sure as this is TFL Forums... contrary opinions are likely on their way! ;)

Down with reserves!
Make America "no reserve!" again...! :D
 
I don't know that its still relevant. It was a feature of eBay when they started up and were known as primarily an auction sight, and not necessarily a place to buy cheap Chinese garbage for buy it now. EBay even had a commercial where a guy gleefully watched a bidding war on an item he was selling.

Alot of other auction sites copied the eBay format. But the reserve pricing has no use unless you hope to capitalize on the excitement of bidding in an auction. The internet isn't new anymore, and online auctions aren't exciting, so like you I think its pointless these days.
 
I can think of a couple of auctions I have won that I think the seller was more than a little disappointed. Some times it just happens that nobody happens to see the listing. From the sellers point of view a zero or low starting bid is apt to get someone's attention. Since I've only bought and never sold, I can't complain but I understand it from the sellers point of view.
 
its done for sellers to get a free appraisal on their wares without the fear of selling too low.
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A very astute observation. Explains a lot.

I suspect the hidden reserve folk are the same folk that drive slowly in the passing lane.
 
I like GB a lot as well, but can't say I found any superb deals. Usually just guns I have a hard time finding locally. By the time pay shipping and dealer xfer fees I'm lucky to save $20. I have had 1 or 2 good deals but that's about it. I do go on it daily and there is always some level of risk. I've had better deals with new guns through cdnn or locally, used guns you mare better off on GB.
 
What do you mean by "hidden" reserve? All gun broker auctions that I am aware of that have a reserve state "Reserve". Are you saying the amount of the reserve is hidden or the fact there is a reserve is hidden? I'm trying to understand if Gunbroker has changed something here.
 
I was with gunbroker so far back, when it was known as 'for the hunt'

early on the concept was ok, but they got greedy and focused on dealers and pushed the little guy aside.

its become gunbroken dot com lately. you have to really look hard for a deal and not many private sellers are willing to gamble a good gun away cheap in an auction.

I left in 2011.
 
you have to really look hard for a deal
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Yep, and that's a good thing! :) FWIW, I had been looking for an American Derringer 25acp pen gun for years. Bid on many on Gunbroker over the years. Finally found one no one was bidding on and got it (with case) for just over $500. Sounds like a lot for a silly single-shot novelty....but, it's not!

The bigger problem is that Gunbroker did something to their search filter and too much "junk" pops up. For example, I can search Hi-Tec and end up getting lots of Keltec stuff; or I can search on USAS-12 and end up with over 1300 unrelated items. Annoying, but sometimes helpful to me in finding that hidden jem.
 
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I spend a lot of time on GunBroker, looking mostly for collectible stuff, that is not generally available locally, or seldom seen. I am not looking for "deals" :).
Current production guns, I buy locally. Give the local guy the business.

Many individuals get upset over reserve auctions. Not sure exactly why. If there is something I'm interested in, I throw in my maximum bid, and if it doesn't meet the reserve, c'est la vie, I just move on. There will be another one.

I've purchased a lot of items on GB that I would never own, if I had to buy locally, or traveling around to gun shows in the region. On the other hand, I've been burned a couple times. There ARE unscrupulous sellers on GB, not many probably, but they are out there.

There are also shill bidders, who seem to always know just where the reserve is on an item, and are careful not to go over the reserve! :D I've come to recognize some of these over the years.

Then there are the bottom feeders, who like to throw in a low bid on a no reserve auction, hoping no one else will notice, and they can steal something. I always get a laugh at these guys, some of whom I recognize as well. As soon as the real bidding starts, they are nowhere to be found.

I have never sold anything on GB, but if I did, it would be a no reserve auction, with my opening bid set at the lowest price I would accept. Forget that penny auction stuff!

My opinions only! :D
 
If you are a serious customer, who finds an item that you wish to bid on, an unknown reserve amount should not cause you concern.

Just set your bid at the maximum you are willing to pay for that item. If the "Reserve Met" indicator does not come up, then you know that the reserve is beyond the price you are willing to play and you may take your money elsewhere.

When people fret about an item having a reserve, it frequently means they want the opportunity to get the item for much less than it is worth. In all, it seems people want to sell their stuff for more than it is worth and at the same time buy things for less than they are worth.

A "Fair Price" = The price of an item where a willing seller sells to a willing buyer.
 
If you are a serious customer, who finds an item that you wish to bid on, an unknown reserve amount should not cause you concern.
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It is not a "cause of concern." I'm not worried about nefarious activity.

It's a simple waste of time. It truly is no more complicated than that.

When you use the search engine to return results, you end up with a very long list... obviously, depending on your search terms and your goals. And while it's certainly true that you can also filter out all auctions with a reserve, you still have no idea where the seller is at.

Why the mystery?
If the seller simply will not take less than $500, that is 100% understandable. Why the complete waste of time in not letting anyone know where that floor is?

Open the auction at $500.
What does the seller gain by running a 7-day auction with a $1 open and a hidden $500 reserve? Auction ends at $235 and owner makes no sale and any/every interested potential bidder has no idea whatsoever the floor is. All that anyone knows for sure is that $235 isn't it.

Annoying from the get-go but after the same item has been listed for 4 months it begins to get downright stupid. Of course I can post specific examples if needed.
 
I almost always pass over auctions with reserves now. I used to try bidding on them to see if they are in my price range, but I found that they are nearly always set at more than the same gun is going for in another auction.
 
I have no problem with reserves on-line auctions. I hate it when live auction sites con you into driving there to find out an item or items have an unannounced reserve.

Although, I do wish on-line sellers would just start the auction price at the minimum they will accept. I guess they are looking for a sucker to get caught up in the bidding frenzy.
 
I agree with the original poster. What a waste of time, and then you keep getting emails from Gunbroker about it until it is sold. I have pretty much come to the conclusion that the gun is overpriced or it would not have the reserve. I see top collector guns go up all the time without a reserve, and they rarely go for less than the current market is getting. I really don't care what you paid for it, or what someone else got for his. If you are afraid to auction it, you are on the wrong site. I had a couple gun auctions (Live bid) when I moved and did OK, but it could have gone the other way. It is the chance you take. It is an auction, not a gun shop.
 
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/616925292
This pistol has been re-listed for more than three months. I am quite familiar with the S&W Model 52 market on Gunbroker, I will make no statement as to the "value" or "suggested market price" of this particular pistol -- it has absolutely no bearing on the larger point.

Maybe one day it will sell. No idea and genuinely care not at all. But there it appears, every time I check on the most active S&W Model 52 trading market on the planet. It appears to be "buyable" but not a damn soul has any idea at what price.
 
I look only at No Reserve listings and sometimes I refine the search to limit it to Georgia dealers close enough to reach in a short car ride.

The No Reserve listings I bother with usually have a dealer's starting bid which tells me at least where he's coming from--the Land of Reasonable or the Land of Silly.
 
Having a bottom line price is fine and dandy, we've all sold stuff and can understand. But to the OPs point Im with him. Wasting peoples time is just stupid. That is the biggest reason I dont even bother with GB anymore. And if a seller does the hidden reserve I dont peruse their items ever again.
 
I love Gunbroker...almost all of my guns over the last 10yrs have come from there. And, if I buy a gun, it is a at steal of a price...I ain't gonna pay market price for one. Sometimes, I may have to wait a little while, but it is normally not more than a week before I will find one at my price. I have also had good luck making offers on guns...tell the seller what price I will pay for the gun, delivered to my dealer...if it doesn't sell on the auction. I have been surprised at how many will accept the offer if it does not sell by auction end.
 
Reserve is makng GunBroker irrelevant. When you look up "Glock 19" and most have a $650 reserve, why bother. Since 80% of gunbroker has a reserve, why bother!
 
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