The pain of false hope

I

Independent George

New member
Have you ever caught the beginning of a no-reserve Gunbroker auction, knowing with absolute certainty that there's no way the price is going to stay where it is, but still end up hoping against hope that it will anyway?

There's a Model 19 with a near-perfect finish (glossy blue) on it. And while I know that there's no way it ends at less than $700, the current bid of $171 is just mocking me.

I really want somebody to bid it up so I can stop salivating already.
 
I used to put in super low-ball bids all the time hoping to get an amazing deal through a no reserve auction. When I was 22 and making $9 an hour and going to school I figured "why not?"

Never happened for me however.

There seem to be lots of revolvers listed in this way especially. I remember back in 2011 around the time my daughter was born there was a no reserve auction on a Ruger security six that sat at like $75 for 3-4 days. I finally bid $80 on it but before the auction ended it went for like $600, which was more than a comparable gun at my local cabelas...
 
I got a new in box 27-2 for $321. A nice 4" M57 for $325 and a well used 14-3 for $100. Sometimes they go cheap but you won't know if you don't bid.
 
Yep. Been there. Best way I've learned to deal with it is simply not to deal with it.

I truly believe there are too many people that get friends to bid up there merchandise. These guns go for way higher than new retail. And, if you look at gun broker, there is enough of that going on to make me believe it is a real occurrence.

I once bid on a model 700 ADL, 30/06. It had been abused. However, the bore was supposed to be good. I figured I'd build me a foul weather rig outta it. So I placed a very nice bid on the gun early on. It far surpassed the starting bid. But, I felt it was a good indication showing I had intentions of buying it. Competition started by oneguy on day two. He kept testing the waters but, my bid was never beaten.

Over the course of the next 5 days, 9 bids were placed testing the water but, none had beat my max. It was so dang high, my buddy who knew I was looking for such a project, told me about the gun in general conversation during that time, mentioning the absurdity of the price versus the condition.
In the end, the dang gun went higher than wood stocked BDL's in good shape. Not a doubt in my mind the Bids were placed to get the top dollar out of the gun. When you see this and the badgering bidder has bought a few guns only, I tend to equate that to a bud running up the bid for the owner. Bid late. Anything else is just wasting your time and allowing a person to do this. God Bless
 
Well, as expected, the Model 19 has eclipsed $700 with a 10 days left in the auction, and I'm relieved. I was never in the running. I predict a final sale price of $850 - I like guessing at the final price, just to see if I'm valuing the guns properly. I've gotten pretty good at it, so I feel pretty comfortable with my general opinion that most sellers overvalue their guns by about 20%.

It also makes me feel better about the auctions I've both won and lost on - I got good prices on the ones I've won, was right not to go higher when it didn't clear the reserve, and I was never seriously in the running on the ones I lost.

I always bid late just to keep my options open in case something else shows up. There are still some great deals out there, but it's always better to walk away if you've the least doubt. I only wish I'd learned this lesson before buying my condo, but such is life.
 
it's always better to walk away if you've the least doubt. I only wish I'd learned this lesson before buying my condo, but such is life.
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Ah, the cold hard truth of experience. Something tells me the condo closed a little bit north of $850. ;)
 
If the pictures are good, you're almost never going to catch a "sleeper" that others are afraid to buy. Once in a while a misspelling will also prevent wide visibility.
 
Independent --

I've seen others do this as well, but why did you post here about the auction when you're bidding on the gun? The thread has over 400 views. Maybe, just maybe, a couple of the viewers saw your post and scurried over to Gunbroker and bid -- probably not but you never know.

It's a lot like telling everyone about your favorite fishing hole. Before long, it's someone else's favorite fishing hole -- until the fish are gone. :)
 
You got me. I was hoping somebody would outbid me so that I could stop finally stop checking up on the auction every hour... which rapidly turned into every 15 minutes. :)

I've won and lost (mostly lost) plenty of auctions before, but was never this emotionally invested before. My other guns are primarily tools; this would have been my first for the collection.

It's like dating a girl WAY out of your league; after a while, you start dreading the inevitable more than you enjoy the ride.
 
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In January there was a model 10-7 about to end and the bid was $223. I bid $230 for fun and won it for $228 + $20 shipping. The gun is in great shape, although it doesn't have the origanal grips. That gun would sell for $400 in a local gun shop.
 
I have picked up a few good additions here and there. Its hard not to get on the site just to "look around".:)
 
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