Y'all let one slip!

[padams8888]

Hey all....put a smallish bid on this and forgot about it......seriously? Nobody else bid?

[MxwllBkr]

Nice stamped receiver....... I had been checking GB religiously from nov thru the holidays figured that would be the time people would be to busy....... found nothing 

[Justin Hell]

Nice score Pat!

That import stamp sure is neat...I haven't seen that before.

[padams8888]

Nice stamped receiver....... I had been checking GB religiously from nov thru the holidays figured that would be the time people would be to busy....... found nothing 

Ah hah....Gun Broker was not involved in this one......Proxibid!

[Phosphorus32]

Glad you got the stamped receiver, that's a nice one. 

$250 was my max bid on that one since that'd be $410-425 by the time I paid Sierra's bidder's premium, CC fee, extra $10 "just because" fee, over-priced shipping, local FFL fee, WA sales tax and picked it up from my dealer.

Sierra is my most disliked auction house. I know this wasn't C&R but they don't accept FFL-03s.

[Matchka]

Don't want to stray too far off topic - but, "bidders premium"?
Yikes!!! This is ridiculous. Is it flat rate or % of the winning bid amount? GB charges a couple of bucks a year!

[Greasemonkey]

It's not flat rate, usually they are like 15-20% of your total winning purchase.. if your what's called an absentee bidder, someone bids on your behalf.... add another 15-20% on to the total purchase.

[Phosphorus32]

Don't want to stray too far off topic - but, "bidders premium"?
Yikes!!! This is ridiculous. Is it flat rate or % of the winning bid amount? GB charges a couple of bucks a year!

It's good old capitalism; it's how the auction house makes money. Some charge both the consignor and the buyer a percentage (typically lower for the consignor), some only the buyer (consignor percentage depends on the auction house and the size/value of your collection). The bidders premium is a fixed percentage, so $300 bid with a 20% premium is $360, $500 bid is $600 etc.

If you're going to bid at these online auctions through Proxibid, iCollector or other online intermediary services that list offerings from physical auction houses, or directly with the auction house where offered, like Rock Island Auctions, then you need to know the ins and outs. Proxibid of course adds about 3% to make their money, so if you can bid directly with the auction house, and if you can pay cash (check, money order), you can save quite a bit of money, and/or afford to bid higher.  Understand the bidders premium percentage, and read through the "terms of sale" tab to see if there is a CC fee (which may or may not be part of the bidders premium), an "FFL fee", a "packaging fee" or any other such adder.

My approach is to determine the maximum I'm willing to pay for an item, then I subtract any flat fees like an FFL or packaging fee, then I divide by the sum of the bidders premium and CC percentage. For example, if there are no extraneous fees but the bidders premium includes the CC fee and is equal to 20%, and the max I'm willing to pay is $600, I divide that by 1.20 = $500 for my maximum bid. I always prepare a spread sheet using the bid increments found in the auction houses increment table and multiply them by the percentage to get the true "cost" of any "bid".

GunBroker has little overhead and relatively few employees, so their fees are relatively low. It is definitely not "a couple of bucks per year". Their fee is 6% of the value up to $250 and 3.5% of the value beyond $250. They don't run an onsite physical auction house, they don't handle the firearms, they don't package or ship the firearms, they are a no touch facilitator that merely provides an electronic forum for sales. They're more analogous to Proxibid, but their fees are actually higher relative to Proxibid. They are obviously lower than the fees of Proxibid plus the auction house.

[Greasemonkey]

It's good old capitalism; it's how the auction house makes money. Some charge both the consignor and the buyer a percentage (typically lower for the consignor), some only the buyer (consignor percentage depends on the auction house and the size/value of your collection). The bidders premium is a fixed percentage, so $300 bid with a 20% premium is $360, $500 bid is $600 etc.

Yup... auction houses make a killing...I went to a Barrett Jackson auto auction, once, WOW  that is a sick obscene amount of money flowing... it was something like a 8% seller's premium charged to the seller when sold and 10% bidder's premium from the buyer once the car sells. So a 200,000 or 300,000 dollar auto really gets up there quick. There is a $200 entry fee to be cleared to bid...and just to be a visitor, which I was, is $100, everyone, sellers, buyers,and visitors on the floor must have I.D. and cred's. Add concessions and memorabilia in..and absentee bidders fees, they also have people on the phone doing bidding and there is probably a charge for that service. So.. figure one of their average auctions is a few thousand, like around 10,000 or more paying participants, and one of their highest auction they moved around or just over $25 MILLION in autos..

Oh....and mis use that bidding paddle..... Sorry...no takesie backsie.. it is yours and you are held to it.

[Phosphorus32]

Oh....and mis use that bidding paddle..... Sorry...no takesie backsie.. it is yours and you are held to it.

Darn mosquitoes *swat* w-w-wait, no, I didn't mean to bid on that Ferrari 250 

[newchi]

I dont follow the US auctions, but a lot of the time up here, by the time you add the bidders premium in and shipping you could go to the store and buy the same thing off the shelf anyway

[Matchka]

Phos32, I've never sold on GB (I go thru three LGS, shows or f2f only), the "coupla bucks" is strictly my Buyer registration, I guess.
Excellent info on the in's-n-outs of Proxi, etc. I'm going to pass it along to some folks that want to sell, but ain't inclined to read the fine print, bless their hearts...

[Phosphorus32]

Phos32, I've never sold on GB (I go thru three LGS, shows or f2f only), the "coupla bucks" is strictly my Buyer registration, I guess.
Excellent info on the in's-n-outs of Proxi, etc. I'm going to pass it along to some folks that want to sell, but ain't inclined to read the fine print, bless their hearts...

You're welcome. It definitely pays to know what you're getting into.

[Matchka]

I've got some serious catching up to do on the intricate nuances of the SKS, no doubt. In the beginning, I was just looking for a functional rifle. Then it was numbers matching, then it was arsenal, then it was serno digits, then it was mil v commercial, then was screwed or ponned, flat blade or cruciform, then it was - you get the picture! 

[Greasemonkey]

I've got some serious catching up to do on the intricate nuances of the SKS, no doubt. In the beginning, I was just looking for a functional rifle. Then it was numbers matching, then it was arsenal, then it was serno digits, then it was mil v commercial, then was screwed or ponned, flat blade or cruciform, then it was - you get the picture! 

Poor guy..     displaying all the classic signs of addiction.

[Matchka]

Problem? I don't have a problem. 

[Greasemonkey]

Problem? I don't have a problem. 

You is a lyin' liar.....and thats the worst kind.

Also....denial is one of the early symptoms. 

[Matchka]

But, sir/ma'am - I can control it; I can stop anytime I want too! 

[Greasemonkey]

But, sir/ma'am - I can control it; I can stop anytime I want too! 

Oh....really.  put that money where them lying words come out and prove it.   

  I've been there...done that.

[Matchka]

Oops. My, um, my friend just called. Gotta go help him wash his cats!