MNGunTalk.com

So there was an auction on Gun Broker with a reserve. Folks were bidding, including myself, over a 10 day auction. The reserve never got met by the time the auction ended. The seller waited less than 5 minutes and reposted the firearm in a new auction, again with a reserve. The last high bidder on the previous auction quickly bid his same bid on the new auction. It sat at that price until the auction ended, again not meeting the reserve. And you guessed it the seller has reposted the firearm on a yet another new auction. I'm not sure what is crazier, the seller for try to sell the same gun for 30 days at a price that clearly no one is willing to pay or Gun Broker for not just having a starting bid price.

Could it be a situation where “ gee honey in trying to sell it”. Or the seller over paid for it to begin with and is trying to get out from under it. Of course not every one that goes to auction sites are up on current prices and the seller is hoping for that one motivated buyer.

Just because his bottom dollar is higher than the current crop of buyers why is that weird? So he waits. If there are enough other sellers of the same item for less he will wait a long time. If he has something rare and someone wants it he'll get his price. Why should he give it away for less than he wants? I've left stuff on CL for the better part of a year at my price and eventually I got a buyer. It's all about timing.

BB

The seller is obviously operating on a different time line than you. Since he’s in no rush, he can choose to wait as long as he feels necessary to try and get his price. It’s his private property and he’s free to determine the price that’s he’s comfortable in selling the item. It doesn’t matter if you think he’s reasonable or not. If you can’t meet his price, just move on and find the same item on gunbroker for much cheaper. Buy from them. Oh wait, you mean he’s the only one selling that make and model? Otherwise you’d have bought it from someone else. Supply and demand.

I agree with the OP on this one - set the minimum bid to your reserve and stop wasting people's time. What is the point to start the bidding at a penny when your reserve is $1000, for example?

gun_fan111v2 wrote:I agree with the OP on this one - set the minimum bid to your reserve and stop wasting people's time. What is the point to start the bidding at a penny when your reserve is $1000, for example?

Reserve price auctions are a fairly silly concept in general if the seller actually wants the item to sell. Either they'd have gotten that price or more anyway, or the reserve is higher than the value of the item, but eh, whatever, it's their item, their choice to sell it (or not) how they see fit.

The seller may also have the auction to relist itself if the reserve price isn't met, and the item isn't sold. Also, as others have stated, he knows what he wants for it and will hope someone wants it bad enough to bid above the reserve.

I too, think that it would simplify the issue if the seller put his/her minimum bid as his reserve, but maybe they are hoping people will get in the "heat of the bid" trying to out bid another bidder, and go over his reserve. Whenever I've bid on a reserve auction, I've bid up to my limit. If it goes over the reserve, great. If not, it's priced higher than I was willing to pay.

I don't understand what the problem is. Does Gunbroker have any rules against relisting?

In a free market both buyer and seller are free to agree to a fair price. If they don't agree they're free to move on.

Did you do a search on GB to see what other copies of the same gun sold for*? If the seller's price is high, wait for a more realistic seller. If your desired purchase price is too low, wait for a lower listing or reset your expected purchase price. Just like most auction sites, there are VERY few great deals/steals. I overpaid for the Browning I wanted on GB because most of the other copies were well used and I wanted one closer to NIB. I have not been disapointed.

A gun is an optional purchase, the seller is not price gouging for food or fuel, therefore I see no problem with their action in this case.



* click on advanced search then click on the tab for completed items

I've seen guns automatically relisted for over six months. Some people are ok with waiting until they get the price they want, even if it is a crazy number.

gun_fan111v2 wrote:I agree with the OP on this one - set the minimum bid to your reserve and stop wasting people's time. What is the point to start the bidding at a penny when your reserve is $1000, for example?

Exactly. For some reason, the seller thinks they are being clever. To me, it's a sign of a someone who is unwilling to be honest from the beginning. Not the sort of person I care to deal with.

There's a seller on here that does that same thing. I just move on from his listings because they're usually 25-40% over the used market.

But...he must find a sucker somewhere, because his listings disappear eventually.

Jest check the no reserve when searching. When I list, I don't do a reserve but put the starting price and a buy now, I relisted my ak multiple times before a dealer bought it so the price wasn't to bad. When searching I always check the no reserve.

When personal freedom is being abused, you have to move to limit it."
- Bill Clinton

Squib Joe wrote:I've seen guns automatically relisted for over six months. Some people are ok with waiting until they get the price they want, even if it is a crazy number.

If they eventually get the high price they wanted, it turns out not to be a crazy number from the seller's perspective.

MJY65 wrote:

gun_fan111v2 wrote:I agree with the OP on this one - set the minimum bid to your reserve and stop wasting people's time. What is the point to start the bidding at a penny when your reserve is $1000, for example?

Exactly. For some reason, the seller thinks they are being clever. To me, it's a sign of a someone who is unwilling to be honest from the beginning. Not the sort of person I care to deal with.

It's all psychological. Been this way with eBay auctions from the beginning. If the opening bid price is tiny then people will feel OK bidding something and taking a chance. That will sometimes hook them and they will feel a need to keep bidding to stay on top even as the price approaches the reserve or going rate for the item. If the price started out 'high' - meaning at the reserve price - then a lot of people will pass by, looking for a deal. The hook is a real way to get the emotional buy-in needed to overcome aversion to the actual price. Now I'm not saying the seller will end up with a higher final price than the going rate, but it is likely they end up with more bidders than a high opening bid auction would. obviously nothing is perfect and if the seller's reserve is high then they wait. Nothing wrong with that either.

Frankly, I avoid almost every bid-based listing (on GB or eBay or wherever) if there are buy-it-now choices available. I don't have the patience for it and I don't want to get hooked in and pay more than I should. So I use buy-it-now. Obviously only when I feel the price is towards the bottom of the current going rate. Fortunately I am OK with not buying a lot of things since these are usually 'nice to have' things, not necessities.

BB