What a deal !
You did great !

Wow, great pics of a great pistol
Thanks for sharing them

Henry- beautiful pics of a beautiful Navy! Thanks for sharing. Bill

there is a serious difference in this transaction price and the value of the gun.....both parties were grossly misinformed about the item....or there is some question of the trail of paperwork in the past...you need a certified value established on this weapon for your insurance and piece of mind.....i am all for "good deals" but am concerned someone was "had".

i sleep good at night knowing that in a fair bargain both sides were a little dissatisfied when the deal closed.......

Having re-read the beginning part, it's a case of two uninformed parties that made a deal. The surprising disparity was apparently discovered here, after the gun was bought, and the new owner became a new member after the purchase.

I know what you mean, though. The major beneficiary of the transaction seems to be an appropriate steward of history and respectful of what he now has. At least this is better than its having been bought by one of those heinous "flippers," who doesn't give a damn about the gun--just the $, and then sold to someone with more money than appreciation or good intent.

I bought a bunch of parts for Erma toggle pistols. I was on a budget, so I counter-offered a hundred dollars less than the asking price, and the seller accepted. Not too long after, I had sold enough of the parts that I was able to send the guy a PayPal to cover the amount I'd bargained him down. He was happy with my gesture, and I was happier, too.

It wasn't a private party type transaction. It was an estate type auction. So I don't feel I got one over on them plus I went by the limited pictures they provided, so I also could have ended up with a skunk. There was no guarantee it was functional.

I figured what I paid would be the price of a good shooter and that's what I wanted. I can sleep good tonight knowing I got a great pistol and they got what they wanted...cash.

As far as being uninformed, I wouldn't say that exactly. I did do some research prior, but I am new to the mil-surp/C&R world. But there is only so much you can research from half dozen low def pictures.

I have bought a item or two where I later found out it was a super deal and made out.
I have also bought and lost money on several transactions.

On a few forums I have seen some people talking about taking advantage of others and proud of it - that I don't understand.

Sorry, Henry, that my conjecture was so far from accurate. Under the circumstances you've related, I'd be crowing about what turned out to be such a sleeper. It's my impression that auction houses do the best they can to research and expose what they have, in order to get the most bucks for whatever bang. But they can't know everything about everything, and relative windfalls occur. I congratulate your wonderful fortune at acquiring such a nice Navy...and the only sting to the deal is that you still need to buy a shooter!

I'm actually kicking myself for not getting more. They had another Imperial Navy, Artillery and a dozen other P08s, that went for around the same price I paid. They also had around 5 C96s, that I tried to bid on as well. So, I'm not the only one that got a great deal on a Luger.

I would have probably bought more but with California laws changing next year I had to budget my cash flow on a few modern semi autos rifles before the new laws take affect.