RIA this weekend
 

I decided to phone bid live this time because everything I've ever won from RIA was magically bid up to exactly my highest limit.

So I did the live bidding for Lugers and other stuff at auction this weekend. It was interesting to hear how fast the bidding would go up. I couldn't seem to get anything, even bidding over what I knew was a fair price.

Some guy in the back was buying everything German - especially Lugers. I mean no matter how high the bidding went, he would not let up on every Luger until he won. He didn't seem to care about the price, he just would not let anyone else win. He got some really good deals, I think because everyone else got sick of bidding (95% Swiss 1906 for $1500), but a lot of the time he also paid way too much. 96-97% 1914 I was bidding on went for $2300 - no way it was worth that.

I figure he must have spent between 1-2 million dollars! He probably inherited a lot of money or won the lottery. It was Unbelievable.

- Geo

Moderator - should you move this to "Gun Shows"? I think I put it in the wrong forum.

Is that one guy with name "o***e" spent millions on everything German?

If that's the one, then that's not one person, that's a group -- "on site", abbreviated to "o***e".

I love Interarms Mauser 9mm. Need one. Putting $1000 on it, but looks like they bypassed the $400-$950 bidding process, started from my $1000 directly, asking others to beat me. So, I had no chance at all.

Probably, they had other bids on $950. So it started at $1000. No surprise either. It's an easy item, no win, then no win.

The person that wins is RIA

Just interested, If you win have much is added on for fees and costs? Eric

1 - Well, the buyer's premium is 15%.

2 - Then if you use a credit card to pay, there is a 2-1/2% surcharge. (That amount used to be correct unless they have changed it in the last year or so.)

3 - Then if you use a proxy site bidding service, there is a 2-1/2% surcharge. (That amount used to be correct unless they have changed it in the last year or so.)

4 - Then there is shipping and handling.

In essence, all charges incurred are passed thru to the buyer.

And I thought being a lawyer was a good deal! Tks Charlie~~~

Also, in addition to what the buyer pays, the seller pays up to a 22% commission (depending on what is negotiated).


Add the two together.

The above is one of the reasons I decided not to bid. I just couldn't bring myself to pay out the extra fees, call me a pessimist, just can't do it.

Are there comparable services out there?

Geo,
This happened to me at a local auction where I put in a write in bid and decided to go to the auction, only to watch two auction employees shill bid up to my high bid. I could have won this item for $150 less. To say the least, I was not happy.

Well, if it is something I "really" want bad, then I will do it.

But with my past experiences with them, I then have Kroh do the bidding for me and pay him a fee. The fee is well worth it, considering how I was stuck by RIA a couple of times in the past.

The major problem with auction house is ..... it's hard to return item with uninformed problem back to them. I returned some items back to sellers in the past, all sellers were cooperative, except auction house. The loss was much much more than shipping cost.

I wouldn't say it's hard to return an item - I would say it is impossible.
Auctions are auctions - I would never expect to be able to return anything. That's why I get the auction house on the phone with gun in hand and ask them questions about it. And after all that, you still have to bid low so you don't get ripped off from some hidden problem they missed.

The fee is 15% as long as you pay cash or check. All the other fees are waived. I always bid low with the 15% fee in mind too.

There is a newer auction now "Carol Watson's Orange Coast Auction". They only charge 12%
(did I just say ONLY?).

Yes, it was the name "o***e". If that means "on site", then I may have misunderstood. But when I was bidding on Friday, I was on the phone with a live agent. Every time I lost one, she told me it was the same guy in the back who won. Maybe I just had a run of bad experience with wanting the same stuff as this guy. Anyway the whole thing was an eye-opener.

- Geo

That's the biggest problem. Auction house sells thousands of guns each time. It's impossible for them to pay attention to everything. I save my $$ for many months to buy a nice gun of a few grands, but gun like that is nothing for them.... they did not even bother to disassemble it to check for correctness. For exterior finish, I bet they did not pay attention to many details on everything. No time to do that. Sold as is. If they grant buyer 3-day inspection, world will be different. I heard people successfully returned a rare bolt action rifle back. But that must be very exceptional case.

Viewing from another angle -- if an individual lists a gun asking a few thousand, posting one or two pictures in ad, and long text describing gun's standard features, will it sell? Most likely not. But for auction house, that's business as usual.

I have a friend who has been able to return a couple of items to RIA - but - he is a very good customer. But for the rest of the 99.99 percent it is impossible.

I returned a gun to RIA once. It took a several-page forensic analysis with photos and a personal resume which could not be ignored.

--Dwight

Maybe he was a russian tycoon :-)

I've never been to an auction.
In any case to me Lugers are items that first of all "must be loved" before you buy them. When I fall in love for a new Luger I seem to transform myself in some sort of "tormented soul" and the initial "infatuation" is generally followed by:

b) hundred of doubts about the item/price asked for it
c) wondering if it is a good idea to get it for the collection

So generally it takes a pretty long time before I decide to buy it.
Probably just I'm not made for auctions.

Obviously not. In this mood, even join an auction, most likely you won't win anything. One strategy is putting a group of low bids (I mean low, much lower than their low estimate) on the items that you like, if no one wants it, then you win. if not win, normal. I tried that strategy, but be honest, I won nothing.

There are some items do not sell and ask for offering.... that's another chance to give an offer. Auction house will pass that to the owner. So far, I got nothing this way either.

The only way to win is to be competitive. But that's the cost. If it's a great gun, more dollars than I planned to pay and I paid it, I can accept that, a few times in life we are crazy, fine. Worst thing is paying high price for a wrong gun.... and cannot return it :(

I wanted to audit this auction, but was unable... :(

By my last count, 249 Lugers were offered...I copied some of the more interesting ones...

There were a couple of Swiss ones that went real cheap. I missed them but I'm not really into Swiss Lugers. Although that 1900 with long barrel is very interesting!