Lugers at auction these days
 

I’m starting a new business and need to liquidate some of my collectable firearms. That’s one of the reasons I bought them during those times of bounty (well, the reason I used to justify the investment anyway). But now that I’m having to sell them off, I’m shocked at how much prices have fallen recently. Guns that I had $1,500 invested in are selling for about $850 or so. Quite depressing. I know that I can replace anything I’ve sold off when the business is successful, but I’m betting that prices will have quadrupled by then. Ugh!

I've seen some crazy prices realized on Lugers lately.

You could list them here and save the auction fees.

G2

i would, but for one thing. I have no idea what they’re worth these days and pricing them to people I like would be problematic. I need to get as much for them as I can and I don’t want to offend anyone or rip them off. I figure that the auction is the most fair way to deal with them.

Have you placed them in an auction yet and if so which one....

All eleven have been listed on GunBroker, seven have sold, one did not and three more are still being bid on. One of them ends in about fifteen minutes, another one in a little over an hour and another one will end around midnight.

Well, now you know what 7 of them are worth..and only had to pay 20% to find out! If I have something to sell I always list it on the Forums first at a price I can live with. Immediately I save on listing/selling fees and if it sells..it was priced right. If it doesn't then there is always Gunbroker ...Finding out what something is worth is pretty easy in the computer world.

Would that I had the luxury of that kind of time. We need an embroidery machine like yesterday, so I did what I had to. It’ll be worth it in the end. Except for the Hugh Clark Baby Luger. That one I’d rather not have let go but it was one of the most valuable, so it was first on the chopping block.

Poor Baby Luger didn't fare well.
Strange, since they have so many over-priced lugers that aren't getting any bids at all.

Must not be the right season.

I bought most of my collection from the members here.

Sad story..yes, hard to sell when needing immediate cash.

interesting information

Hard to put it to words
The Sale price on GB can have alot to do with the "Lister" , Description, and Pictures as much as the firearm itself

If the listing is not properly worded it may not atract the right bidder
Also if in images particular spots are missing or not entirely in focus


With the right Seller I have seen rediculous prices lattely enough that I have been pushed out of many items

On the other hand fantastic bargains can be had looking for Listings that are not worded just right or if the Seller is not known or even well known


If your planning on selling items a good idea would be to throw up a Post to let peole know to go look

I've seen the same thing. Many well known GB sellers do VERY well on their realized prices. I've been bid out of the park on a number of items.
However, I've also gotten some bargains because I search the listings for bad titles. Sometimes, I find underpriced guns that no one else is bidding on due to poor exposure because of a poorly titled or worded listing. I won't bid on a gun if the photos aren't clear and show a complete "walkaround" of the gun. (Once bitten, twice shy).

GB's is maddening, sometimes.

I've seen them use key words in the title like "byf", "KU", "9mm", "Krieghoff", "SS", and "LP.08" all for a .30 cal commercial. GB doesn't ever flag them or challenge the titles or gimmicks. And, they keep coming up because nobody bids on the guns.

Also, I've seen some lugers with outrageous minimum bid prices that time out without any bids. So, there is a upper limit in the market.

Some have going back into bidding after "seller didn't follow through", which I'm seeing more and more on GB.

RIA seems to be a little more careful about claims and listing details.

GB is an auction house and probably does not have anyone really familiar with Lugers
It is kind of hard to know everything about every gun

By number of listings they would spend time knowing the ins and outs of high volume firearms and super expensive ones - like shotguns.

They have no skin in the game unless they get a lot of complaints about misleading advertising.

That said, I have also benefitted from poor wording that attracts few bidders

Well, all of them have now sold. Being one of those listers who doesn’t know how to list a gun (apparently) my final sale prices were somewhere between the actual value all the way down to about a third of the value. Before selling them I estimated that they were, collectively, worth about $25,000, give or take. My take was about $13,000, or about half of my estimated value (based on what I paid originally). One of them didn’t sell because I put a reserve on it (a mismatched artillery with a repro stock and holster). My reserve was $2,000, which I was pretty sure wouldn’t be met, again, based on what sales had been up to that point. Still, I needed the money right now and couldn’t wait. I’ll be able to take this money and buy the machine I need for the new business and still have some money left over to rent a warehouse space to start manufacturing. We’ve already gotten a very nice order from Realtree that needs to be made!

In the end, the loss I’ve taken on the sales (as painful as some of them were, the Navy and the Baby to name just two) will be more than made up for in three to five years when we sell the company for many millions. Yes, it’s a thin consultation but it at least helps to bury the pain. And when I say pain, it’s not the pain of the loss of the potential realized profit from the sale of the guns, but the loss of some of the guns themselves. Several of them were the pride of my collection and will be very hard to replace.

Oddly, after all of them were sold, ten in all, I found one that somehow escaped being listed. I’ll put it in the classifieds here since the need for speed is gone. FWIW, it’s a 1917 DWM in fair condition. I’ll ask what I paid for it about twenty years ago.

If the thrill of the hunt can be brought to bear at the time your ship comes in, one could always start collecting again. Bummer about that Baby...I'd feel sentimental about it due to its connection to the forum, of course, but there are others to be sought and achieved! Good luck with the enterprise.

I wish you had listed them here.
I would much rather buy from a collector than hassle in an auction.

So what is the overfull feeling? The alternatives seem to sugggs! Maybe we can sell them to forgiven student loan free students! That Makes Me Sick!

A few years ago, we gave trillions to billionaires. They didn't buy them. Perhaps it will be better this time around.

College cost much closer to three postage stamps and a bag of potatoes than it does now back when I went.

When "buying" an education, the same caveat for all investments applies: "Past performance is not a guarantee of future results."

There seem to be two types of people. "I had to endure it, so I'll make sure you do, too." and "I made it, so I'll work to help ensure you can, too."

There is a HUGE difference in having to sell and not. One never wants to be forced into a corner. It's similar to a structure fire..you are not coming out whole. Unfortunately the US is experiencing some dire consequences of bad decisions/management that will play a part in all our lives. Selling in a stressed economy is not ideal. Seems it might be good for buyers and not for sellers. Like a falling stock market. Good time to buy, bad time to sell. Some will be in a position to sell at a price they feel is what they can live with or to heck with it. Bury me with it.