Rock Island Auctions

[Savidio44]

Anyone have any experience with this company? Numerous Lugers on their auction site.

[Raygunz]

From my experience it's hard to find any good deals. The pictures basically show the gun you're bidding on and not much else. Read the description carefully. If the gun looks clean, but is rated below 80%, that means there are other issues with the gun. I truly believe they do their best in describing condition, you just have to remove your emotions from the equation.
If you do win, it helps to call them after your payment clears to see where you are in the shipping cue. After the second call you're miraculously the next on their list to ship that day...
As in most gun auctions: hope for the best, expect the worst.

[Edward Tinker]

I have had some issues with them, nothing horrible, but I bought a Simson, paid the 18% commission, paid for next day delivery and 10 days later received the gun...

Sent them some 1900's to sell in the Dec 2012 auction and they said they were worth $800-$900 (total BS, they were / are nice guns), so asked for them back. As of today, they have not been sent back...


Ed

[Dwight Gruber]

I have had two successful bids, everything went smoothly. The 18% commission is heinous. Don't use your credit card, send a (bank) check and you will get a discopunt on the commission.

Or do use your credit card, and take advantage of its payment protection in case there is a serious problem and you want to return the gun--returns are difficult, you bought it, you keep it. If at all possible go and examine the guns before the auction. One of the guns I won, I would not have bid on if I had seen it in advance. I managed to return it and get my money back, but only because the reasons and circumstances were ironclad.

Read the descriptions very carefully. If it seems that they are trying to weasel around the description of a gun's condition, they probably are.

Their suggested values are simply unreliable. It is clear that the people who price the guns and write the descriptions are not repositories of advanced Luger knowledge. The suggested values for the most part are absurdly low, and the guns generally end up going for much mopre than they are actually worth--remember the 18% commission!

All that being said, it is possible to score a good deal. As with any auction, determine how much you are willing to spend on a particular gun, and bid up to that amount. If it goes over by so much as a dollar, let it go and don't look back. There is always another Luger.

--Dwight

[Savidio44]

Thanks for all the responses. It's nice to hear actual events where someone has dealt with the company. The 18% add-on scared me a bit also. I will keep an eye on what they have as well as what is for sale elsewhere including Luger Forums. Thanks for your help.

[skeeter4206]

Check out simpsonltd.com. They got a pretty ggod collection of legers and luger supplies. I got aholster from them and no problems what so ever. But I browse there collection quite often.

[Savidio44]

I checked out Simpsonltd. I am going to have a Breathalyzer installed on my computer......... several glasses of wine and a credit card in my hand can get me in really big trouble there!

[ithacaartist]

I have won Lugers at RIAC. No great triumphs or heartbreaks. I was after shooters, so would lowball dozens of them. It's definitely the rule that their estimates are fancifully low for the realized prices; but there were enough exceptions to allow me to obtain a total of 5, over the course of three different auctions. All mine had issues. A broken safety lever spring is better than a ground-off stock lug, but I knew that stuff from the descriptions, bid as though I did NOT have X-ray vision, and now have some fairly decent iron to love.

Collectible Lugers, that would be a different story, unless I just went to the auction. Seeing the gun in hand is best, or with at least an examination period. For investment, it would take more than someone else's description and a handful of generic pics, IMO.

One is best off by bidding directly on the RIAC site and paying by check to keep that 3% credit card surcharge.

[Snaggletooth]

I was very disappointed in what I received from RIA. It was described as very good mechanically and with some reblueing and grip wear. It arrived with the front sight slid out if it's slot and the bore was in poor condition. The wear condition was accurate. I called RIA and they said they would get back to me, they never did. I sent it to Tom Heller for repair. Don't buy anything there unless you can inspect it in person. If you call them they will paint a flowery picture of your choose. It's a conflict of interest, they only want the highest price they can. Buyer beware. Also any web auction site with no place for buyer and seller to leave feedback should be avoided, they have something to hide.

[alvin]

Rock Island, Greg Martins (changed owner a few years earlier), and Julia are premium auctioneers of our era. From their listing, many "keepers" are listed, which are rare or at least scarce in regular market. Say, a collector has many guns collected over decades, he sells the collection at certain stage of his life. Selling many guns in a few months might not be an easy task. Those auction houses offer that service. Sounds good so far. But the trap for buyer is high price.

On some old catalogs, I saw some really nice items were sold by auctioneers like "Butterworth & Butterworth" (I could remember name wrong, but it's B.... & B....). Not in business anymore? Never see this name now...

[Snaggletooth]

I have noticed on all the Luger forums on this and other sites that as soon as someone places a negative review of there is am immediate positive review. It looks like someone is watching the forums and schilling for them. It's probably someone who works for Rock Island.

[DavidJayUden]

Snaggle:
Can you give specific links to the shill responses? Just breezing up the page all the positive reviews are by long-term posters here who I would trust with my money.
dju