Gunsamerica auctions

[chaz12]

Has anyone bid in an auction format on Gunsamerica?

I had not used their site before but I saw a rifle that I was interested in so I thought I would try it. I did read the FAQ regarding auctions and bidding beforehand and I saw nothing out of the ordinary that would raise any red flags.

So it turns out I won the auction at an extremely low price for the gun in question. I was pleased. However, when I went thru their checkout process on the site, I found that the price listed for the auction was not the winning bid at the auction close, but the maximum bid that I input. Now I am confused. I have not heard from the seller and I have emailed GA but have not heard back from them either.

I re-read the FAQ and unless I no longer understand the english language it says that the winner would pay the final auction price, not his own maximum bid. Frankly, the rifle would be a good deal even at my maximum bid, but if something this unusual is their practice, then it needs to be clearly spelled out.

Any feedback from GA auction winners?

[madmo44mag]

Interesting!!!
I have been on the fence about doing business with them.
I guess this thread will put me on one side of the fence or the other.
Like the OP what gives???????

[pohill]

That is wrong. The winning bid should be what you pay, not your maximum bid. I've never heard of an auction doing that. Could it be a mistake on their part?
Depending on how bad you want the gun, I'd back out of it.

[Rigmarol]

I don't know either, just speculating; could it be possible that they use some sort of auto bid that will bid on your behalf up to your max bid? If so, there may have been last minute bidding going on that you automatically won.

Again, I don't know, just speculating.

Do we get to see this gun?

[Beagle333]

I agree with Pohill entirely. Something is fishy!

[Captchee]

i have never bought anything from gun broker but i watch it alot .
i seem to recall and i could be remembering wrong but do they not have that 15 minute rule . IE they allow people to enter bids up to 15 minutes after the actual auction closes . Supposedly this is to slow down those who try and scalp you buy waiting the last few seconds to bid . Kinda dumb really as all it does is let those folks bid you up to your highest bid when you should have gotten it at a lower bid .

Like I said , I could be wrong but I seem to recall something to that effect .
If that is the case then I could see where you got a notification of winning the auction at a lower bid then ended up with it being higher after that stupid 15 minute rule

[veamon]

Is it a penny auction?

[chaz12]

The rifle was an uberti 1873 in 44-40. Here is the final auction page showing the winning bid of $585. My maximum bid was $695, and frankly I never expected to win at that bid.

I have gotten the sellers contact info finally so I will call them tomorrow, apparently they are closed on Mondays.

Still haven't heard back from Gunsarmerica.

[Fisher]

I am wondering if there was a minimum selling price and your actual bid wasn't above that amount but your maximum bid was. I have never purchased anything from the gun auctions either. So I am only guessing at what might have caused the increase.

Jim

[pohill]

Starting price - $500
Winning bid - $585. That says it all. Unless there was a $110 shipping fee.

[Hellgate]

What I find aggravating is when they say "no reserve" then have the bidding start at full retail.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

FWIW. I think all those auction sites need closer scrutiny. Your not the first person I've heard about having a problem with a firearm purchase.

[Doc Hoy]

But have only watched on Gunsamerica.

I like the 15 minute rule. (True of Gunbroker) It avoids last second "sniping" that happens on the eVil bay. As long as you are watching the auction, you know exactly what is happening. That rule encourages bidders to enter a maximum bid they are comfortable with and just wait for the outcome.

I don't know if Gunsamerica has a field that notes how many bids have been placed. But it might be helpful to know how many bids had been placed when you first entered your bid and how many were placed when the auction ended.

If the number is the same, something went wrong or there is something I don't understand about bidding on Gunsamerica. (Which would not be surprising since there is plenty of stuff I don't understand.)

[Tejicano]

In November I bought a gun on Gunsamerica. Maybe there was something different in the transaction I did but to me it seemed like a straight purchase. I was not aware that there was any bidding.

Is this an option for the seller? - to sell it at their asking price without any bidding?

In my case for some reason the communications via the web site did not go smoothly so I googled the seller's information and contacted them directly. Since I had already communicated my intent to purchase via the web site I didn't see this as a problem.

The seller had no problems selling to me (via my FFL) via direct e-mail and phone calls.

If this was supposed to have been a bidding process and the price listed was what they were asking, well, the price was low enough that I was completely thrilled to get the item at that price.

[chaz12]

Gunsamerica offers both styles of buying - direct purchase and auction.

The majority of offerings on their site are direct purchase for a fixed price, but they have some auctions. This rifle happened to be an auction.

Chaz

[Captchee]

Doc .
The 15 minute rule is great for the seller . But frankly sucks pond water for the buyer .
Either its an auction or its not . When the gavel drops that’s the price you pay you don’t get to set around for 10 minutes thinking about if you really want to pay more because the winning bid at close was low enough that you would have paid more if you would have know what it closed at .
All that does is drive the cost up to max bids and again benefit’s the seller

As to sniping , ya its no fun when it happens . But in the case’s where I have had it happen to me , I had already placed my high bid . Having another 15 minutes after closing only traps those who get caught up in the bidding fever.
Seriously how many days does one need to think about how much they are willing to pay . For the most part your going to have 7 or more to think about it

[Doc Hoy]

I guess it depends on the approach.

If I am bidding on something at an auction site, I decide how much I am willing to pay. I set my bid at that level and let'er rip.

I used to do a lot of sniping (I am not proud to say) on eBay. But it got to be such an ethical dilemma for me that I stopped.

I agree with you that when others can't decide what something is worth, and then just hang around edging up to their bid limit when the auction should really be over, it makes it awful hard for others who know what they want to pay for the item right off the bat.

I generally don't watch the end of an auction for just that reason. The one exception is for those auctions on which I know I am the only bidder. If I suspect I am going to get the item I like to make the payment for it right away (if it is Paypal) or to get communication to the seller quickly.

[sltm1]

+1 Doc, know what you're willing to bid, post it and stick with it, thus avoiding "auction frenzy" and over paying

[rdmallory]

The only issue I have had with them is the few times I tried to buy something I would get an email back that is was sold in the store before the auction ended and they "forgot to remove it".

I have had much better luck with GunBroker or AuctionArms.

Doug