doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Questions for Auction House

Amazing. Thanks for the reply.

Just goes to show that regardless the reputation of an auction house you might better take measurements with a grain of salt.

It worked out for you, but if it had been the other way 'round and the measurements had NOT been to my advantage I would be faced with the task of convincing them they should take it back, and cover the return shipping. Good luck with that.

Yet another caveat to buying anything sight unseen, unless you have an ironclad return guarantee.

many on line auction and fixed price sellers maintain a no return policy.

but for some, that policy is flexible and is sometimes not applied, particularly when the seller is clearly at fault...

if you purchase an item from an on line seller, and find the item to be defective, then notify that seller immediately of the problem and ask for their help in resolving the issue...

if you approach people in a reasonable and cordial manner, asking for their help. it makes it difficult for them to say no to your plea for their assistance...

most people want to do the right thing...

and if found at fault want to make it right...

I see many to not list the weight which I feel is important.

it may be that a guns weight is only important to you an I...

When I bought old gunning decoys at auctions, I paid a dealer/expert that I knew would be there to inspect the items I was interested in. If I were serious about buying a fine gun at auction, I would consider finding someone reputable that would be at the auction to check it out and pay them for their services. Gil

To the OP. All good points to ask, but Push it and ask they pull the gun and talk you through your questions with it in-hand, Rock Island Auction did do this for me to full accurate satisfaction (I bid-and-won-and all was true). See if they’ll pull the barrels and ring them, or if they can tell any rib is going, and do ask after it’s put together if they can pull the triggers to “ensure some function.” Consider this your condition report; next recite it/write them an email immediately to document.

Thanks for all the helpful advice.

With Poulin, Amoskeag, Holt and Rock Island all having auctions scheduled in the next six weeks or so, jumping in is tempting. That said, so far I've seen stuff that is interesting, but nothing I've gotten really excited about. I will say that the gun market seems kind of like the antique car market at the moment--there's a generational changing of the guard, so things are in flux. But I'm not a collector, much less an investor.

One question about Holt (and Rock Island). They seem to have a two track system--so there is an auction of premium lots, and then there are secondary auctions (sealed bid in Holt's case, more frequent in Rock Island's). How do consignments get allocated between the two, and from a bidder's perspective, is condition going to be less of an issue in the 'main' event? I noticed that for last summer Holt's sealed bid auction had an endless number of AyA's and various other Spanish makers imported into the UK starting around 1970, although from the pictures some of that merchandise seems a bit tired. The realized prices on that stuff was quite a bit less than you see here in the States. Made me wonder.

Amoskeag also has a silent auction. Generally its stuff that isn't worth putting in the regular auction either due to time or condition. Most auctions seem to average about 100 lots an hour, less at the beginning, maybe a bit more as the auction comes to end.

Rock Island will sometimes run a one day online only auction of things not worth putting in their multi day auctions.

Regarding the silent auctions, make sure to really read the description. None of these auction houses are going to lie, but they are going to accent the positives over the negatives.

I watched the Poulin auction that just finished. Managed to control myself and sit on my hands, but it was pretty interesting. There were some items that attracted some excitement and far exceeded the pre-auction estimates, but none of them were doubles or over/unders that you'd consider shooting. My sense was that about 60% of the lots I'd be interested in went for something under the low end of their ranges and about 40% went for something inside the range of the pre-auction estimate (but I might have those percentages reversed). An exceptionally fine 12 ga. Merkel 47E with 2008 German proof marks and represented as close to LNIB went for $1200, before the buyer's premium, which I consider pretty fair (and 80% of the low end of a $1500-2250 range).

There's an Amoskeag auction later in the month that I think I'll watch then in early December Holt's and Rock Island both have auctions scheduled. Maybe I'll throw in a bid in one of those. We'll see. I believe both houses are still adding lots at this point.