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January 24, 2009
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This gun has been gathering cobwebs on Gun Broker since sometime in July...maybe even June! The asking price started out somewhere around $1100, if I recall correctly...it went 4 or 5 rounds at that price, then dropped to $1000...then $950...& so on.
The last FOUR rounds, the asking price has been $855...which technically, is not too bad & I was getting some extremely sweaty palms just thinking about it, myself.
So on this, it's FIFTH round at $855, someone with equally sweaty palms & a festering case of
decided to place a bid on the 16th...
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=142905946
Apparently, that bid put blood in the water, because as I type this, some other guy placed 5 bids of his own, to try & out bid the first guy!
With 1.5 hours left to go, the high bid is currently at $970.00!!
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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What are the chances that first bid was a shill bid, placed by a friend of the seller just to kick things off?
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
Dans Club
May 17, 2009
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Makes me want to play with it but, wait, I have one of those.........no here. It is hard to figure out sometimes where the bidding will go and maybe the starting price IS the secret. Who knows. I'd just put a BIN price at what I want to get for it plain and simple. 
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January 24, 2009
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jaggman said: I'd just put a BIN price at what I want to get for it plain and simple.
The only problem with that is that if it's considered a high price for most folks, it will end up having to be relisted a dozen times. However, if you started the bidding at $1 & set your reserve price at what you really want from the gun, then the "auction mentality" might just carry the bidding into the price you want for the gun...sort of like a runaway train.
The other advantage to setting it up that way is that you'll get an idea what price the market will bear. If it's within $50 of your asking price, you can decide whether or not to drop your reserve by that much & end up with a sale. If the bidding won't get anywhere near your asking price, then you can stick it in the safe for another six months & try again later, when the market seems to be hotter.
July 5, 2009
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The "auction mentality" is quite simple to explain...it's driven by emotion! The problem is that emotion and logic are bitter enemies when it comes to making the right purchase decisions. If you think back to some of the emotional purchases that you've made, I'm sure that some have worked out while have not (i.e., you had some form of buyer's remorse).
I'm sure the more experienced auction participants have learned to tame their emotions when participating in auctions. I haven't been in the game that long so I'm continually battling my emotions when making purchase decisions. Despite my best efforts, I occasionally go into frenzy mode when the "blood hits the water"...the logic being I'll be darned if I'm going to let someone else purchase an item out from under me or I must have it! I'm slowly learning from the error of my ways, but DWAS often wins out!
My advice for less experienced auction participants is to calm your emotions before and during bidding and "follow your gut". Your "gut" more often than not will let you know if the purchase decision is right...just my thoughts on the subject.
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Range Officer
Range Officers
May 2, 2009
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My gut always says "crush the opposition!"
SHOOT
April 25, 2008
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Mine says...he who dies with the most toys, wins!
The Savantist
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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My Auction strategy is virtually always to autobid my max, if I get it fine, if not OK. VERY rarely will I move on my best bid, and never by very much. If I must have it, I auto bid accordingly. Once I ran up bids (on collectible die cast muscle cars) just because a guy made me cranky by coming in and bidding on everything in sight and blowing auctions right through the roof, and I wasn't the only one running him up. He paid almost double what things were going for a week earlier, and two weeks later.
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
February 20, 2008
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Always end the auctions on a Saturday night after
the bidders have had two eveings
with libations in one had and the mouse in the other....
 If you're going to drink, don't drive. Don't even putt.Â
Range Officers
February 25, 2009
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I guess that's my problem in reverse. As a kid I would go to cattle/horse, equipment, and house auctions with my Grandpa. I learned to set a value and stick to it. Gramps always use to say "if you spend too much today next week you won't have enough for something you really want".
I have let a few things slip by for very little over my price that now I wish I had gotten "auction mentality" and bid it up some. 
In the same respect I have gotten some great deals over the years.
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
~Thomas Jefferson~
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Range Officers
Dans Club
February 28, 2009
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My problem is that every time I "bid up some", someone else bids up more. Then if I really want it, I pay way more than I should.
-Mike
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January 24, 2009
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As a buyer, the secret to keeping the final price low is to wait until right at the end to place your bid. With GB & their 15 minute rule, it's a little harder to do successfully without allowing enough time for others to jump in on the action, but it's still better than early bidding.
If an auction is placed on a usual 7 day time period, those 6 days & 23.5 hours are basically your time to leisurely walk around & "kick the tires", ask questions, beg for more pics, etc. If you place a bid early, you're doing two things; 1) alerting others out there that there's interest in an item, who may have not given it attention otherwise...2) giving others plenty of opportunity to drive the cost up, as the days pass.
If you wait until the last few minutes to place one bid (your highest bid), chances are that there will be fewer people actually sitting there, watching the auction as the clock winds down...they may very well be at work, or at the movies, or whatever.
THAT is the best way to get the best deal on something, I've found.
Of course, it can always work against you too, if you happen to be the one who's not watching the clock wind down...it happens to me more often than I want to admit.
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Range Officer
Range Officers
May 2, 2009
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Sure... give away all my secrets
SHOOT
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January 24, 2009
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July 5, 2009
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There you go...now you've done it! Everyone's last minute bidding strategy will overload the GB servers and quite possibly cause a Brown Out or Black Out! 
January 22, 2008
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Sounds like a lot of us use the same strategy!
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January 24, 2009
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LOL! Well, it only makes sense, doesn't it?
And I'll also reaffirm that if I know someone else here has gotten first dibs on something I'm interested in, I'll gladly step aside until they post an "I'm out" if the bidding goes over what they're wanting to pay.
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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Charger Fan said:
And I'll also reaffirm that if I know someone else here has gotten first dibs on something I'm interested in, I'll gladly step aside until they post an "I'm out" if the bidding goes over what they're wanting to pay.
Pretty much where I am on this too. If it's sometning I'm really interested in, I'll PM my "DWF Brother" and talk about how far I'm willing to go in bidding, if he want's it more, I won't even bid.
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
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Dans Club
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November 17, 2008
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I just suffered the blow of waiting to the last minute to place a bid. I agree with the strategy, but a TC barrel I was planning on bidding on at the last minute got closed early because there were no bids to make the seller keep it listed. Not a big deal but the one down side of the last minute strategy. I guess that is my punishment for not hitting the BIN since it was reasonable, I just had hoped to come in a little cheaper. Oh well, win some lose some.
LB
Wisdom is merely the realization of how little one knows, therefore I am wise.
                                                              Â
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