Auction guns on EE

B

blacklittledog

Member
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Maybe I'm just being too sensitive because who can blame a guy for trying to earn a living, right... However, listen to where I'm coming from for a minute.

Firearms are deeply personal to me and hold a significance beyond a purely function item.

Black powder guns have been my primary hobby for the last year - which has been an 'enlightening' process about the way used firearms are passed around. Until recently, (the last 5 years or so) I understood a firearm as something one always bought new - but then I discovered the beauty and 'real' feel of a quality vintage gun. Naturally, my collection quickly became heavily oriented toward black powder rifles and shotguns.

Navigating this market means having experienced the full spectrum of value, from great bargains to steep overpayments. However, discovering and subsequently following the online auction scene for the last six months reveals a distinct pattern: guns frequently cross the auction block only to surface a few weeks later on the Equipment Exchange or ####### for double the hammer price. Watching pieces get bought up purely to flip feels a bit disingenuous, though it begs the question, "is this just an accepted part of the firearms scene I was previously unaware of?"

Here's a couple of the guns I've picked up - im hoping this fall I'll get my first harvest with a flintlock.
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20260828_223713336.jpg
    PXL_20260828_223713336.jpg
    209.7 KB · Views: 68
  • PXL_20260814_225905616.jpg
    PXL_20260814_225905616.jpg
    159.3 KB · Views: 68
  • PXL_20260808_034350590.LONG_EXPOSURE-01.jpg
    PXL_20260808_034350590.LONG_EXPOSURE-01.jpg
    173.7 KB · Views: 61
  • PXL_20260730_005557307.MP.jpg
    PXL_20260730_005557307.MP.jpg
    182.1 KB · Views: 57
  • PXL_20260701_032626775.jpg
    PXL_20260701_032626775.jpg
    236.6 KB · Views: 61
Buy low, sell high has been the mantra regarding almost any commodity. If I get a deal in an estate auction or street sale and if it's something that I'm not personally interested in keeping then I'll put it for resale. That said, I tend to price things at fair market value but if I get a fair offer I'll take it. I think my good fortune should be passed on and it's good karma.
 
blacklittledog said:
the question, "is this just an accepted part of the firearms scene I was previously unaware of?"
Click to expand...

I was, under a different user name, on CGN before it crashed and had to be reset (didn't come back right away after). Flipping guns has been happening here and elsewhere since before my first stint on CGN.

I did a period of rebuilding Norinco M305B platform rifles, maybe for 6 years, and got out of it before the laws changed. I bought and sold a lot of parts and sometimes complete rifles, which built a decent EE trader rating for me. That's when I realized that there are some people who's (primary?) hobby is flipping guns & equipment and then using the profits to buy gold and silver: fun for them and profits are tax free. Often they have auction house accounts, CGN account, G**P*** account, G** account, and anywhere else they can... along with always having a table(s) at the gun show(s).

LawrenceN said:
That said, I tend to price things at fair market value but if I get a fair offer I'll take it.
Click to expand...

I would guess, of the 'fair market value' or 'fair offers' I have received for anything I have sold, at least 90% went to a flipper where they moved that item(s) to another website or put it on thier gun show table at a steep mark-up.
 
Worst flipping experience I've had was with a friend. He would admire something I had, just had to have it, and I would sell it to him at "best buddy" price, then he would turn around an sell it at a high price. And then tell me how much he'd made. I quit dealing with him.
 
No matter what hobby you get into there will be flippers, i remember people getting bent out of shape from someone buying something and then parting it out to tripple or quadruple their money, and people would get upset, this particular person said something that made me realize its nothing to get upset about.
"Any one of you could have bought it and done the same"
 
I've bought guns on auction for a good deal and found when they arrived they didnt fit or swing as nicely as id hoped so I resell them at their current market value. I see no harm in that. I wouldnt screw over a friend though. In fact I generally loose when I sell to friends
I also watch auctions for other collections with the intent to move them. It helps fund my personal expenses of dealing with auction fees.
My last auction I bid $175 on various lots and my final bill was $308.75.
Vig and tax and shipping adds up
 
Flippers are everywhere, some are obvious about it others aren’t. What drives me nuts are the guys asking 3000 for a 30 year old Citori 20g beacause well the new ones cost that much. Some guys still living in the Covid boom years
 
As far as I can tell this is more or less what it is. I’ve even had people buy something lowballed off me on EE only to turn around and try to flip it. The key thing is I don’t think many people get nearly as much as they ask here and it just doesn’t show because you don’t see the final sale price posted. I’ve had plenty of nice pieces sit for weeks on weeks for what I considered a reasonable market price, and eventually settled. I’ve also had pieces sell far too quickly with what I thought was a lot of interest for what it was.

It’s hard to gauge a 120+ year old functioning piece of history for its final value, it’s really just how much someone is willing to pay for that particular piece.
 
Once you obtain an item it becomes yours to do with it as you please. The price one pays for an item does not create the 'new market value' for the item..market value is market value regardless of how the item was sourced.

The market will control whether an item sells or not. If you don't want to pay market value you probably dont want the item. If you want to pay less then market value..then attend an auction, buy in bulk, shop discount centres etc. If you go through the time and hassle of 'trying harder' to find an item at a lower price, you aren't compelled to pass that along to a stranger.

To provide an extreme example..if my father gives me his old deer rifle am I now expected to sell it for what i paid for it..that is nothing? Of course not, its worth its fair market value. The same goes for me laying out 5K to buy an estate collection..I am free to break up the collecetion and sell each for its fair market value.

I dont answer questions like 'why are you selling? Where did you get it? What did you pay for it?' because that is my business, not the buyer's. A seller should be as open and forthright as possible when describing condition, round count etc..but the details surrounding the aquisition of the firearm are irrelevant.

When I see an item listed and I want it, I should be willing to pay fair market value and Im entirely unconcerned about how the current owner came about being the current owner, or his motivation for selling it.
 
One company (whose name I won't mention) buys stuff for stupidly high prices at auctions and then adds them to their inventory priced at two to three times market value. An interesting "business model." It's hard enough for Canadian collectors to find interesting stuff up here without these commercial buyers skewing the market. On another note, another annoying trend is for American buyers to show up aggressively at Canadian auctions. Recently I've seen big-time US collectors grabbing interesting Lee-Enfields at Canadian auctions- not driving up the prices on the mundane types of course- just cherry-picking the special stuff. With the exchange rate they must laugh their guts out about the prices. I hope the export brokers are hitting them as hard as the ones we have to deal with if we're stupid enough to try buying at a US auction.

milsurpo+
 
What pissed me off was people scalping primers for 60$ a pack back in 2022.

Flippers are annoying whether it's real estate guns or anything else. If you don't intend to keep it, you should let the people who do intend to keep it bid on the auctions and not drive up the price.

Luckily the pretty high auction fees and shipping do deter flippers quite a bit.

Another argument that could be made is that the auctions determine market value.
 
I'm not sure I understand the gripe?
If someone buys a gun at an auction and successfully resells it at a higher price - is that not indicative of market value?
Are you complaining that you didn't get a bargain?
Or, that someone else had a keen eye and is able to make a buck?
By the same logic, should I sell you the collectable guns that I've had for decades at the same price I paid for them? Or, should I expect market value for them?
Its the capitalist system we live in - I wouldn't want the alternative

Edit;
I can see the value in the comment above about the US $$ skewing the values but, not much we can do about that is there?
 
Last edited:
This is almost as ludicrous as the guy complaining about people selling SKS stripper clips because "back in the day" he would throw his away.
I gusss his stupidity or lack of foresight should be on someone else's account. I guess the sellers should give them to him free and also pay for shipping?
 
I'm not trying to slight anyone with this gripe, and I understand how and why free markets work the way they do. If someone wants to treat firearms as a commodity then I have no moral objection against that.

We've all learned our lessons, and hopefully without too many hard knocks - and I'm at the point now where I can wait for good opportunities and avoid scalpers who have no real interest aside from making someone pay more because they were there first.

It's clear from the replies there is a diverse perspective, while the consensus appears to be that no one is forcing you to buy anything at a price you don't agree to.
 
The store that went into G4C old location called AAG stock their inventory almost entirely of auction items. It’s kinda lame everything at auction now gets bid into the stratosphere, but it’s fair game.
 
A Cooey 84 in 28ga is a rare gun; .410s will bring more than a 12ga. I am amazed at Cooey 39s going for $150 - $200.

Generally speaking, auction prices are high. Particularly when the commission and tax and taking delivery are added. If someone can buy at auction and flip at a profit, good for them. Generally speaking, the stuff I'm interested in goes for "that's not too bad" to "you've got to be kidding". "That was a real bargain" doesn't happen often.
 
Light Infantry said:
This is almost as ludicrous as the guy complaining about people selling SKS stripper clips because "back in the day" he would throw his away.
I gusss his stupidity or lack of foresight should be on someone else's account. I guess the sellers should give them to him free and also pay for shipping?
Click to expand...
The Jugaad is great with this one.

See for context:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom