Estate Auction question

[checkmate19]

Guys, a friends estate will be auctioned off soon , cars military trucks, and some weapons. The auction takes 20% and charges the buyer 10%. I have never been to one and wonder how prices are? Do you guys think the weapons will bring big money or not? As an example , say a new in the box Glock 19, where I live it would sell for 475 to 500, so do you think the high bid will be 350 ,400 , or 500. Thanks for any advice. The trucks run a few years ago but will be sold as is . Any insight in to auctions will give me an idea. thanks

[jak]

That auction sounds like one that will be widely advertized. That means all the people that
are interested in those items will be there. Think of ridiculous bids on e-bay and gunbroker.
It will be the same thing, only you will be seeing it live.
There will be items that will be bargains too. Just don't get caught up in the bidding
frenzy. If you see an item you want, set a limit on how much you want to bid and stick to it.
Be sure to calculate in the 10% fee and sales tax too.

[KnickKnack]

What jak said...

[musketjon]

One NEVER knows nor can predict how the prices will fall. I've seen both sides of the spectrum. Sometimes people bid high and sometimes they don't. It just depends on how badly someone doesn't want someone else to get something.
Jon

[KnickKnack]

There is one trick that I've found effective at live auctions sometimes. I preview all the items and decide what, if anything, I'm going to bid on, then set a maximum that I'll go to. As the auction progresses and the items come up, I wait to see if anything that I wanted is still left toward the end, when the crowd starts to thin. If there is, I'll wait a bit and then ask one of the staff to bring it up, telling him what my opening bid is. Sometimes no one else will bid it up and I can snag it for my opener. But watch out for shill bidders, who bid on the best items just to run up the price. If one of them starts bidding against you, drop out. You won't get a bargain.

[LEAD POISON]

But watch out for shill bidders, who bid on the best items just to run up the price. If one of them starts bidding against you, drop out. You won't get a bargain.

Seen that more than once. I don't go to them any more.

[musketjon]

Good advice on the shill bidders. I lost out on an IHC gapper 4-5years ago due to shill bidding. The hammer was ready to fall at $1500 and I thought I had it sewed up and just before the hammer fell I got out-bid. If I remember correctly it went for just shy of $2500.
Jon

[checkmate19]

Thanks guys all good advice. This is an auction of a friends estate and I may bid on a few things but also hope that the weapons sell for fair value. There are 10 or more of the lever action Marlins and Winchesters in like new condition with no boxes. We will hope for the best , just seems it will be like a fire sale as there is son much stuff. Thanks

[Old Guard]

Thanks guys all good advice. This is an auction of a friends estate and I may bid on a few things but also hope that the weapons sell for fair value. There are 10 or more of the lever action Marlins and Winchesters in like new condition with no boxes. We will hope for the best , just seems it will be like a fire sale as there is son much stuff. Thanks

Good luck on your bids..I like to go to them too[Auctions and Estate sales} But when on the internet too, I never can match their high prices..Maybe it is because I can see exactly what is for sale??

[Old Guard]

But watch out for shill bidders, who bid on the best items just to run up the price. If one of them starts bidding against you, drop out. You won't get a bargain.

Seen that more than once. I don't go to them any more.

I still go, but The shill bidders still come too...sometimes they are very obvious...

[checkmate19]

Who puts in shill bidders? Its my friends auction and we have none nor plan to have any in place, do the auction houses do these kinds of things? If I bid will I be considered one, I I just hope things go for a fair price, I find it hard to think they will as I would not bid on most of it as its as with hardly any inspection. The SS is sweet and runs great last I rode in it. Does it still? I would not want to find out it doesnt after paying big money. I rode in the big military trucks a few years ago but they have just been sitting. I guess we will know sSaturday

[KnickKnack]

Shill bidders do come from auction houses and friends of the sellers. You'll only know if the auction house is using shill bidders if you attend a number of their auctions. After awhile, you will start to recognize items that "sold" to the shill bidders being brought back up in later auctions. If the auction house is really smart, they will pass those items off somewhere else and you won't know they are using shill bidders.

If a seller asks a friend to place a bid whenever he feels the item can bring more money, he runs the risk of the friend winning the bid and having to pay for the item. Of course, the seller gets some of that money back, minus the auction house fees. Then he is faced with having to dispose of the item another way.

If your friends collection is large and valuable, he may not want to use a local auction house. There are several regional and national auction houses that may get him better money, even though it may take awhile to get his items on the block and the fees may be higher. The regional and national houses do a better job of advertising and get a larger group of bidders.

[checkmate19]

Thanks for the advice guys, the auction was a few weeks ago now . I felt it was poorly set up, the auction house said it would take two days but went ahead and dumped every thing in one day. If I was in control of the estate I would have been very upset. The Military trucks were sold with out option to start so they went for a 1,000.00 each and at end of the day they all started up drove through two feet of mud ( way cool) and out the gate. Everything went for pennies on the dollar. The only thing that went near fair value were the guns as I labeled them with reserves. His 70 Super Sport went for 7K , all around sucked . Tom

[timshufflin]

Thanks for the advice guys, the auction was a few weeks ago now . I felt it was poorly set up, the auction house said it would take two days but went ahead and dumped every thing in one day. If I was in control of the estate I would have been very upset. The Military trucks were sold with out option to start so they went for a 1,000.00 each and at end of the day they all started up drove through two feet of mud ( way cool) and out the gate. Everything went for pennies on the dollar. The only thing that went near fair value were the guns as I labeled them with reserves. His 70 Super Sport went for 7K , all around sucked . Tom

That's too bad, it really is. I don't know what the situation is with your friend (why the auction happened) but I was hoping your friend and his family could raise as much money as possible from the auction.

[musketjon]

That's too bad, it really is. I don't know what the situation is with your friend (why the auction happened) but I was hoping your friend and his family could raise as much money as possible from the auction.
That did raise as much as possible. You can only get what the people spend.
Jon

[timshufflin]

That did raise as much as possible. You can only get what the people spend.
Jon

Jon, it sounded as if the auction house didn't quite handle the auction well thus impacting the sales price of the goodies.

[jak]

Jon, it sounded as if the auction house didn't quite handle the auction well thus impacting the sales price of the goodies.

100% correct. You would think that the auction house would want to maximize their profits/commission. The higher the selling price, the higher the commission.
It sounds like the auction house just didn't want to be bothered or was very ignorant about the items being sold.

[musketjon]

It sounds like the auction house just didn't want to be bothered or was very ignorant about the items being sold.

Or both.
Jon

[Old Guard]

Or both.
Jon

Okay, then someone got a really good deal on that Supersport, unless it was a rusted hulk...Because they are scarce and highly prized by a lot of folks..Sounds like it was definitely not Advertized right or they would have Called in bids??JMHO..