:rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf:

I have never been to his shop, but have a funny story about running into Bill when we were both "out of town". I had never had a face to face with him, so we were strangers in the night, so to speak.

Bill had some fantastic stories and momentos of his war years I heard and saw several times while there. I used to go in and buy quite a few guns when I travelled there regularly on business. This was thirty or so years ago. In those days, they only lived for trap and sporting clays. I always went in and combed the racks for old doubles. They seemed to treat them as a necessary evil, often didn't know a lot about them and didn't seem to care. I bought several, including a mint 16 Sterlingworth with gorgious wood and the hang tag still on it, a few beautiful old Ithacas, and the most richly appointed German damascus double I have seen with molded in exterior reinforcing ribs formed into the barrel exterior complete with gold line inlay on each rib. All these were bought for a song. I also remember going in once and having to walk around a stack of of Parker Repros in boxes stacked to what looked like 4 feet high, and 8 feet long with a big sign on top that said $1895 for any you want.

In the last few years it seems there has been a decision to jump on the rise of the double market, especially Parker and certain Euro models. Their asking prices quite frankly to me appear to be astronomical. And as mentioned, I check only every 3-4 months and seem to see the same listings over and over.

I can't argue with those who point out Jaqua's upscale prices. At this time, he has a gun that was owned by a late friend of 40 years ago. It is priced quite a bit higher than similar guns in his inventory and, a couple of years ago, I phoned and tried to negotiate a better deal. My negotiation was denied and they still have the gun at the original price.

I have wonderd if their business dynamic may have changed and is affecting their pricing. It is possible that they have adopted a model that leans much more toward consignment sales. I have encountered a lot of online sellers who do this, and they often admit that it is a consignment sale and the sellers won't budge. I have sold on consignment before because the fees are lower than the auction fee. I only use dealers I trust and give them the freedom to sell at best reasonable price. I think a lot of collectors who don't trust the auction arena place consignments at a price high enough to cover their high expectations and the dealer fee, and won't budge.

I'll say this about Jaquas. They are some great people to deal with and my dealings have always been as honest as can be. I've always dealt with Jason Bozo. He stays busy, but takes the time to talk any questions you may have over the phone. I've bought several guns over the phone and all have been perfectly as described. Many of their guns are consignment sales so the price is what it is. They do have great deals come up though.

A dealer who takes consignment items but will not forward offers to the owner is doing the seller no favors. The seller is often a family member of a dead collector and has no idea what a "fair price" would be.

The dealings I have had with Jaqua's have all been easy and honest. I bought a rare Remington .22 which was described as "very good". When it arrived, the only mark on the gun was slight thumbnail scratch on the top of the receiver. When I called up Neil and said the gun was misrepresented, there was a silence on the other end until I told him to relax - the gun was much better than described. He said that was the store policy. They never wanted to be accused of overrating a gun. Granted, Neil; is no longer there,, and the store has moved, but I would have no concern about dealing with them

They absolutely will call the owner with offers. I've asked them to do so on several occasions and the only time they declined they told me that the owner had indicated to them that they were firm in there pricing until a certain date.