If an auction has a gun that you want to buy there are 3 ways for success. Number 1, attend the auction in person and buy the gun/guns. 2. phone bids. 3. Place an absentee bid for the highest amount you are willing to pay. All three of these options will eliminate the issues of not being able to place the bids you are wanting to place. Having said that, the G&D platform has always worked for me.

That Sousa Ithaca SBT sold well. I don't know anything other than an extremely rare gun but the price seemed pretty strong. Please someone correct me if I am wrong??

You are not wrong. The last two Sousa Knicks that I am aware of sold for $22,425 and $31,050, don't know if either included the BP. The $31,050 gun was put on the market later for a lower price and I don't know whether it sold. $30,000 including buyer's premium is a very strong price for a Sousa Flues gun. It is an exceptional gun though.

For what it's worth, I bid directly on the G&D site, not a third party app (at least some of those overlay a further commission percentage, which would be ridiculous to pay). I have no trouble on a bid sequence is extended, but always on items I have prebid online, and for which I am leading when the item starts. If it is a quick auction, I will invariably lose the item. I never get any acknowledgement until 30-45 seconds has passed, and find that another paddle number won. This is just my impression, but it seems that there is often a bid accepted from the floor before bids that may have been made long before the auction date. The problem comes in that if you have posted the minimum opening bid and there are no other bids, the auctioneer opens the bidding and someone on the floor opens at the minimum bid. You think it is your bid because you bid a week ago and only find out it isn't you when the bidding closes 30 or 40 seconds later. I think it may come about because the internet bids are passed to the auctioneer upon the opening of bidding. Most other live auctions I participate in (not just gun auctions) announces a lot, announces the current winning pre-bid to date and then opens the live bidding. That is the only fair way to handle it, because in a quick auction the internet bidder has placed a bid and the floor bidder is allowed to post a later bid that is in effect a non-bid. That isn't consistent with any of the rules of auction bidding I have seen. It is possible to even lose to a lower bid than your pre-bid if the online bids are reported too slowly.

Art,
As a seller in the G&D auctions, I am especially interested in your comments regarding a lower bid gaveling when you had a higher pre-bid. I urge you to call G&D to advise them so they can investigate. If you do, it would be great to hear their findings.
Best!

That is not what I said if you read closely. What I said was that it was possible to be the listed opening bidder and lose the auction when a duplicate bid is accepted from the floor or elsewhere and the auction closes before you realize your bid is not the the official bid, even though you were the high bidder when the lot opened. That has happened. There is no perfect solution when you are bidding over an internet connection, but that problem is becoming less of an issue with network improvements. As seller you are just as exposed to that issue as the buyer. I have lost many auction items in many auctions due to a temporary glitsch in communication, and that has to be accepted as part of the system. It also deprives the seller of an extra bid, but no one knows except the bidder. What I am addressing here is the fact that I have been the bidder of record when the lot opens, thought I had the bid and didn't realize I had lost until the hammer dropped.

Sorry, Art. What I read in post #44 was the following. After reading more closely, you were saying it is possible to lose to a lower bid, not that you did. Got it.

Years ago, it was explained to me by Dan Kull, though I'm not 100% certain I can state it as he did to me, after loosing an 1895 Deluxe Winchester. I had submitted a written bid about a week before the auction, which I thought was the winning bid. In fact I didn't win it, because the auctioneer started the item well below my bid, but because of the bid increment, a floor bidder tied my bid, but because I was not present to enter a tie breaking bid, and the floor bidder was, the gun was awarded to the floor bidder. What I never understood, was why they started well below my bid, and not opened the bidding at what was, at the time, the highest bid.

Edgar I think most all auctions work that way. If the bidding stops below your max you pay less. If it exceeds your max you lose out. The last gun I purchased via auction I placed my highest bid. The bidding increased but stopped just shy of my max so I won.

That's the part I do get. What I didn't get was why a floor bidder can tie my bid, and my bid was submitted weeks before, but the floor bidder won it. My thinking was earliest bid should win, but they explained that I wasn't there to break the tie. Now, if I pre-bid in an auction, I walk away, and let the chips fall.

The auctioneer did say that if I really want something, just put "Bid To Win". He obviously had me mistaken for someone else.

Edgar,
That exact same situation happened to me during this auction. I was high bidder when the auction started and the item sold for my high bid amount to someone else. Being there in-person does have it's benefits.

The last gun I bought by auction was via an absentee bid. I specified my maximum bid plus one. Which means they (the auction company) automatically adds the next bidding increment in the event someone ties your max bid. I won that gun with the plus one increment.

It depends on the auction house. Some, the first bidder to a certain figure will take it, no matter where located. Others, a floor bidder supersedes any previous bid. You have to ask these questions BEFORE the auction begins.

The auctioneer did say that if I really want something, just put "Bid To Win". He obviously had me mistaken for someone else.[/QUOTE]

:rotf:For some reason, I thought that was you Edgar "Bid to Win":rotf:

If there are say six proxy bids of which let’s say five are $1000 or below and yours is say $1500 and the increment above a thousand is 250 they should start at $1250 and go from there . They shouldn’t start it more than one increment above the next closest proxy bid to yours .

Well in this day and age of internet savvy and everyone knowing everything about everything I didn't realize there was an auction:shock: Probably just as well as the CHE 16 skeet gun mentioned would have tickled my fancy. I'm happy with the two matched pairs from the Southern so I don't feel i missed anything.

Just so you know I handled that CHE vent rib skeet when I went to look . Little gun felt quite nice in the hands :cool:

I had a VHE 20ga vent rib skeet gun for awhile. It was a nice gun. Do you know what the CHE went for?

$22,800 with the juice.

Rich, it's only money and you have plenty. Now you will have even more for the February sale.

The only guns I'm considering is a matched pair of Purdey Island Lock hammer guns

I’d have been happy with the five VHE skeet guns I carried to Hausemann’s last year from the motel for a mutual friend .

I have seen in the terms of other on-line auctions, this exact scenario called out as the tie goes to on-site bidders.

I have also seen fine print that says the auction house has the right to bid against a participant, not necessarily in conjunction with a reserve.

These were not G&D and have not studied thier terms enough to know.

I just post to make folks aware of current practices that are legal with Full Disclosure.

Will

Just wanted to report a happy ending.

I received the one gun I purchased in the auction. Examination of the gun revealed a minor issue not reported in the listing which was not easy to spot but needed to be addressed. I sent an email to G&D along with one to Josh. Josh called me within an hour. We talked about solutions, he talked to the auction company and was back to me soon with an acceptable solution for everyone and none of the hoopla that normally goes along with this sort of issue.

Couldn't ask for better service and a wonderful company to deal with.