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.