The descriptions are usually right out of the Blue Book, like "Parkers were built from 1868 to 1942, with 242,000 built." Sometimes there are paragraphs of this blurb and nothing about the gun being offered. They could learn a lesson from Julia on presentation. I don't think they have a catalog archives, either, but I may be wrong. I have noticed that auction companies usually comform to their own comfort zone and seldom upgrade their facilities or website. Of course, this gives an advantage to those with enough perseverence to actually attend the auction. This weekend, I attended a local auction that offered one shotgun among hundreds of antique items from an estate. The auction ad was presented in a local newspaper, one time that I am aware of. I didn't see more than one person I knew from the shotgun collecting world at the auction. The aged 12 gauge L.C. Smith shotgun sold for $19,800 plus 6% Maryland sales tax. It may have sold for another half again as much if the auctioneer even had a website. With sales tax, the bill was twelve bucks short of $21,000.
|