Quote:
Originally Posted by smithrjd
. . . it would cost me $100+ taxes and transfer for any auction firearm so I don't often look at auctions.
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OK, a couple of examples, but I can show lots of online buys that LGS would never sell for those prices I paid for online purchases, including shipping and premiums. Biggest downside is that you have to buy what they have or go home empty handed. I don't buy Colts, but have a couple of 6" Model 1903s bought online within the last few years. Paid less than $300 for each of them.
I can find hundreds of S&Ws to choose from all the time online and take my pick if I am willing to pay the price. My point on brick & mortar is that they are unpredictable, more often than not, overpriced, and have limited inventory. Also, you can be guaranteed that the person who sold that gun to the shop got wholesale prices (often half-price), losing money on the deal versus selling through an online firearms auction house.
For those people turning over their collections, LGS are the worst places to sell. If you do not sell to them at low prices, consignments are the only other option and you will pay a percentage to the LGS to sell. You will also have no idea when it will sell. Gun auction companies will charge sellers, but almost everything will sell on a specific day.
Don't get me wrong, I loved LGS before the Internet, since they were
THE PLACE to shop for firearms. The advent of online shopping has forever changed the market and today you will find that the best of the best are now with companies like RIA, Julia, Amoskeag, Bonhams, Morphy, Cowans, Poulin, Watson, shall I go on??
Lastly, we can also have the option of going to Gun Shows in all corners of the country. Where else can you find hundreds of sellers in one place at the same time with their entire collections for sale?
Spending a quiet evening online is a experience you would enjoy and I often learn something I did not know. Many gun shops hardly know what model they are selling, if it is original, if it is uncommon, if it functions as intended, etc. I just purchased a K22 Outdoorsman on an online auction site. It turned out to be a gun shop selling online. They got two of the 6 serial numbers wrong and Roy could not find the gun, so I had to help them identify the correct number and all it took was a phone call and a magnifying glass. Some online sellers and most auction houses give detailed descriptions, historical context, value ranges . . . and use the word rare and scarce a lot!
