Closed auction on GB. Too much,or about right?

[fat tom]

Neither the seller nor the buyer are novices by any means. Would any of you go this high on this revolver?

1952 S&W PRE 27 BLUE .357 MAGNUM 6.5" NO RESERVE : Revolvers at GunBroker.com

f.t.

[flundertaker]

it looks pretty good to me. maybe a little wear on the muzzle but a very clean example with matching stocks so its a pretty complete package. i am not knowledgeable enough to know if the box and tools are original. I have no problem with fine collectible examples going this high as it increases the worth of the few that I own.

[DCWilson]

My sense is that the package is easily worth $2K, but anything more is going to depend on the circumstances, possession hunger and pocket depth of the bidders. Which is pretty much what happened here, I think.

I have a personal quirk that limits my participation in auctions when the word count in the narrative and picture count are more than twice what is necessary. Here we are a full order of magnitude in excess of the minimum necessary to permit an informed purchase. Given the amount of energy put into the marketing, I wonder if the seller was hoping to move it at a figure even greater than where it closed.

Nice gun and box, to be sure. If $2500 is over the expected top of the market for most of us, it's probably not over by much.

[arjay]

I would have stopped at 1k.Might be why I don't have one

[snake803]

Originally Posted by DCWilson

My sense is that the package is easily worth $2K, but anything more is going to depend on the circumstances, possession hunger and pocket depth of the bidders. Which is pretty much what happened here, I think.

I have a personal quirk that limits my participation in auctions when the word count in the narrative and picture count are more than twice what is necessary. Here we are a full order of magnitude in excess of the minimum necessary to permit an informed purchase. Given the amount of energy put into the marketing, I wonder if the seller was hoping to move it at a figure even greater than where it closed.

Nice gun and box, to be sure. If $2500 is over the expected top of the market for most of us, it's probably not over by much.

David,
I agree..loss of blue at muzzle & some on leading edge of cyl. ...Also, it's great to have matching grips but those have chips out and considerable checking boo boos... JMHO,
JIM.....................

[RKmesa]

There are not a lot of 6.5" pre-27s and that is a pretty nice specimen of a less-common variation. The final bid was a little rich for my blood, but if you don't have one and it's the only length pre-27 that you do not have, then this was a nice example that filled a hole.

The buyer in the auction is often times a seller of high condition S&Ws. I'm pretty sure that he was happy (perhaps purchasing it for his personal collection, as I think flipping that one for a quick buck would be challenging).

[H Richard]

That is one I would classify as a solid 98%. Very very nice. As much as I think it is too high, it may be time to recognize this is the potential price range of a 98% Pre 27. It just makes me no longer shoot my 3 1/2" Pre 27 that isn't much worse than this. I just take it out and wipe it off now.

[wheelgun610]

Originally Posted by DCWilson

.... I have a personal quirk that limits my participation in auctions when the word count in the narrative and picture count are more than twice what is necessary. Here we are a full order of magnitude in excess of the minimum necessary to permit an informed purchase....

Exactly! It's oversell - by my own definition. But, I do understand the seller's motive. He's trying to maximize his profit, which is the name of the game for anyone in virtually any business venture. This seller went overboard with words and pics, but it served to milk the last dollar out of the eventual buyer.....

Think I'm in the wrong business.....

Mark

[brigham33]

I watch lots of GB auctions and purchase a "collectable" revolver about once or twice a month. While my collectables tend the bottom of the market, this seller is a regular seller of high end pieces. Interestingly I believe the prices he realizes in his auctions are pretty standard across the high end of the collectable market. Particularly among the 3-4 high end GB sellers. Within the last month he was selling a extremely nice pre war 38/44 with box. Another of the high end collectable market sellers also sold one that was almost identical - prices ended up within $100 of each other at around $2500. Those N frames are hot!

My main area of interest is the lower end of the market (K & I frames, top breaks, etc) where I believe the prices do vary considerably more from one seller to the next. I expect others experiences may vary.

[Doc44]

If I needed this revolver to fill a hole in my collection, I would have bid that high or more as this barrel length is scarce and it is a nice package that is getting harder and harder to find.

Bill

[Comrad]

Need more pictures

[usm1rifle]

Originally Posted by DCWilson

My sense is that the package is easily worth $2K, but anything more is going to depend on the circumstances, possession hunger and pocket depth of the bidders. Which is pretty much what happened here, I think.

I have a personal quirk that limits my participation in auctions when the word count in the narrative and picture count are more than twice what is necessary. Here we are a full order of magnitude in excess of the minimum necessary to permit an informed purchase. Given the amount of energy put into the marketing, I wonder if the seller was hoping to move it at a figure even greater than where it closed.

Nice gun and box, to be sure. If $2500 is over the expected top of the market for most of us, it's probably not over by much.

David said it much more diplomatically than I will - reading Diamond1210's ads drive me crazy! He is verbose to the maximum.

I don't think I could buy anything from one of those ads and YES, it is my problem.

[old bear]

FOR ANY EXECUTIVE COLLECTION THAT IS SHORT A PRE 27............THIS GIRL IS FOR YOU. SHE IS THE PRETTIEST ONE YOU'LL COME ACROSS.... TAKE HER HOME. THIS 62 YEAR OLD PRE 27 WOULD SIT NICELY WITH YOUR OTHER FRIENDS OF LEGENDARY REPUTATION

The above is from the sellers add.

Bobby, again great photos and a masterful job of copy writing. Notice the use of ego building and exclusive top shelf club words.

I hope the final buyer understands what he/she is getting, and does not look at this as another alternative investment vehicle.

Added:
The buyer is Dirtyharygun$ales, so it's fair to assume this revolver will be back on the market some time in the near future. You have to also assume a professional reseller has some idea of value and what the future value should be.

[jag22]

If you've never said to yourself "uhm, maybe I paid a little bit too much" then you're not buying enough.

[Biginge]

Bobby, sent you a pm.

[Leatherhead23]

That seller always gets TOP dollar for all of his auctions.

[stevebarracuda]

He gets crazy money for whatever he sells and for the life of I can't figure out why. He must have an exclusive group of wealthy buyers who only purchase from him . He's got some nice iron though.

[05CarbonDRZ]

Originally Posted by stevebarracuda

He gets crazy money for whatever he sells and for the life of I can't figure out why. He must have an exclusive group of wealthy buyers who only purchase from him . He's got some nice iron though.

Don't worry,Nobody can figure it out.You could have had the same Gun listed in BETTER condition and People would rather pay more for his.....

[jackvs1]

This seller is one of the most reputable people out there. Who cares if he rights a long description; he tells it like it is, wants people to have all the facts and stands by his firearms. If I wanted that one for my collection & I could have afforded it there is not doubt I would have bid on it. To the winner you got a beauty.

[Candrews86]

I've personally bought a 4" 27-2 in the presentation box for a very reasonable price in mint condition back before he got really popular and his auctions fetched super high prices. He is a super nice guy and a pleasure to deal with. More power to him if he can get what he gets for his guns. If you notice anything, he's figured out the market. All of his guns are usually rare and in immaculate shape, that's what the collectors want and they will pay the price.

[1blindref]

I would not have gone that high for that gun.
Yes, it's a rare barrel length, matching numbers gun with a very nice box, but the muzzle wear and high edge bluing wear would have stopped me at around $1,800 to $1,900

Maybe I'm just too picky, but if I'm going to buy a gun that early, it needs to have less wear than that one.

[Chukar60]

I see these posts about " ridiculous " prices and wonder if the same banter went on in the Colt forums as the snakes guns started reaching levels beyond the realm of the average guy?
Me thinks the prices are not as ridiculous as they are unaffordable for a lot of us.

[aphelion]

Maybe I should sell off my Smiths and pay off the house.

[fat tom]

Thank you for all of the replies. I'm at a point in my life where I've begun to sell off a lot of my collection/accumulation and I find these types of threads very helpful in placing a value on guns that I have before offering them up at what has proved in the past to be bargain prices. I really hate seeing guns sell for hundreds of dollars more than I have accepted for equal or better condition examples of the same model. I'm learnin' real fast though.
f.t.

[gjamison]

Remember guys "there not making them anymore and you can't buy them at Walmart". There are a couple Internet sellers on 2 different auction sites and they both get top dollar for there consigners. Best pictures and descriptions, also they are all high quality firearms.

[JSR III]

If you are a buyer that price is high, if you are a seller, boy that gun went cheap...

Its all in the eyes of the beholder. You better believe that if any of us wanted to sell our collections at the end of the road, this seller would be one to consider...just sayin

[Triathloncoach]

Some people are extremely wealthy and will run out of life long before they come close to running out of money. Buy what you want if you are that financially fortunate.

[crsides]

Originally Posted by fat tom

Neither the seller nor the buyer are novices by any means. Would any of you go this high on this revolver?

1952 S&W PRE 27 BLUE .357 MAGNUM 6.5" NO RESERVE : Revolvers at GunBroker.com

f.t.

Well, I wouldn't pay it and you wouldn't pay it and neither did 99.5% of the buyers who looked/bid on it. Now those other two guys, I guess they liked it alot.

So take the average that the 99.5% of buyers would pay, and you are at $1500 to $2000 ... on a good day. Auctions don't work on averages. And she goes home with the guy who wants her most.

Charlie

[OldDominion]

I am currently on the hunt for a 1952 shipped 6 1/2" Pre27, and fortunately (?) I missed this auction or it might have gone a little higher...I need the 5", 6.5", and 8 3/8" Pre27s to go with my 3 1/2" and 6" guns and complete that part of my Centennial Catalog. That "need" will sometimes lead me to bid more than I should, which might have been the case here.