RIA Auctions

[tgd31968]

I have checked out the RIA auction site for years. Has anyone ever bid/attended an auction?

The "expected" prices always seem reasonable for some of the guns I have been interested in, especially when you see two or more offered together, but I know the actual auctions can run wild.

I was debating about taking a ride over there for an auction some day but if everything seems to go for 2-3X the range they list, I wouldn't bother.

Thanks,
TD.

 

[LVSteve]

If this is the RIA I am familiar with, I would steer clear. Several folk have had issues with their attitude and practices towards online bidders. Other who have been to their auctions say it is pretty obvious that certain lots have been promised to particular buyers long before the bidding starts.

 

[chud333]

I've posted some absentee bids on some Smiths
that had "expected" prices i deemed reasonable.
Even went on my "high" side on my bids to try and
get a couple of nicer guns with boxes.
Prices realized we're way above what i bid, so either
i was out of touch with my expectations or their
"expected to bring" estimates we're very low.

Chuck

 

[tgd31968]

I've posted some absentee bids on some Smiths
that had "expected" prices i deemed reasonable.
Even went on my "high" side on my bids to try and
get a couple of nicer guns with boxes.
Prices realized we're way above what i bid, so either
i was out of touch with my expectations or their
"expected to bring" estimates we're very low.

Chuck

This is kind of what I figured.
Thanks

TD

 

[DCWilson]

I have made some good purchases with on line bids at different auctions. I was most successful at the old Greg Martin auctions when they were based in Orange County, but I have also made acquisitions at reasonable prices from Poulin and Amoskeag as well. I have placed bids at RIA, but was unsuccessful.

I am not persuaded that the on-line bidding process is as well managed as it might be. I no longer recall which house was involved, but on one occasion the bids I made from my computer were not recognized by the auction data system; the result was that a couple of guns were knocked down to other buyers for less than I was willing to pay for them. I did however win at this auction one gun I was particularly interested in, so I wasn't completely skunked on that occasion.

You are likelier to be successful at an auction if the guns that you are looking at are a little out of the ordinary in terms of the interests of most gun collectors.

 

[LVSteve]

I am not persuaded that the on-line bidding process is as well managed as it might be. I no longer recall which house was involved, but on one occasion the bids I made from my computer were not recognized by the auction data system; the result was that a couple of guns were knocked down to other buyers for less than I was willing to pay for them. I did however win at this auction one gun I was particularly interested in, so I wasn't completely skunked on that occasion.

Now there is a major league understatement. There was one CA auction house that ran their auctions at such a pace the online bidders never stood a chance. On several occasions I saw guns sold that could have made a lot more money. I even emailed the company and told them how they were screwing themselves and the consignors, but they did not want to hear it. There are several of us on the Web who got screwed by that shower, my late wife being one of them.

My big beef with RIA is that they always seemed to know the maximum online bid would be and started the auction at that value. For example, if I had a max bid of $300 in the system, but me and the other online pre-bidders had only reached $200, somehow the auction started at $300. Unfurl the BS flag and launch flares, I say. The auctioneer cannot read the minds of those in the room, so why was he allowed to do that to the online bidders.

 

[KJM]

Now there is a major league understatement. There was one CA auction house that ran their auctions at such a pace the online bidders never stood a chance. On several occasions I saw guns sold that could have made a lot more money. I even emailed the company and told them how they were screwing themselves and the consignors, but they did not want to hear it. There are several of us on the Web who got screwed by that shower, my late wife being one of them.

My big beef with RIA is that they always seemed to know the maximum online bid would be and started the auction at that value. For example, if I had a max bid of $300 in the system, but me and the other online pre-bidders had only reached $200, somehow the auction started at $300. Unfurl the BS flag and launch flares, I say. The auctioneer cannot read the minds of those in the room, so why was he allowed to do that to the online bidders.

Auctions are and always were, to benefit the SELLER, and auction house, not the buyer.