Holy Smokes People it is a ripoff!

[Sam Summey]

Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2022/12/pr...n-3-sold-at-auction-for-910625/#ixzz7p3ouYUvq
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
Follow us: @Ammoland Theodore Roosevelt's Smith & Wesson #3 was sold for a total of $910,625 ($775,000 before buyers premium) at Rock Island Auction Company on December 9, 2022. The buyer's premium is fifteen percent. That means that Rock Island Auction got paid $135625! Auctions in general should not be the preferred method of disposal of inherited property.

 

[the_leper_colony]

...The buyer's premium is fifteen percent. That means that Rock Island Auction got paid $135625! Auctions in general should not be the preferred method of disposal of inherited property.

That may be true in general, but for items that may be unique or have historical significance, auctions may be the best approach.

I remember reading an article in American Rifleman years ago, about a guy down in Texas, who used his dad's old Winchester Model 70 as a 'truck gun'. I remember the article in part, because his dad apparently had bought the rifle while up in Colorado on a hunting trip, at the Coast to Coast store in Durango (and I used to buy ammo there ;^). To make a long story short, the son was cleaning his 'truck gun' one day, and noticed the serial number: 1 (don't recall if there were any zeros in front).

NRA stated it was worth something over $100,000. Now, if you were to take that rifle into a local gun shop, I'm guessing the owner (assuming he was honest) might offer you $2,000-$5,000 for it. To get anything close to that NRA estimate, it would have to be sold at a well-publicized auction.

Edit: I found the following online, apparently the original owner passed the rifle on to his nephew, not his son as I had recalled:
https://revivaler.com/pre-64-winchester-model-70-serial-numbers-1-and-2/
As always, IMHO, FWIW, YMMV, etc., etc.

 

[Lowspeed88]

I can’t stand auctions “internet premium.“ I’ve seen some gun auctions charging as much as 25% premiums. Crazy and a huge rip off.

 

[TestEngineer]

The gun shop at my shooting range charges 30% of selling price or $35 (whichever is greater) to sell your gun on consignment. Worse yet, you have to transfer the gun to them after you set a price. That means that if it doesn't sell, then you have to do a background check and pay a transfer fee - just to get your own gun back!

There's worse things than auctions.

 

[nvbirdman]

Or you could take a high-end gun to one of those tv pawn shops and get $300 to $500 for it.

 

[GunnyGene]

The lesson here is to avoid the middle man.

 

[RC44Mag]

On high dollar items such as those beauts I’d wager the percentage would be negotiable

 

[Wvfarrier]

Ive bought several "difficult to acquire" guns from RIA. Their service has been spectacular. Zero complaints. Anytime I have asked for more specific pictures I have gotten them within a day.

 

[RSIno1]

Barrett Jackson charges the buyer 10% and the seller 8%. They have sold the twin paxton Cobra at least 3 times for 4.5-5 million each time. At 5 mil that's $900.000 commission. A couple more sales and they'll have made enough to buy the car from their commissions.

 

[contender]

Deeper pockets than mine.

 

[wolfsong]

Only one question from where I stand: does a "1" serial number shoot better than, say, a "864702" serial number?

 

[Xrayist]

TestEngineer...I agree about the background check procedure, but that is federal law.

 

[the_leper_colony]

Only one question from where I stand: does a "1" serial number shoot better than, say, a "864702" serial number?

Probably not - but some folks, for some reason(s), find serial numbers interesting. I know that's a fact, because it includes 'yours truly'! I kind of like unusual firearms, so if I find something where only 700 were made (for example), it's also kind of nice to own one of the first 50 or 100. Ditto for anything that's first year of production, for more common models. I don't have any serial number 1's, or anything that's notably valuable for other reasons, but it's fun (for me, at least)! Can't say that I'm serious about it - I downsized drastically over that last few years, and that included some of my low serial number/1st year/other interesting items.

 

[blume357]

Hell, if I was rich I would have out bid who ever got this. Teddy Rosevelt is my hero.

 

[BlkHawk73]

These types of selling platfroms peovide the seller with a wider yet focused audience. The buyers know what they're looking for and will watch these for those specific items as they're the best means of aquiring them. The sellers know this is the best place to sell to get that specific audience and thus the better prices. There's also more than people realize I think going on by the auction house. All those people need to be paid, the building, security, etc costs money and the advertising cost money. Also some liabilities along with all this too I'm sure so add in insurance. Not all just having those fees go in their pockets. If it was that easy, there'd be a lot more doing (trying) it.
If this 10% , 8% seems high, go see what a good retailer has for thier markups. 20% should be bare minimum and many products see margins well above that.

 

[xtratoy]

$900.000 or $900,000.