Ward's auction yesterday|Page 2|General Discussions & Questions|Forum|Winchester Collector

TXGunNut said

steve004 said
I’ve been going through the Wards closed auctions this morning.  I was quite startled how low many items sold for.  I’m primarily referring to decent original, but plain-Jane Winchester levers.  Especially the M1894’s.  I have some very similar rifles here and if those were my pieces I’d be very disappointed in the winning bids.
If it works out that many of their usual bidders are disenfranchised with their new system – and stay away – Wards may be a better place to buy.  I’d think twice about consigning with them.
  

I tried peddling a 94 much like you described at Scott’s show in Durant Friday. A decent 70% gun with a few detractors but the market was remarkably soft if the bids I got were any indication. It reinforces the advice we often hear; buy the best you can afford. Those 70% guns are easy to find and fun to shoot or tinker with but they can be hard to sell when it comes time to thin the herd. 
 
Mike
  

I’m seeing the same thing – and beyond just Wards as you experience demonstrates.  A 70% gun with no features that makes it stand out (like the ’94 with the ’95 carbine barrel discussed elsewhere) is a soft market these days.  If essentially the same thing is available in a variety of locations, it just doesn’t generate excitement.  They may be enjoyable shooters but most of us have a supply of those already. They’re not going to get our blood flowing in a way that something special will.  

Louis Luttrell said
Hi Chuck-
Last time I checked, GB has a 15-min rule.  So bidding can go on for a while after the end time.  The difference, of course, is that the GB soft close applies only to a single lot, while Ward’s 30-sec (or 1-min) rule applies to the entire auction (6000+ lots)… 
I kind of like the Ward’s system…  If only b/c it’s “different”…   Of course it leads some people to not even bother to enter their bids until after the stated end time.  They know it’ll run at least another couple hours…  I’m not sure why/how that’s a good bidding “strategy”.  Maybe if you’re bargain shopping and planning to stay on-line until the bitter end? 
Lou
  

Of course, pragmatically, why not just put in your maximum proxy bid and check to see what happened the next day?  If you are looking for a bargain, put in your bargain bid.  If others bid it up beyond that, why would you keep bidding – if you’ve already defined the maximum you are willing to pay?

I suppose when some bidders find themselves being outbid, they assume the piece was worth more than initially thought it was.  I don’t think that is a wise perspective.

The 15-min GB close runs me ragged sometimes but I understand it I guess. Ward’s extending the WHOLE auction because of a single item bid is crazy though…   I didn’t know that!

Buck1967 said

Louis Luttrell said
Hi Chuck-
Last time I checked, GB has a 15-min rule.  So bidding can go on for a while after the end time.  The difference, of course, is that the GB soft close applies only to a single lot, while Ward’s 30-sec (or 1-min) rule applies to the entire auction (6000+ lots)… 
I kind of like the Ward’s system…  If only b/c it’s “different”…   Of course it leads some people to not even bother to enter their bids until after the stated end time.  They know it’ll run at least another couple hours…  I’m not sure why/how that’s a good bidding “strategy”.  Maybe if you’re bargain shopping and planning to stay on-line until the bitter end? 
Lou
  

Man I hate GB’s 15 minute rule. The rule is anytime someone bids and the clock is under 15 minutes they reset the clock to a full 15 minutes. I have ran into numerous times I’ve had some jerk just wait until the clock is under 1 minute to throw out a bid and then do it 15 minutes later and so on and 7 bids and 2 hours later for what? If they were serious or real bidders they would place a bid to win. An auction should be an auction! I get giving and an extra 3 minutes like a lot of auctions do but 15 is just ridiculous and is massively abused on GB in my opinion. I’ve stated before GB is full of sellers who bid up their own Guns and GB doesn’t care. I caught one who used the buy it now in a penny auction to save his Winchester from selling for a low price and then watched him post it for sale again the very next day. Reported it to GB and they did nothing. I’ve found GB to be full retail for the most part with better deals to found on Guns International although there are some proud sellers there too! My best deals seem to be found in the many independent auctions found on the aggregators like Hibid, Proxibid or others!
  

I did just that once.  I’ve only ever bought two items off of Gunbroker, one of them was a Winchester 1894 carbine in .32-40 a forum member had that had a ridiculously low ending bid on a Tuesday morning.  I was off all day and bid the minimum bid increment at the 14 minute mark until my competitor folded.

mrcvs said

Buck1967 said

Louis Luttrell said
Hi Chuck-
Last time I checked, GB has a 15-min rule.  So bidding can go on for a while after the end time.  The difference, of course, is that the GB soft close applies only to a single lot, while Ward’s 30-sec (or 1-min) rule applies to the entire auction (6000+ lots)… 
I kind of like the Ward’s system…  If only b/c it’s “different”…   Of course it leads some people to not even bother to enter their bids until after the stated end time.  They know it’ll run at least another couple hours…  I’m not sure why/how that’s a good bidding “strategy”.  Maybe if you’re bargain shopping and planning to stay on-line until the bitter end? 
Lou
  

Man I hate GB’s 15 minute rule. The rule is anytime someone bids and the clock is under 15 minutes they reset the clock to a full 15 minutes. I have ran into numerous times I’ve had some jerk just wait until the clock is under 1 minute to throw out a bid and then do it 15 minutes later and so on and 7 bids and 2 hours later for what? If they were serious or real bidders they would place a bid to win. An auction should be an auction! I get giving and an extra 3 minutes like a lot of auctions do but 15 is just ridiculous and is massively abused on GB in my opinion. I’ve stated before GB is full of sellers who bid up their own Guns and GB doesn’t care. I caught one who used the buy it now in a penny auction to save his Winchester from selling for a low price and then watched him post it for sale again the very next day. Reported it to GB and they did nothing. I’ve found GB to be full retail for the most part with better deals to found on Guns International although there are some proud sellers there too! My best deals seem to be found in the many independent auctions found on the aggregators like Hibid, Proxibid or others!
  

I did just that once.  I’ve only ever bought two items off of Gunbroker, one of them was a Winchester 1894 carbine in .32-40 a forum member had that had a ridiculously low ending bid on a Tuesday morning.  I was off all day and bid the minimum bid increment at the 14 minute mark until my competitor folded.
  

Totally fair strategy if the winning bid is going back and forth but if they never have the high bid because my max bid is say $300 higher than the current bid and they keep just hitting the next $20 bid every 15 minutes for 2 hours then they aren’t really bidding to win and are simply enjoying being a horses butt! However, because of my belief of GB sellers running up their own prices I have stopped bidding ahead!