Hi...
I go to a lot of gun auctions here in South Central Pennsylvania and have lately noticed an aggravating trend.
At yesterday's auction, I noticed quite a few items that were hid up beyond current retail prices for the same product.
I really don't understand that mindset...I go to auctions to try to get good deals on things.
I am not talking about firearms though...I know that prices on firearms at auction fluctuate depending on a lot of factors including if dealers are buying for their shops and the caliber of the firearm and whether or not custom firearms are being auctioned. I understand all of that.
What I don't understand is bidding more for things like new brass than suppliers like Starline charge. Or bidding more for gunpowder than local gun shops charge...the same with reloading bullets and primers.
Tools are getting to be the same...yesterday I saw a very well used Lyman 1200 tumbler with auto flo go for $55. Retail for brand new is $90. I run three tumblers every week, usually three hours at a time on a couple of separate days. I think my tumblers are used a lot.
The Lyman that was auctioned for $55 looked like it had been ran a lot more and it looked worn and a bit beat up.
I also saw a very dirty badly cared for RockChucker go for about $80. I know RockChucker presses are strong durable and dependable machines...my son and I both run separate RockChuckers every week. I load hundreds of rounds of big bore revolver cartridges on mine every week and he loads quite a few rifle cartridges on his every week. Both are well taken care of and look brand new. I would never pay $80 for a beat up unmaintained dirty RockChucker.
I saw half full boxes of commercial cast lead bullets go for only a few dollars less than the retail cost of a full box of 500 bullets.
The only real good buy I recall was a new in box Hornady electronic powder dispenser that went for about half of retail on most websites.
I really didn't buy much...I bought a couple of pretty nice hard gun cases. One had a Dan Wesson barrel wrench in it, so I got a little bonus there. Other than that I bought some used Nickle brass in .38Spl and .357Mag...probably 5-600 pieces of brass. I need to separate, inspect and tumble it. Only cost $10 so not a big investment.
Whole morning of entertainment at the auction for a cost of about $135. I didn't stay for the firearms portion of the auction.
Not really complaining...just making an observation. I suppose the bidding reflects some people's need to win no matter the cost.
I go to auctions to get bargains...I research retail prices for items I want and then set limits on what I will bid depending on the condition of the item. If the bidding goes higher than my limit, I just drop out.