Someone should do a Ph.D. thesis on Gunbroker bidding behavior.

R

rogersmithiii

NES Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2008
Messages
2,924
Likes
4,229
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
Saw a new item on Gunbroker that I decided to bid on. You could buy the item outright from many other dealers for $1099, but this one started out at $899.

I opened the bidding at 899, and about three days before the end, someone bid $905. So an hour before the end of the auction, I bid $955. That was as much as I wanted to spend on the item.

5 minutes before the end of the auction, the guy who bid $905, bid $1099 - the buy it now price, which is what he could have acquired the item for without wasting all the time messing around with the auction.

Further, he could have had the item for $960 had he bid it right.

Wondering if the shop owner decided that he didn't want to sell the item, so he bid the buy it price to avoid the sale.
 
I figure its a few things. First some people get caught up in the moment and have to win at any price. Second and I have 0 proof but I swear people have it set up to bid up stuff to get real bidders to their max bid.
 
I see it as people taking a chance to get it at a cheaper price. Sure, they spent some time in the auction but the only loss to them was a little time. (You indicated that they ended up paying the buy it now price).

But I believe that there is a lot of shell bidding going on in Gunbroker as others have said.
 
HARRYM said:
Correct
Click to expand...

Yeah, then I don’t see the OPs situation as any sort of shill bidder. I see it as someone who thought they could get it cheaper than buy it now, but realized they probably wouldn’t so they just changed max bid to buy it now price.
 
PappyM3 said:
Once you’ve started bidding, you can’t do but it now, right?
Click to expand...
You can still use the buy-it-now. The buy-it-now only goes away if the bidding goes higher than that price.

Random example: S&W Smith & Wesson Sport II Optics Ready 5.56 w/Sig Romeo MSR + Juliet 5x - Semi Auto Rifles at GunBroker.com : 1016203455

Currently $755, no reserve, buy-it-now still available.

I've done the same thing that guy might have done. I placed a bid on an item, decided I didn't want to get into a potential bidding war near the end, so just opted for the buy-it now. Not saying that's what happened with your auction, could have been a shill, but there are trains of thought that get to the same outcome.
 
Last edited:
PappyM3 said:
Yeah, then I don’t see the OPs situation as any sort of shill bidder. I see it as someone who thought they could get it cheaper than buy it now, but realized they probably wouldn’t so they just changed max bid to buy it now price.
Click to expand...
No, its to get you to go all in for door number 3....the seller tries to pull you in even deeper as you already have a vested interest in the item.
 
GunCat said:
You can still use the buy-it-now. The buy-it-now only goes away if the bidding goes higher than that price.

Random example: S&W Smith & Wesson Sport II Optics Ready 5.56 w/Sig Romeo MSR + Juliet 5x - Semi Auto Rifles at GunBroker.com : 1016203455

Currently $755, no reserve, buy-it-now still available.
Click to expand...

Other people can still do the buy it now, but the people who have started to bid cannot. That’s what I remember.

HARRYM said:
No, its to get you to go all in for door number 3....the seller tries to pull you in even deeper as you already have a vested interest in the item.
Click to expand...

I know how shill bidding works. I just don’t think that was the case here.
 
rogersmithiii said:
5 minutes before the end of the auction, the guy who bid $905, bid $1099 - the buy it now price, which is what he could have acquired the item for without wasting all the time messing around with the auction.
Click to expand...
Link the auction?

If the final bid was 1099, then he was bidding against someone else besides you. If you were at 955, the ending bid would have been 960 or something, not 1099.
 
Meh. Auctions can be weird, for anything.

I was at a Junk Sale auction (dealers re-selling to other dealers crap that would not move). There was a couple of cases of Uline padded envelopes. They sold for ~15% over retail.

I said, "You know you paid too much, right?"

"Yeah....but I got caught up in the excitement." [laugh]
 
MisterHappy said:
Meh. Auctions can be weird, for anything.

I was at a Junk Sale auction (dealers re-selling to other dealers crap that would not move). There was a couple of cases of Uline padded envelopes. They sold for ~15% over retail.

I said, "You know you paid too much, right?"

"Yeah....but I got caught up in the excitement." [laugh]
Click to expand...
Auction education can get expensive....
 
ddeck22 said:
I see it as people taking a chance to get it at a cheaper price. Sure, they spent some time in the auction but the only loss to them was a little time. (You indicated that they ended up paying the buy it now price).

But I believe that there is a lot of shell bidding going on in Gunbroker as others have said.
Click to expand...
Perhaps a shell script to do shill bidding :oops:
 
rogersmithiii said:
Saw a new item on Gunbroker that I decided to bid on. You could buy the item outright from many other dealers for $1099, but this one started out at $899.

I opened the bidding at 899, and about three days before the end, someone bid $905. So an hour before the end of the auction, I bid $955. That was as much as I wanted to spend on the item.

5 minutes before the end of the auction, the guy who bid $905, bid $1099 - the buy it now price, which is what he could have acquired the item for without wasting all the time messing around with the auction.

Further, he could have had the item for $960 had he bid it right.

Wondering if the shop owner decided that he didn't want to sell the item, so he bid the buy it price to avoid the sale.
Click to expand...
Something is missing in your report. Either there was another bidder pushing it up or he hit buy it now.
 
67ray said:
Stop being skinflints, and buy from your LGS or the NES Classifieds

Keep your money local
Click to expand...
My local gun stores have no inventory. On Gunbroker, I can find multiple examples of nearly everything, pay for it with a credit card, and ship to my local guy to do the transfer.

It's not a price thing. By the time you add shipping, and the transfer fee, you are pretty close to the local guy.
 
GunCat said:
You can still use the buy-it-now. The buy-it-now only goes away if the bidding goes higher than that price.

Random example: S&W Smith & Wesson Sport II Optics Ready 5.56 w/Sig Romeo MSR + Juliet 5x - Semi Auto Rifles at GunBroker.com : 1016203455

Currently $755, no reserve, buy-it-now still available.

I've done the same thing that guy might have done. I placed a bid on an item, decided I didn't want to get into a potential bidding war near the end, so just opted for the buy-it now. Not saying that's what happened with your auction, could have been a shill, but there are trains of thought that get to the same outcome.
Click to expand...
Maybe if it was a one of a kind item, but it was a 629 deluxe 44 mag. There are a zillion of them for sale.
 
rogersmithiii said:
There were only two bidders, and four bids. My first one, his $5 increase, my $50 increase, and his buy it now.
Click to expand...
Mystery solved and case closed, then.

He wanted the item, started bidding on it, then decided not to wait on the bidding and chose the buy-it-now.

rogersmithiii said:
Maybe if it was a one of a kind item, but it was a 629 deluxe 44 mag. There are a zillion of them for sale.
Click to expand...
Totally irrelevant. [thumbsup]
 

Similar threads

ATF doing Bidens bidding
Replies
9
Views
636
snax
snax
Local Dealers who Sell on Consignment Through GunBroker?
2
Replies
49
Views
1K
alan226
alan226
can someone tell me in layman's english how exactly does israel's "iron dome" work?
2 3
Replies
60
Views
1K
drgrant
drgrant
To cynical of society?, Gunbroker transaction
Replies
20
Views
477
40 Creedmoor fan
4
Trigger job on a S&W Bodyguard 380?
2 3
Replies
64
Views
885
inerlogic
inerlogic
Back
Top Bottom