Posted by Jent P Mitchell III on February 28, 2014, 9:01 am, in reply to "Appraisal"
Hello Tracy, There are several gun auctions coming up in March. If you watch the auctions you can get a pretty good idea of where the market is for classic L C Smiths and other classic American made SXS shotguns.
You should watch the Poulin Auction House website and the James D. Julia Auction House website. Be aware that these auctions at these auction houses are RESERVE AUCTIONS usually and you might not know what the reserve price or minimum bid price is.
You can also see auction results for Reddings Auction and Horst Auction in Pennsylvania. These auctions are real auctions UNLESS it is boldly proclaimed that the auction is a reserve auction. If an item has a reserve bid or a reserve price at Reddings or Horst in Pennsylvania they will tell you that it has a reserve and what the minimum bid is.
Just about every state has different rules and regulations governing auction houses. The rules in the State of Maine are not friendly to the buyer ! The rules in the State of Maine are not friendly to the bidder ! Be Careful when doing business in Maine at an auction house.
When determining the sold for price of an item at an auction do not forget to add in the buyers fee or the buyers premium. I have seen a buyers premium of as much as 24% ...??? I did not understand that fee. It was just nuts and makes the bidding go slow because you have to sit there with a pocket calculator to figure out what your bid really is. I have seen the auction actually stop so the bidders could figure out where the bid really was at.
When you are calculating the total price, your total bid, do not forget the TAX !