In answer to your first question, yes, I have bought items from several of the "fancy guys" auction houses, but sold only through R.I. I would not purchase anything from any of them again without either seeing the item in person or seeing a whole lot more pictures than they normally post. In answer to your second question, "Has anyone gotten something from them that was just not correct..." yes and yes many times over. The items that I've received that were not correct were the result of poorly written descriptions and/or absent or simply wrong photographs. You will notice that many of the large aution houses are including shorter and shorter descriptions for just this reason. Finally, with regard to your third question, "how was it taken care of," .... it wasn't. If you are considering any specific auction house -- especially R.I. -- please do a computer search of the company's name and the words "law suit." Once again, especially R.I. The only auction company that corrected a problem with an item was Lock Stock & Barrel --http://
www.lsbauctions.com-- which generally lists on gunauctions.com. In the other cases where there have been problems--especially with R.I.--the response was either silence or more lies. The rule is buyer beware; don't bid any higher than the amount of money you're willing to kiss goodbye! Another consideration is to find out if the auction company "maxes your bid." In other words, if you set a bid limit of $2000 for an item, and then during the auction the item only goes up to $1500, some auction houses will then bid your limit while other auction companies will only rise the bid to the next level. That brings up another point. Different companies have different rules. Some have "levels" or "tiers" for bidding. For example, items from $1000 to $2000 must go up in $100 increments. Other companies have bid increments of different amounts and some have none. One has a "bump" or "plus" system that is even more complicated. For example, if you approve of one "plus" and the item is in a bracket where that "plus" is $500 or $1000, it can come as a shock when the bill arrives. Just make sure that you understand the rules. Now, one final consideration regarding bidding on something from an auction house--especially R.I.--and that is to consider the shipping and handling. It is not unusual to be the winner of an auction item, let's say for $2,000.00, and then discover that in addition to the 15% to 20% premium that most of the auction companies charge, there will be the "shipping, packaging, handling, insurance, postage" and any other charge they can create that will be added on and be as high as 20% of the original price So, that $2000.00 item with a 20% buyers premium and another 20% shipping, handling, postage will total up to as much as $2800.00. Still sound like a good deal? If you think that's too much, and try to save a little on the "shipping and handling, by going to pick it up in person, there might still be a "storage and handling fee" and sales tax will definately be added. Oh, one last thing. If you decide to attend an auction in person in the hope of avoiding any confusion or misinformation about the item you're considering, you may find yourself bidding against folks who have "special arrangements" with the auction house. It is not unusual for the "fancy guys" to give the larger buyers a lower premium. There are several other perks that the "fancy guys" give to the "big guys." As a result, you might consider attending one in person first, before bidding on line. Take a notebook or use a catalogue to keep track of who is buying what. It might be revealing. Hope this helps a little. Let us know how it goes for you.
