Local gun auction in southern NH Today

40 caliber

40 caliber

NES Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2009
Messages
2,439
Likes
1,233
Location
Southern NH - Live free or die !
Feedback: 45 / 0 / 0
OK, Saturday morning with nothing planned. I look at my old emails and realize a gun auction just started in Nashua. I just finished a run, need to shower so I obviously missed this one.

Anyone ever go to these? Are there ever deals? I spoke to a dealer and he said there were no deals to be had. He of course is not a collector and looking for resale.

15%-20% off would work for me in most cases. Darn, on certain guns that you can buy CR from dealers, I would pay the same just for a chance to hold it and look at it. &08 would not then be surprised when it showed up in the mail


Any thoughts?
 
A friend and senior Member of Monadnock Rod and Gun Club frequents those Milford/Nashua auctions with a gun shop owner from central NH. They used to go to the old JC Devine auctions ...now morphed (many of the same employees) to Five Rivers Auctions (after JC died and left things in a financially unstable state). I've asked him about the quality and prices of the arms for auction. He says that the last few have been pretty "tight". Not much room for resale profit ...similar to what the dealer that you spoke with had to say.

He did add that you can can see a pretty decent variety of milsurp-type guns, sometimes alongside NIB (old) ammo, military paraphernalia, knives and swords.
 
while i did not attend this one i was told it was expensive. I did attend the last one and saw some good deals that i failed to capitalize on,,
 
At the Concord Gun Show over the weekend, I had the opportunity to ask some dealers about Five Rivers Auctions and about the larger Amoskeag Auction.

Five Rivers actually had a table at the show.

To be quite frank, Amoskeag did not get the most sterling of reviews. Particularly the person who runs the business. Dealers complained about what I would call "ethical" issues when dealing with Amoskeag. Things like receiving defective firearms (relative to the way the item was described and listed in-the-auction). One example was a gun that was simply damaged beyond use. It could not be fired. The individual aforementioned would not credit or take back the item and reimburse. Though, they offered to relist it the same way as a consignment for the dealer. Apparently willing to pass along a "known bad" item to the next sucker.

Pretty shady if you ask me.

FYI: I have no dog in this fight, no affiliation or personal knowledge of any of the people representing or working for either auction.

Amoskeag

upcoming auction highlights

Five Rivers

catalog from last auction
 
Last edited:
Monadnock said:
To be quite frank, Amoskeag did not get the most sterling of reviews. Particularly the person who runs the business. Dealers complained about what I would call "ethical" issues when dealing with Amoskeag. Things like receiving defective firearms (relative to the way the item was described and listed in-the-auction). One example was a gun that was simply damaged beyond use. It could not be fired. The individual aforementioned would not credit or take back the item and reimburse. Though, they offered to relist it the same way as a consignment for the dealer. Apparently willing to pass along a "known bad" item to the next sucker.

Pretty shady if you ask me.
Click to expand...

Yup, and it reminds me of an auction I attended ~30 years ago. A very well-known Boston auctioneer and used office furniture dealer was running an auction of used furniture/equipment. One IBM Selectric typewriter (I did say this was ~30 years ago [laugh]) that was "missing the case" and had a tag on it that it "had been dropped" (no doubt enough to crack and destroy the case!). Auctioneer starts describing the typewriter in "excellent condition" and someone attending shouted out that the tag said it had been dropped! Auctioneer then threatens said person with arrest for "interfering with an auction". [He had hired a uniformed Constable for security at the auction.]

Ah yup, I'll spare you my thoughts on this "auctioneer"! [hmmm] [rolleyes]
 
They charge a 17.5% BUYERS fee, which gets tacked on top of the top price for the auctioned item.

Was looking at the class III stuff, and the $67,000 gun would have landed them a $11,725 commission on that one item.................

I'm in the wrong sales business. Then again, maybe I'm too honest and ethical to be in that business.
 
DukeInMaine said:
They charge a 17.5% BUYERS fee, which gets tacked on top of the top price for the auctioned item.

Was looking at the class III stuff, and the $67,000 gun would have landed them a $11,725 commission on that one item.................

I'm in the wrong sales business. Then again, maybe I'm too honest and ethical to be in that business.
Click to expand...

Well that is BASS ACKWARDS.. I thought the commission came out of the price. Great for the seller. he is protected
 
The commission charged to the seller rates aren't listed, they just say they are "competitive"... who knows.

Looking at the ad's for auctions of general merchandise that are in the Thursday weekend section of the UL, they tend to charge between 10 and 13% buyers premium... so it still seems they are ripping off gun buyers...
 
Been going to these auctions for many many years.
About 10 years ago,the largest James Julia,went from 10 to 15% commission on the buyers side,then the others RIA and Amoskeag had to follow.They are all at 15% buyers premium (the 17% is for payment with a credit card-again common with a lot of guns auctions even on G/B and A/A). Some also reduce it after the first 50k (I am not in that league)
Now the sellers end,and why the buyers premium went from 10 -15% years ago. In order to get the big collections some of the major auction houses went to a reduced or even no sellers commission at all once you get over 100k in items.So the buyers end went up 5%.

Its been my experience,and just about every one I know who goes to them, that Amoskeag and James Juila are by far the most honest and only ones that stand behind the descriptions.The only downside is they get the most bidders so its hard to buy something at a great deal.Nothing but good things to say about both of them.They also have the very best in collections for auction,only RIA comes close to the selection and quality.
Devines had many problems,not sure about five rivers but they don't seem to even be much of a player and nothing of interest to bid on.

Not trying to convince anyone to go (goodness knows they don't need any other bidders) but there is lots of mis-information in the thread,thought it might help to hear from some one who goes to them.
 
Last edited:
caboose84 said:
The commission charged to the seller rates aren't listed, they just say they are "competitive"... who knows.

Looking at the ad's for auctions of general merchandise that are in the Thursday weekend section of the UL, they tend to charge between 10 and 13% buyers premium... so it still seems they are ripping off gun buyers...
Click to expand...

Are they pointing a gun to the people's heads to bid?

Nothings a ripoff if you openly consent to paying it.

Best way to not get ripped off is to not go. Same thing with gun shows or dealers that suck, etc.

If people stopped going to the auctions then they'd have some incentives to lower the fees/commissions.

-Mike
 
No disagreement about anyone being forced to pay something. I think the "ripoff" is in a firearm auction house charging 2 to 5% higher cost to the buyer than a buyer of some other goods just because it's guns.

Seems like a business opportunity, charge a lower buyers premium and attract more bidders...

NHDavek stated once one house went to 15% the others "had" to follow... sounds like a business where the operators have a "gentleman's agreement" not to undercut each other...
 
The reason they all went to 15%(from 10%) was they all had to give up the difference on the sellers end.No agreement,in fact I suspect as the collectors age there are lots of estates to try and bring in and several good auction houses (Amoskeag, Juila, RIA) looking for the best quality guns for their customers.Competition changes the business model !

I have no issue with 15 %,look at Sothebys they get that plus some.If you want to by quality guns from collections that have not been passed around several dealers,auctions are the place to go.If you don't like the price(+15%) put the bid card down,easy enough to do and lots of other lots to bid on.

Hey to each his own,I am a collector and enjoy buying and selling (sometimes),no better place to get the quality and best price of you do your homework.If you ever went to one you would see its standing room only and the phone banks are full of bidders too.They are not looking for bidders-have more then enough, they are looking for collections to auction.
Plus you get to see lots of guns that you would never have the chance to.Saw (and held) a Winchester 66 that was at the battle of the Little Big Horn (went for over 650k)Gattaling Gun,Purdeys,and on and on.When I go,Jason(Amoskeag) will be selling mine as I know my wife will get a lot more then a dealer will give her.
 
Last edited:
Certainly not trying to talk anyone into going to any gun auction,just thought you might want to hear from someone who goes and enjoys them.I would be very skeptical of dealers-and the auctions are full of them,telling you not to go,thats where they buy the guns and competition from collectors is not in their favor.Make up your own mind.

If your curious you can check out the catalogs on line,both Amoskeag and Juila list all the guns on line now.If you go,try and get some time to inspect the lots before the day of the auction (you can do it then but it is very crowded).Its costs nothing to go,just your time and your under no obligation to buy anything.
I have learned to research any guns I am interested in before-thats the fun part ,write down in the catalog what my high is (minus the 15%),and stick to it.You can find deales if you have a large tastes in different guns.You can also get caught up in the bidding and pay to much,key is self restraint.

he best line I have heard about selling your estate guns is.
"lord please don't let my wife sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them"
 
To whom it may concern: As stated before, I have no affiliation with anyone involved in these auctions, But I will reiterate, the dealers whom I spoke with (a couple are long-time friends, and well known at the New England firearms shows) made completely unsolicited (and independent) negative comments about one and only one auctioneer. And his name has been mentioned in this thread ...he runs the Amoskeag auction.
 
Jason,and Amoskeag have an excellent reputation with many long time customers that are both dealers and collectors.I have been going,or leaving absentee bids at his auctions since they started about 13 years ago.They have expanded at least twice (maybe three)at their present location/expansion is one the largest you will see in the auction,any auction (antique,gun) arena. They must be doing something right !

I would encourage anyone who is interested to go make up their own mind about them.My only issue with them is like Juila,there are so many bidders its not easy to find a great deal.They are there,but you have to be knowledgeable and spend some time doing research,which I enjoy.
 
I went to Amoskeag to consign some firearms to them and got almost royally ripped off! I wanted to put 4 guns into the auction and called them, they picked them up and told me the value was less than half of what they were worth. But hey, it's an auction? Right? Not so fast. They then proceeded to tell me that my guns wouldn't make it into the catalog and would still be sold at the auction but they picked them up over a month ahead of time and told me they would be in the book. Curious. Ok , then he tells me that I could expect to get the low price he gave me guarenteed, almost like he already had them sold. I told him no deal and he got pissed, I went and picked my guns up and vowed that anybody who asked I would NEVER recommend Jason and his Gun Grubbing cronies.
Oh, by the way, I consigned my guns at Julia auction and got almost 4 times his estimate! No games, no low ball estimates, they got put in the catalog as I was told they were and the professionals there graded them correctly and appraised them fairly.
It was clear to me that there were some sort of back door dealing going on at that auction house, and yes I know a lot of those auctioneers are related etc... but I got that bad feeling and I'm very happy I pulled my items.
 
noddaduma said:
So where's a good place to find out where the upcoming auctions are? I would like to check them out.
Click to expand...

Not sure about one place for all of them but Julia does 2 times a year (next one is this fall),they are two days
You can go here and check out the auction results

http://jamesdjulia.com/firearms.asp

Amoskeag next one is in May,full catalog usually goes on line about 2 weeks before.

http://www.amoskeagauction.com/

RIA has one coming up on the 20th of May

http://rockislandauction.com/

Those are the big three,there are several other smaller players-not to say you can't find something there but it takes some work and calls
 

Similar threads

Gun Auction Massachusetts On-Line Mar. 3 to 28th.
Replies
0
Views
235
gunauctioneer
gunauctioneer
5/25/24 NHAC GUN SHOW!!!! YES, ONE THAT'S NOT GOING TO BE CANCELED!!
Replies
14
Views
518
Blackmore
Blackmore
New Gun Shop in MA - Bay State Surplus
Replies
14
Views
2K
mcf84check
M
6/19/24 NHAC 3RD WEDNESDAY NIGHT MEETING 6-8PM
Replies
0
Views
42
ChrisNH
C
YE CT Gun Guild Presents Some-Show
Replies
0
Views
230
joelcramer
J
Back
Top Bottom