If you look at auction sites* like Gunbroker my estimate is the 90%+ of the items listed,am I'm talking strictly about militaria here, are "NO SALES". This is due to multiple factors such as high starting prices and a substantial percentage of fakes.
Craig Gottlieb just completed his own auction(there was no buyers premium) and my understanding is that he did well. Perhaps Craig will see this and comment further.
*I rarely waste my time looking at "auction sites" such as Manions,Gunbroker,Empire etc as they aren't real auctions in the true sense of the word. When someone starts out with either a close to retail starting price or essentially the same thing with a high reserve this to me isn't an auction. Then they add insult to injury by tacking a 10-15% buyers premium on the top. You can get away with these shenanigans in a rising market to a degree but not in today's market. The auctions I've noticed that get the most activity are the "penny auctions"***. Bidding can be fierce and rarely does anything go for way below it's true value. You'd think some of these operations would wise up to this!
Barrett & Jackson got fed up with the gameplaying that was occuring in the classic car auctions and went to "No Reserve no Minimum Bid" auction a few years back. Again bidding is spirited at their auctions and rarely does a car go for less that it's worth**.
**"Worth" is relative as someone investing $50,000 in the restoration of a car that will realistically sell for $20,000 is always a mystery to us enthusiasts. This happens all the time.
***IMO: It would be an interesting test to let Bob Grant put up one of his nice out-of-the-woodwork finds he comes up with here starting at a penny with the highest bidder getting it and let it run for 3 days to a week.
Jim
