Mon. Rant No. 1 - inspection of real "collectors items"

[gh1950]

Out of 1000 items listed as "rare, collector's item" on ODT, maybe 1 really is.

But let's give the other 999 the benefit of the doubt.

Why do people refuse to allow inspection of an item that they go to the trouble of advertising as "rare."

What other "collectible" are you expected to buy sight unseen - coins, art, cars -?

If I'm willing to come to you, meet you at your convenience at whatever location you choose, to inspect the item before committing to buy, and it's "too much trouble", do you really think it's a collectible.

Even Gunbroker, the seller's allow an inspection period. All high end guns from private sellers have an inspection period.

I can understand if it's a Gen 16 Glop - sure they look all the same, a few scratches one way or another is no biggie.

But on a true collectible, condition is everything, and to the true collector, what you see as a minor scratch or holster wear can be a deal killer.

Especially on 19th century and early 20th century guns "that I inherited from my grandfather and I don't know much about." Just because you saw one on GB that closed for $4000 doesn't mean that Grandpa's gun is worth that much.

I try not to paint with too broad a brush but I'm left shaking my head at the bubble most ODT sellers live in.

 

[Deleted member 79987]

One for The Pasture

 

[BIKER13]

remember you are dealing with some real squirrels on odt

 

[Fear Itself]

 

[Glorfindel]

 

[Wheeler]

I used to think Gunbroker was the last great bastion of optimistic values and prices but I do believe the ODT is vying for that position...

 

[GeauxLSU]

Not sure I follow. I don't care if it's literally the only one in the world or something with 50 million currently in use, I'm not buying anything until it passes some sort of basic inspection even if only reviewing cosmetics. I can't imagine a seller insisting otherwise. After you meet to see the item, if it is not to your liking for the price agreed to, simply don't buy it. What am I missing here?

 

[timbgtm]

Comparing AKs comes to mind on this subject. Everyone knows a Warsaw value is on the lower tier of AKs .

Chinese variants of the AK family demand a premium over the Warsaw. But there's a difference in Chinese variants. We have the mac 90 and then there's the 56s and the underfolder version which is more desirable for the gun enthusiasts collection.

And the saga goes on, wait there the saiga AK,. And don't forget the polytec which is rare and like the Chinese versions of the AKs they were only allowed into the U.S. for a few years thanks to the Clintons assault weapons ban. Needless to say there's close to 150 million of the AK rifles in the world and rare mostly because we aren't supposed to have them.

Whew! I'm glad I'm a coin collector, at least we have companies that grade our coins and put values on them. But there's also a lot of confusion in the coin collector industry, fake companies putting inflated grades and causing the rarity of certain coins to drop. Oh well, collect what you like, instead of the market and it's false values.

 

[Sneakypete]

remember you are dealing with some real squirrels on odt

Well said Biker,well said!

 

[Gunanddoglover]

Not sure I follow. I don't care if it's literally the only one in the world or something with 50 million currently in use, I'm not buying anything until it passes some sort of basic inspection even if only reviewing cosmetics. I can't imagine a seller insisting otherwise. After you meet to see the item, if it is not to your liking for the price agreed to, simply don't buy it. What am I missing here?

Nothing