Been buying guns by auction for over a decade, primarily through Amoskeag and Poulin and not just for side by sides. I found both to be honest and been happy dealing with both. I've found their descriptions for their live auctions to be accurate, but it's also important to make sure you really read the description. If there is a flaw in the gun they will mention it , but they won't necessarily emphasize it. The same with the silent auction, but remember the silent auction is getting rid of things not valuable or special enough to make it into the live auction.
An auction house is a good way of disposing of a large collection quickly, disposing of an estate quickly and maybe just getting rid of things that accumulate. You are probably not going to make a huge profit unless you bought something at a bargain and it sold for a premium. They do have a large following of people that may reach buyers beyond what a private sale might.
It's also important to judge the market properly. As an example over the past several years I suspect that a couple of Randall knife collectors have either died or decided to get rid of their collection and by doing so they probably depressed the value of Randall knives.
