doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Shipping from U.K.

Correct that we don't pay the vat but if the gun is sold and remains in country they do if it qualifies. Often the vat is about what it cost to import so that levels the bidding field between in country and out of country.

Not to hijack this thread, and really didn't want to post a new thread with the same structure, but in this case it's a firearm,in my case it's a barrel set, how would one go about getting a set of barrels imported from the UK or Canada?

I can import them from the UK

I'd agree with Steve on the bargains and leftovers. I've found myself to be relatively fortunate on bidding at Holt's but if I really want a gun I put in an extravagant bid (we're NOT talking 5 figures here ). The sealed bid is a similar game. Just beaware that often on the leftovers, they're often left over for a reason, sometimes "popularity" but more often condition. There are auctionhouse other than Holt's as well, although I find Holt's estimates seem to ball park the guns rather well; Gavin Gardiner's tend to the higher side for example. It is also possible to purchase guns through the UK gun sales websites and "provincial" auctions. These tend (not always) to be cheaper BUT, as a rule, they have much poorer descriptions reflecting poorer understanding of the subject; I've even had one sold and released that should have been cut as out of proof (a legal violation). Anyway, back to the primary subject of cost. If you locate one in such out of the way places it is still possible to get it exported with the agreement of third and fourth parties but typically you'll end up paying for RFDs in the UK to collect and ship the gun to your UK exporter. This can add 50 to 100 pounds to the cost. It is sometimes worth it though. Always risky due to uknown conditiion but that's the case with buying even from the likes of Holt's if you don't pay (more cost) to have someone look the gun(s) over for you prior to bid. I've located rather rare, although not very valuable, pieces that way, like a Bagnall and Kirkwood (sucessor to W. R. Pape) gun.
If had some with major undocumented flaws and others that have been amazing bargains. I'm willing to take those risks on low end guns because the "losses" are so small compared to potential payoffs. All of this is the reason UK guns are the price the are here in the US. But if you're willing to take certain risks and put in the time you can end up with some very nice pieces at significantly less than you'll find on US sales sites.

Jeremy

Well soundly outbid on one item. The other remains a bit of a mystery at this point. I have a confirmed bod for 200GBP more than it hammered for yet the auctioneer told someone on the floor he had won it.....


and after the sale the lot in question now says it went above my bid. Something is a bit fishy to say the least.

Zero for four today. Well I must have good taste because each item went for twice or more the estimated bid amount. Like I said earlier Holts sales are like Christmas dreams to me. Rarely do I get what I want but I still wait, try and hope to get lucky.

IMO Holts is suffering from a case of "Old Boy Network." They have those they know and feel the need to take care of and they do so.

Speaking of Unsold lots - they seem to come and go mysteriously. Some items will not sale during the live auction yet wind up missing and not listed with unsold lots. You can draw your own conclusions.

Sometime the owners want unsold items returned and sometimes they want them to go to unsold lot listing. Most of the time the unsold lots price is about the min bid. I did buy one gun on an offer for less than that but have had several others declined.

Sold to unsold most of the times are items which the buyer failed to complete for one reason or another. Perhaps they failed to figure out how to import it. Perhaps their wife took the credit card.

I have had one item which I thought I had won at auction that later was informed it had gone to a higher bid. Never figured out that mixup but not being there in person does create risk for more confusion.

What I refuse to do is accept a sale for any item which I was bidding on and list. Seems like that would encourage shill bidding. I do watch for items that I lost to see if they come up again but so far only one gas and that was most likely just the new buyer selling it later.