One size fits all prices

[Arisaka99]

One of the mysteries of online auction pricing that has always both amused and frustrated me is the listing of a rifle for a price that matches the highest price the seller can find for a "similar" item without doing any real research. The common Japanese Arisaka for the asking price of a rare "Naval Special" rifle; a stripped, mismatched and ground early type 99 for the price of one with all the bells and whistles and a perfect finish.

It applies most to the variety of flavors of 1903s. Every time I dig into my 1903 searches, there are literally 10 or so frankenstein rebuilds with the seller basing their price on what a pristine example in original arsenal condition would bring. The best one right now is a "1903A1" listed in the $4k range. WWII rebuild in a nice but reworked "S" stock. Clearly someone saw a pristine 1903A1 sale or a National Match or 1903A4 and since it looked the same, it must be REALLY valuable.

There are several wonderful outcomes:

1. Nobody will buy it and they might even listen to the emails they get explaining what they have. Price is lowered to "reasonable" range. (An interesting sidebar to this one... I usually don't bother emailing anymore because the seller A. Doesn't care; B. Gets offended and tells me to mind my own business; or C. Gets confused because he got a letter from another "expert" confirming what a treasure he has, and also telling him that a similar rifle sold for more because some of these were packed on the Lunar Module for the moon shot in '69).

2. It will re-list forever at stupid price and clutter up our search (some sellers I don't even scroll down anymore)

3. Stupid will buy it.

I wish the auction sites would set a re-list policy that involved either a maximum number of runs without a price change or charged a small fee for re-listing. It would also dump a lot of junk... like that SC 03A3 with some kind of snot colored epoxy holding the buttstock together that has been there over a year. Dude! Your rifle as presented looks like a piece of junk- Get a new stock and new pictures or sell it at a parts rifle price and you MIGHT even get some money back out of it! Unless you have bottomless pockets to tie up your cash flow in inventory, this is probably hurting your business! I GUARANTEE you are hurting my eyes!

Anyway, rant off. I do feel better!

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