I think the last bidder and the seller are going to have words about the seller trying to cancel the auction after bids were placed. Gunbroker apparently wouldn't cancel the auction at the request of the seller.

I only ran across it an hour before the end of the auction. Was on my iPad, was 20 minutes before I noticed the "ITEM SOLD" note. Already had my credit card out.
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/647560353

JUST WOW! wish it was Me!

Mercy! And 23 pieces of brass went with it!

I was watching it until I saw the message that it was no longer for sale-Sold at the end of listing. Tom.

Rory, did the guy sell it and stiff the last bidder and GB? Looks like some one walked in the shop and made him an offer and he just gave every one else the finger? Joe.

The seller claims it was sold off the rack before the first bid, but was busy and slow to pull the auction.
As I said to a forum member yesterday, I smell a rat, but the rat got a nice rifle.

I bought an 1899 H 22 HP out from under Saddlring a few years ago. It was a 2 week sale and the guy had an opening bid of $1199, with no bids. I'm a very rule oriented person, so I didn't offer to buy it while the sale was live. On the last day I sent him a message and said "If you don't get an opening bid would you consider $900?" . He said "Sure, we can talk about it". So, two days after the sale, he hadn't relisted it, I called and he said he had a guy come in the shop that was interested too, but if I had the money I could have it. Turned out it was John. He didn't tell me he told John he would hold it for him. Then I posted a pic and John said "I wondered who got my gun", and I felt like a rat for a while. But, John said he was glad I got it and not some stranger. Thanks again John. With the internet I guess you never know if your snatching the rug out from under a friend, Joe.

The Q-tip and bottles of cold blue in the top picture would make me a little nervous. Makes you wonder why the seller didn't set a minimum or a reserve.

First bid was 11am on 5/16, seller updated auction describe. on 5/18 that it was sold. The winning bidder bid on 5/18 also.

Little fishy, Joe.

Yah, that is going to get ugly unless the last bidder is a 'nice guy' GB will want their 70 buck fee on the selling price regardless!

GB is absolutely rigid on not cancelling an auction with a bid. Has caused me some heartburn over the years. And, they are not good communicators at all.

It would be interesting to see if the GB listing w/bid can & will be persued as a legal document in which case the high bidder is the legal owner.
The rack buyer's got a 5 day head start. Plenty of time to bury it.

Will probably end just like it is. A happy rack buyer, a pissed off auction buyer and a red faced Seller who should be banned from GB.

But was it a rack buyer, or somebody who called or PM'd the seller and asked him to name a price to sell it now off of gunbroker?

Don't know if gunbroker keeps a log of the questions sent to sellers, but if so that could get even uglier.

I've never found GB to be at all helpful in solving problems between buyer & seller. They provide the venue for the auctions to occur and don't want to be bothered with your problems.

Regardless, the Seller is in violation. GB was not contacted until after a bid and that is why the auction was not closed.

It is a good thing that this happened in New York. Plenty of lawyers to sort it out...

Yep, also looks like a Birchwood Casey gun blue touch-up pen in the pic....

Is there anything legally binding about a GB sale? Something like a contract that says you will sell to the buyer as long as the buyer meets the conditions (minimum bid, reserve, FFL, etc.) of the sale. If not, then the seller could just tell the buyer to blow it out his ear. He may never sell on GB anymore, but what the hey...

The seller is literally across the river from me, and I didn't know he existed, so I don't think it's a storefront operation. I intend to find out more about the seller and the victor if I can.

Doubt a buyer of a $3000 gun is going to pay out the money for a lawyer to try to get satisfaction. For what he pays the lawyer, he could hit a future auction and buy a 95% Victor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk7fYBw6PfQ

In this corner of the country, the winning bidder is quite well known. I am really not sure how he will deal with this. Usually, he's pretty laid back about things. He is a Vermonter. BUT, I think we all know (speculate) who, how, and why the auction ended. Nothing new.

Well, I did talk with the seller, it's a new shop, young guy, part-timer, full-time DOJ guard. Sounds like he had a cash buyer walk in first day it was listed, he had checked his GB earlier that day, there were no bids. By time he got back on GB to remove the ad there was a bid. He contacted GB but did not get a response over the weekend, when most of the other bids came in. He admits it became a mess of a GB process, and did not expect the activity the rifle generated. He did not know what he had, just going by blue-book ID info.

Family member who had the rifle brought it in to the shop and "hoped to get a few hundred dollars for it". It was a consignment, so family member was quite happy with the cash sale price. Rifle had a tang crack and dark bore, I did not get to see it personally.

I've never sold anything on GB but I doubt the high bidder can do anything but complain. And by the way, the bidder should be big enough to step up to the plate and admit his winning bid was a fluke. Sometimes adults just have to act like adults and get over it.

One never knows what kind of sheit is going to go wrong when dealing with a Yankee.

Boy, I say, boy y'all ain't whistlin' Dixie there!

Just about the same sheit you get when dealing with a Reb..

Apparently not

Alright Foghorn!

Who won that war?

Who do you fellows think did the engraving ? is that Tue's work ?

Definitely Tue's work.