An Auction means that there is no pre-determined final sale price. Potential buyers will “bid” and at the end of the auction period, often right down to the last second, the highest bidder will “win” the right to buy for its final price. > The seller posts an auction for a predetermined time period (it cannot be ended early unless using BUY IT NOW ). > Members place bids during the time the auction is posted – right until the last second of the last day. > The seller can view bids by going to their My GunsAmerica home page, hover over Selling, click on My Auctions, and then click on the number of bids there are (to the right of the auction title and price) under the “BIDS” column. > At the end of the auction the highest bidder wins the right to purchase the item (of course all laws and regulations must be followed for them to actually make the purchase). > If the BUY IT NOW choice was offered by the seller (optional), and a member uses it, the auction and bidding ends at that time and that member wins the right to purchase the item immediately. Advantages: * Auctions have emotion and a sense of urgency and competition, which can make people pay more than you anticipated or would ask for in a traditional classified ad. * You can put a “reserve” or “BUY IT NOW ” option on it so you don’t sell it for less than you want. Disadvantages: * Auctions tend to bring about more “buyer’s remorse” than when an item is purchased through a classified ad because of the emotion surrounding the competition to buy. This can cause more returns and/or complaints. * Auctions generally do not last as long as classified ads (classifieds can run for months, waiting for the right price or the right buyer) which means the right buyer might not come along for your auction before it ends. * You don’t know, until the auction is over and it’s time to collect money and ship, if the person who won a gun is legally allowed to own or receive shipment. (see Approved Bidder Auction below) * You cannot end an auction early! * Once the auction is posted you cannot make changes to the listing. This is a common rule in the world of auctions. This is done to be fair to anyone who has bid or who has plans to bid. Who Can Post: Only Verified, Gold, and Trusted members can post an auction. Fees: Auctions, unlike basic bare-bones classified ads, have some small up-front posting fees (due even if the item does not sell). There are also after sale fees on Auctions (just like the other types of ads), but only if you sell the item. Who Can Bid: All registered members are generally eligible to bid on auctions BUT we have introduced a new feature where the seller ultimately gets to choose what member level can bid on each of their auctions (same for all listings).