I was referring to the auction premium.
Must be a Yankee term.

Aaron

marlinguy wrote on Oct 30^th, 2018 at 6:26pm:


Add "loan shark" to the mix and see what pops up.

and while we're on the subject....in the early 60's I used to dream about finding a good but plain 32-40 Ballard that I could afford. In fact, in the early 60's nobody had a good but plain Ballard for sale, and it seemed that even if someone had one, they wouldn't sell it to me anyway. Today, I have several good but plain Ballards, and so I think of them as my dream guns. I didn't buy them as an investment, I bought'em 'cause I wanted to shoot'em, and now you could say that at last my dreams have come true, or at least some of them anyway.

Collecting in almost every field has been experiencing a significant downturn for the last few years. There are two reasons: the lack of a "middle class" and lack of interest. Without interest in the subject matter, there will be no money spent.
In the 1960's, when I started collecting things, many people who were active in collecting were middle class blue collar workers in the manufacturing sector. they had nice houses, good insurance and pensions, and money for boats, cars and guns. Jobs at GM and John Deere were considered excellent career choices. In the last few years, wages in manufacturing have been barely above minimum wage will few if any benefits. This is starting to turn around, but there is also the fact that there is a general lack of interest in collecting among people under the age of 50. Not saying they are bad people, they just do not have the interest in old stuff. Antique collecting has taken a huge hit, stamp and coin collecting has taken a huge hit, and so has interest in hot rods and guns. Interest might come back if prices get to the point where more people can afford to get in, but as far as guns are concerned, there are a lot of huge collections that are being liquidated because the owners are dying off or downsizing. My advice is, if you like it and can afford it, go for it, but do not spend your money on collectibles as an investment. Just my 2 cents. Joe S

Vig--vigorish.  I've always heard it when dealing with loan sharks.

I don't collect, I accumulate.

I have made lame attempts to "collect" Ruger single shots and Mauser pre-war 22 sporters over the years, but have pretty much given that up too.

The accumulating part is easy it's the de-cumulating that I'm in the middle of that's been hard, especially, as has been noted, in this much softer gun market.

Th daily struggle continues . . . . .

westerner wrote on Oct 31^st, 2018 at 10:41am:


100% true Joe! On all accounts! I'm fortunate to have a wife who supports my hobby of collecting and shooting the guns I collect. 40 years next year, and she still puts up with me and my hobby.