GL price fixing?

I know it's not just me, I've talked to others about it and they all seem to think it's GL making up fake bids to raise the prices on stuff, because if you haven't noticed stuff seems to be going for really outrageous prices all of a sudden. Take this auction for exapmple... http://cgi.govliquidation.com/auction/view?id=730885 a lot of 7 USED plastic gas cans. At the MV shows, the most your gonna get for them is $10-15 a piece. I see them sell NEW for $30. So why on earth would someone bid $85 when selling them at the shows at $15 a piece would only get you $105. Add in GLs buyers premium, fuel and time to go get the things or paying to have them shipped and it wasn't even worth the time to bid. The surplus biz is getting hard to compete in.[/b]

It looks like someone must really want them since the bid is now $150. I have considered GL might be into some price fixing (since we have no visibility into the other bidders) but I doubt they would worry about messing around on some plastic gas cans. It is all supply and demand.

A buddy of mine has quit bidding all together. He bid on a specific M1028 truck. Bid was run up by another party until he quit bidding and suposedly went to the other bidder. Next auction cycle it was there again. Same outcome. Next cycle, same truck again. He emailed GL to find out that if he's second high bid WHY is the truck not going to him if it's obviously still not there. They gave him some cookie cutter BS answer. He watched that truck cycle four times and went to see if it was the same truck twice. That crap isn't good for business.

I've seen it happen over and over again. I've stopped almost all my business with GL completely. They have ghost bidders that try to jack with the bids and get the market to pay more than fair value. I do most of my buying from the GSA to get the actual market value. The only time I use GL is if the GSA does not have what I'm looking for. So far I have not used GL for over two years. A subtle hint?

So you guys have noticed it too, things jump up to out of sight prices, then somehow appear again at later dates! Something is up. They need to see their site up like Ebay so we can see who is bidding. A friend confronted them on their ghost bidders but GL won't let you know who the winning bidder is, which means they can do whatever they want.

Was just reading through this post and had been thinking the same thing. 1 note is that if you check the bid history, it will show you the bidders number. That would be a way to track mystery bidders.

I totally think they are doing that. Dont laugh but last year , I got sucked into a bidding war for a duece on GL, clean duece w/hard top and winch, etc. in nice shape out of Barstow. I dont know what got into me but I bid that thing all the way up to over $4000 for 2 1/2 hours after the auction ended. I finally realized how crazy that was and stopped. If that was a member of the forum , I'm sorry, but I really wanted that truck. I honestly think it was a ghost bidder though. Just last week a newer M105A2 trailer went for over $1700. My wife has put me on GL probation and I cannot buy anything for a while.

There isn't an ounce of doubt in my mind that they are shill biddingthis stuff up. Not an ounce. Crooked as the day is long..........

Ask Kenny about the M887 that went for stupid money recently.....

When I recieved the SF97's for my 2 M1008's the paperwork indicated that GL purchased the 2 trucks for less than 200.00 each, I paid 1600.00 and 1800.00 for each truck, anyone know what the deal is with the price on the SF97?

I can post a pic/scan of the Doc if anyone wants to see it.

GSA roolz, although the ex-forestry fire department colors are kinda hot.

GL bid all the surplus at a percentage of acquisition cost.. that is what appears on their SF97. Some of the money from the auctions is supposed to go back to the gummint... however the contract is not very transparent. They have to pay to use gummint facilities in some way and for transporting stuff to the big sales areas...commercially. etc etc... Not good for the smaller dealers for sure. Only one more year left on the contract... keep writing to your elected officials.

GL



Davidson gets $40.00 plus freight for a new can. FYI

A new generation of uneducated buyers, pricewise, will run up the price on an auction. All of you who were newbies 5 or 6 years ago or after Levy-Latham, did the same to those who had been buying previously. That's life. Supply and demand should also to be considered.

Also to consider, GL has agressively been "retailing" vs "wholesaleing", drawing a new type of buyer such as yourself, the end user. Which is in direct conflict with me, the surplus dealer.

And then there are those who have seen GL employee's viewing auctions while the auction was in progress.

If you don't like the priceing , don't bid. If you think something is corrupt, file a complaint with DRMO, Battle Creek. They are waiting for your letter.

RE: GL

I've posted the details of how GL's contract relates to the pricing on SS previously - you should be able to find it through the search function fairly easily. The thrust of it is that GL pays the govt a VERY low percentage of acquisition cost for items (the actual percentage varies depending on commodity) and title then transfers to GL (hence is on the SF97. When the item is sold, the VAST majority of the the money - including buyers premium - goes to the government.

I am not a lawyer - but my thinking is that "shill bidding" is a form of colusion. And I'd doubt that anyone with the financial wherewithall to bid on the surplus contract (read GL owners and executives) is going to risk jail time to run up prices.

Rather, I think there are a bunch of folks with "buyers remorse" who default. Also, I personally almost lost two trucks I'd paid for - but didn't remove in time - they would have been reoffered. And finally, several years ago I bought a truck that was not as represented. Had this been discovered before I removed it - it would have been reoffered as well (instead, we negotiated a new price and they refunded the difference).

In the past I sold a lot of stuff on ebay - and their were a lot of non-paying bidders - especially on stuff that went crazy high. So, I relisted those items. Am I the only one that happened to?

My .02,
David

RE: GL

"In the past I sold a lot of stuff on ebay - and their were a lot of non-paying bidders - especially on stuff that went crazy high. So, I relisted those items. Am I the only one that happened to?"

You're not the only one, and I love the excuses for not paying, or why they bid, etc.

RE: GL

I have sold 3 vehicles on eBay. None of them went to the highest bidder, rather the second or third highest. I am also quickly learning that eBay is no place to sell a cell phone.

Djfreema said:

I totally think they are doing that. Dont laugh but last year , I got sucked into a bidding war for a duece on GL, clean duece w/hard top and winch, etc. in nice shape out of Barstow. I dont know what got into me but I bid that thing all the way up to over $4000 for 2 1/2 hours after the auction ended. I finally realized how crazy that was and stopped.

Click to expand...

I think you just explained the problem...

Here's the way some (a lot of) people think: If water cans would cost me $30 each and I wanted 7, then I would pay $210 to get them. Any less, and I'm getting a good deal. ESPECIALLY if I am not a military hobbyist. There are way more non-MV folks bidding than you think and they don't know what we do. Most buyers also forget to factor in the 10% until after they bid...

I also agree with DDoyle: There are definitely some bidders who are new and get in over their heads and then just default.

Have you noticed??? GL advertises EVERYWHERE!!! They are an advertising machine and a Google search for military truck has them come up 3rd on the list. Not hard to find them.

The fact of the matter is that collusion is too big a risk for them. And, it's not worth it for a few extra bucks on a few trucks, when the truck sales are a small part of what they sell. Why not jack the bid on all trucks? How come sales with large numbers of trucks keep the prices lower? There have been plenty of clean deuces coming out lately for under $2000. That's not what I would call "bidding them up"....

Don't get me wrong, I just figured that the price I saw on the SF97 was what the GL paid the Gov for the truck. I'm happy with my purchases, just always wondered "what if"

Go price a similar but civilian 5 gallon gas can thats as well built as the USGI ones. Not the Walmart specials, but a good industrial fuel can that can take the same beating the USGI ones can.. Let me know what the price is..

spicergear said:

A buddy of mine has quit bidding all together. He bid on a specific M1028 truck. Bid was run up by another party until he quit bidding and suposedly went to the other bidder. Next auction cycle it was there again. Same outcome. Next cycle, same truck again. He emailed GL to find out that if he's second high bid WHY is the truck not going to him if it's obviously still not there. They gave him some cookie cutter BS answer. He watched that truck cycle four times and went to see if it was the same truck twice. That crap isn't good for business.

Click to expand...

If you have proof of that, it might be a good idea to contact your congressman. That type of crap is highly ILLEGAL.

CUCVFAN said:

The fact of the matter is that collusion is too big a risk for them. And, it's not worth it for a few extra bucks on a few trucks....

Click to expand...

Precisely...without digging the contract up yet again - upping the price of a truck a thousand dollars increases GL's take something like a hundred bucks. It would be absurd to risk prison and a multi-million dollar venture for such small illicit profits.

IIRC, anyone with a credit card and a computer can bid - just like ebay - and I am sure that there are a lot of non-paying bidders - just like ebay.

Regards,
David