How NOT to sell a gun/guns

[EOD3]

I was in a gun shop the other day and witnessed something (sleazy) that I thought was universal knowledge. You younger kids listen up.

A kid walks into a gun shop with a few guns he wants to sell. The gun shop guys (at least two, we'll call them mister Low and mister Lower) will evaluate each of the guns. This is where the sleaze begins. Mister low will quote a price, much lower than book value, then mister Lower will whip out the OH BOY, I'd only offer $ (a ridiculously low price). This goes on for each of the guns and any calls of BULL**** they have to renegotiate. The more guns, the easier it is for them to swindle you by juggling the numbers. Then mister Low tells mister Lower that he thinks the guns are worth more than mister Lower is willing to offer and that he's going to cut a check for a little bit more than the low prices.

What these dirt-bags are doing is trying to make you believe that mister Low is your friend and he's on your side. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Pick up your guns and WALK. NEVER do business with these crooks again. Make sure all your gun buddies know what they are. IMHO (like I have one of those), you should make it your personal goal in life to drive them out of the business. Be careful what you say in public, the thieves will be VERY angry.

[jonp]

Good Cop, Bad Cop. Bad business but no-one is forcing the customer to take the offered price.

Always go to a couple of shops and knowwhere you are going. Walk into a black plastic tacti-cool shop with a Citori and your in for a bad day. Remember that in every deal look at several online sights to see what your guns are going for and any reputable shop will let you look at the book to see the values they are going off.

This go's both ways. I walked into a tacti cool shop and saw a lonely 45Colt lever on the shelf barely used they got in trade. Didnt want it as it wasnt groovy and people going in there want the latest Daniel Defense or hi capacity Glock. I walked out with an almost new lever for about $300

[starmac]

If a guy is wanting to sell a gun, why would you want to take it to a place that sells guns. The only way they can stay in business is to pay low prices.

I do agree that you can sometimes pick up some great deals oh hunting rifles, even handguns at tacticool shops.
We did have one here that considered anything other than a black gun as not worthy of their time, which was great, but they are no longer in business.

[fatelk]

Many years ago I was in a small local gun shop and the proprietor was bragging about how he had just absolutely ripped off a couple of young guys, pennies on the dollar for some nice old guns.

The rest of the story: these kids had just inherited Grandpa's hunting and reloading collection. The very first thing they did was drag it all down to the first gun shop they could find to dump it and party on the money. As he was examining the collection they were standing there laughing it up how much fun they were going to have and how drunk they were going to get. As I recall they were nice old guns that had been well used and cared for. The gun shop guy, as he told it, got so ticked off listening to them and how they disrespected their late grandfather that he gave them a ridiculous low-ball offer. They jumped at the cash and left to get drunk, never knowing any different.

Third-hand story repeated on the internet 20 years later, so it must be true, right? Looking back now, as I recall the story, I hope he checked to make sure they weren't stolen, er, I mean stolen before he stole them.

[lead-1]

I asked the salesman at a local shop where their used guns where and he said they didn't have any except the ones on the end of the rack, maybe seven or eight.
He said they don't pay much for used guns so they don't get many brought in.

[Mk42gunner]

Twenty or more years ago you didn't have a lot of choices to check prices if you didn't live near two or more gunshops. Now with the advent of the internet, it is fairly easy for someone to get at least a ballpark idea of what a gun's retail price should be. Deciding if you want to sell it for 20% or 80% of that price is the sellers business.

Robert

[Bob in Revelstoke]

I have sold a few at a gun shop. The owner took them on a "consignment" basis. His profit was a persentage of the selling price, therefore, the more he sold them for, the more he made. In the end, we were both happy.

[clintsfolly]

In 1982 I worked in a gun shop and we would pay blue book but the book was from 1974. Clint

[opos]

Years ago I worked in a small town gun store (as well as boats, sporting goods, etc.)..we were in a College town so often the kids would run short of money and sell their guns, etc....our deal was if a gun was clean an nice..it would sell out the door for about 1/2 of new so we would pay 1/4 of retail in order to double our money (keystoning)...if that was not good enough for the seller he was free to leave and go elsewhere. Just the cost of doing business with a store that has overhead and needs a profit. Many of those second hand guns sat on the rack for months if not years.

[garym1a2]

Stores got to make money to pay for both employees plus keep the power on. If you want good money for a gun you have to sell it direct to a consumer.

[captaint]

I'm afraid no one should go to a gun store, selling any kind of gun, and expect more than half the value of said gun. As has been said these guys have overhead. Just the way it is. And as gary said, sell it to the final user.

[dragon813gt]

Selling a firearm to a LGS is the same as trading in your car at a dealer. Private party sales always yield more money for the seller.

[cabezaverde]

What do you guys think about auction houses?

[starmac]

Most auctions here have a few guns. These are just auctions, not gun auctions. The ones I have been too they have brought top dollar and better, sometimes much better.

[cabezaverde]

The reason I ask is there are some around here that are guns only.

[EDK]

My divorce proceedings went on for 25 months. The ex-wife's attorney told her to break into the man cave, have a locksmith open the safes, and heist my guns. We compromised by inventorying. She got irrate when I bought a new copy of Fjerstadt's (sp?) blue book to establish prices. I also got a statement from two local gun shops that one of them paid "blue book minus 10%" and the other "half of blue book."

I don't have a camera and don't want the hassle of internet auctions, BUT gunbroker or auctionarms are definitely the way to sell IF you can't find a local buyer. I would prefer a face-to-face sale, BUT a young man selling a car on CRAIG'S LIST here in St Louis area was murdered when he met a prospective seller. The suspect had him meet at the parking lot of his employer, killed the guy and hid the body in the woods, and then went back to work.

At 66, I've found sellers remorse to be a terrible thing. I haven't sold or traded off a firearm in years.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

Yeah I don't sell guns either. Figured that out years ago. They will sit in the safe before I sell them.

[opos]

Biggest reaming I ever took was selling guns at a local auction..many years ago but it was a nightmare..the auctioneer was one of the "quick hammer" boys for his buddies..stuff sold while bidding was still going on...never again...they either quick hammer to their buddies to take make believe bids from the balcony to run the prices up...No Mas!!

[mold maker]

Dont forget the auction co gets a healthy % of the sale, while controlling it. Many a "good ole boy", got a bargain at the seller's expense.
Personal sale to an individual equals two friends/fellows made happy.

[dakotashooter2]

Around here the retail shops will offer you 75% of book value and the independents will usually give you 85-90%. I just shake my head when I see sellers like "The Gunfather" who seem insulted if you don't accept their offer of 50% below book to buy from you and then expect to get 25-40% above book because they "cleaned" the gun.