Hey here's a hornet's nest for ya...

1889 Views 14 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Euclidean, Mar 3, 2005

Euclidean

Discussion Starter · Mar 1, 2005 (Edited)

What's the best way to sell a gun?

I know it seems like a silly question, but in our registration obsessed, lawsuit happy society it seems like selling a gun to an individual is a risky venture.

OTOH it's like selling a used car. If you trade it in to a dealer it's a lot less hassle, but you lose a lot of money. I know my local pawnbroker basically takes the fair market value from a book and subtracts $170 and that's what he offers if the gun is in brand new condition. If he seens scratches or any sign of wear he offers much less. He then sells it for $30 less than what it costs new regardless of its condition. Of course every once in a while he screws up and undervalues something and that's when I buy it.

I ask only because I have entertained selling one of mine, I probably won't because you never get back what you put into them and it's still a good gun. Generally I look at a gun as a buyer beware affair anyway.

I'd personally prefer to sell my guns at a $100-$150 loss to someone who would make good use of it if I ever did sell one but those people don't just materialize on demand.

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QKShooter

· #2 · Mar 1, 2005

haha

You are talking to THE EXPERT at losing $$ on gun deals.
I used to read about them & then I HAD to try one!
I would go buy it...shoot it once or twice..."nahhh...I don't like it!" & then trade it back to the dealer for about half what I paid for it.
Sometimes I would trade them Two~For~One just to have something BRAND NEW to shoot.
One time I a bought a STAR PD in the middle of winter...never shot the doggone thing and took it back in the spring...lost about half my $$ on it.
Oh Well...it's only money & you only live once.
Would I do it all over again?...yeah...probably.

Deke45

· #3 · Mar 1, 2005

QKShooter said:
You are talking to THE EXPERT at losing $$ on gun deals.
I would go buy it...shoot it once or twice..."nahhh...I don't like it!" & then trade it back to the dealer for about half what I paid for it.
Sometimes I would trade them Two~For~One just to have something BRAND NEW to shoot.
One time I a bought a STAR PD in the middle of winter...never shot the doggone thing and took it back in the spring...lost about half my $$ on it.

QKShooter...if ya ever start havin' any of these "spells" again, be sure to let me know :biggrin:

Bumper

· #4 · Mar 1, 2005

Deke45 said:
QKShooter...if ya ever start havin' any of these "spells" again, be sure to let me know :biggrin:

Yeah, really. I wished you lived closer to Phoenix.

My favorite way of disposing of an unwanted gun or one I need to sell to get money is to sell it to nighthawk. He will hold on to it for at least a couple of weeks so in case I have seller's remorse I can buy it back from him, lol. But I prefer to sell at the local gun show. Dealers will beat you to death on your desired price. You can usually get at least close at a gun show as long as the price is fair....

rfurtkamp

· #5 · Mar 1, 2005

I'm partial, when I can't take advantage of knowing a couple dealers in the first place that means I pay wholesale or wholesale + $10, to gunsamerica or its ilk.

If it's a specialty weapon, I pretty frequently sell guns on message boards that allow it related to the gun in question or on a mailing list.

I did it last week with a Daewoo DR-200.

Gringo

· #6 · Mar 1, 2005

I don't think it's only the firearms market that suffers from the "out the door/instantly depreciated value" syndrome- same goes for electronics, automobiles, GUITARS...not that I'm speaking from experience on the last one,

, but I believe it happens everywhere. As a younger guy I, too, had to play 'em all and took more than one "bath" on Guitars. Two for one? Been there!( Van Halen's playin' it? I gotta have it!) As an older guy, I've been fortunate enough to have learned something from the stupidity of my youth ( I'm certainly not implying anyone here makes foolish decisions) and I really try to make more informed decisions when purchasing firearms. I feel fortunate at this point to have made only one "mistake"...just lucky, I guess...

rocky

· #7 · Mar 1, 2005

I try to keep the policy of " buy, not sell" when it comes to guns. But I can see selling a few to get a better gun. As said above guns depreciate in value. This is why my guns get used, not displayed in a museum. Sems the best deal ya can find is to an individual who really wants what you have.

LenS

· #8 · Mar 1, 2005

My experience has been different in at least some cases, but there are caveats.

In 28 years of shooting, I've only sold 7 or 8 guns. It really is against my religion to sell a gun, unless it is really atrocious! I may have another one in that category shortly (Kel-Tec Sub-2000).

I had a Colt .45 Series 70 that I bought ~1976 for ~$210 and sold in 2000 for $700 (I've had a lot of remorse about selling that gun). But I also had an AMT Backup .380 (one of the original ones) that I sold for a bit below what I paid for it and threw in a spare mag, and a couple of holsters. My luckiest sale was my S&W Sigma 40V . . . piece of crap of the first order and I sold it privately for what I paid for it.

If I sold it privately, I usually didn't make out too badly. Selling to a dealer is a major losing proposition (~50% of retail around here) and I'd rather put it on consignment.

F350

· #9 · Mar 1, 2005

Where the law allows it...I prefer buying from an individual for 2 reasons
1} I can usually get a better price
2} NO GOVERNMENT PAPERWORK
When I lived in Indiana there was no registration law....I bought most of my guns from individuals just so there would be no form 4473. I have over 60 guns of one type or another...I haven't filled out more than a dozen 4473s on what I have.

Here in Misery to buy a handgun, even from an individual you have to run paperwork through the buyer's sheriff who then is required to keep it on file. Failure to do so is only a misdemeanor with a 1 yr statute of limitation…….

Scott

· #10 · Mar 2, 2005

I rarely sell. So far always to someone I know or someone referred by someone I know. I do buy from individuals. Most of the time it is the only way to find what I am after since I collect older revolvers.

-Scott-

45 Carry

· #11 · Mar 2, 2005

You can donate the gun to a gun rights group auction and deduct the value when filing taxes if you use the right group.

nighthawk

· #12 · Mar 2, 2005

Here in AZ I sell a lot of Bumper's guns. I think I've bought them all now. I don't have a problem with selling to an individual. If I don't have the gun on me anymore I don't worry about it. Maybe I'm asking for trouble but guns change hands here all the time.

Prospector

· #13 · Mar 2, 2005

That's a bit of a dilemna Nighthawk...seems all the recent anti-gun rhetoric brings up the easy acquisition at gun shows...enabling BGs to purchase whatever they can afford. I try to look at it this way...yeah, you're taking a bit of a risk that you may sell to a psycho, but hey, assume they are a small percentage of the population, so the odds are with you. Just look at how the State's issue drivers licenses....we all know there are a crock full of people driving out there that shouldn't....but the odds of being victimized is acceptable......this brings up another topic which might make one for a new thread.....the fact that most of us have CCW permits, is, in fact, a form of gun registration, which I'm certain all of us are opposed to....why should we register to get a permit? Yeah, I know....it gets back to the whole argument about the 2nd Amendment!!

Deke45

· #14 · Mar 3, 2005

Prospector said:
...seems all the recent anti-gun rhetoric brings up the easy acquisition at gun shows...enabling BGs to purchase whatever they can afford.

Yeah...ya especially have to look out for all them foriegn al-Qaida types that according to the anti-gunners are stockin' up on guns (and box cutters) at our gun shows. :biggrin:

Euclidean

Discussion Starter · #15 · Mar 3, 2005

45 Carry said:
You can donate the gun to a gun rights group auction and deduct the value when filing taxes if you use the right group.

Which group would that be? The last time I checked even the not for profit gun groups aren't tax deductible and I've never heard of such a thing.

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