Do Used Guns Ever SELL on GunBroker.com?

243winxb said:

auctions. http://www.horstauction.com/guns.html If the right person is not there to bid or only 1 person bidding, you loose big without a reserve. Imo.

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Or simply set your Opening to the minimum satisfactory (to you) amount.

If a Seller has set a Reserve on a gun that interests me and then will not tell me what that Reserve is, I will walk away from the auction, since it represents a waste of my time.

It's stupid when the starting bid is more than what it's even worth.

Reserves aren't all bad, helps protect the seller from loosing their shirt. But the reserve should not be 100% of the fair market value. Why even have a reserve then, just make it the buy it now price.

HammsBeer said:

It's stupid when the starting bid is more than what it's even worth. ...

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Ignoring the fact that with firearms (as with many things) it is often impossible to determine THE "worth" of an item, setting the starting bid to more than what seems to be Market Value is not necessarily a "stupid" thing to do. Often it depends upon how quickly you must sell the item.

I recall a Gunbroker auction about a decade ago for a nice-but-nothing-special SVT-40 with a starting bid of, IIRC, $750, which was, at the time, at least $150 over "Market".

The Seller just let the week-long auction roll over ... and over ... and over ...

I was checking it periodically, intrigued. I wanted to see if the Seller managed to catch a Sucker (as in Trolling for Suckers) before the Market inflated to his starting bid.

IIRC, that week-long auction lasted at least a year before it scored a bid ... which was the only bid required.

... so, in that case, Sucker (slightly) trumped Market.

Availabilty

Some models of firearms , may only be manufactured every few years, same as ammo types. If you just got to have it right now, some are willing to pay above list price. Same with hard to get guns. S&W m29s were selling higher than list price in the late 70's.

Grump said:

Or on any other online sale site?

I don't go to any of them very often, but when doing searches for something specific, there is always, always almost no completed or sold listings.

Seems they are all like what gun shows have become--places to show off what you'd *like* to get for the gun but never will.

Just wondering, want input from those who are more familiar with what goes on over there. BTW, is there any one site that is better for buyers or sellers?

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Yeah they sell, I have a few to prove it.

The over-priced ones don't though....

If you want to see what guns are selling for then search the completed auctions and see which guns have bids. They show how many bids it got. The ones with no bids are usually relisted. You can also see what something you want to sell is getting. Check the sold, not the listing prices, to see what the market is before you list it.

I've bought many guns on Gunbroker and sold an equal amount. If you want to buy something at way below market price then you may be disappointed. It is a true, fair market system. If you want something and you have a price in mind, put that in and see if you get it or not.

If you want to see the completed auctions you need to use the advanced search option and choose completed auctions. That is where you see what something is really worth.

Or on any other online sale site?

I don't go to any of them very often, but when doing searches for something specific, there is always, always almost no completed or sold listings.

Seems they are all like what gun shows have become--places to show off what you'd *like* to get for the gun but never will.

Just wondering, want input from those who are more familiar with what goes on over there. BTW, is there any one site that is better for buyers or sellers?

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lots of guns sell on texas gun trader. Many are marked sold and I have sent inquiries to around 20 great deals that were sold before I inquired.

I have bought around 5 guns and sold around 5 guns through the site.

It's stupid when the starting bid is more than what it's even worth. ...

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Ignoring the fact that with firearms (as with many things) it is often impossible to determine THE "worth" of an item, setting the starting bid to more than what seems to be Market Value is not necessarily a "stupid" thing to do. Often it depends upon how quickly you must sell the item.

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Location also plays a huge role. Some guns in "ban" states command premiums whereas "free" states they are not worth near as much.
You're bidding against those poor unfortunate souls too.

I've sold several guns on Gunbroker over the years. I started them at realistic prices, which is why they sold.

I've bought and sold used guns on gun broker. When I sell, I usually start the auction at a penny with no reserve. It will sell, but I let the buyers tell me what it's worth.

It's been years for me, but one of the best deals I've gotten on a used gun was a Ruger MkII I bought via Gunbroker.

I've sold three guns on there. An old Bushmaster A2 post ban, and two Kimber 1911"s. Gotten fair prices on all of them. By the time you figure the shipping and FFL fees on the pistols though it's hard to come out a head. A local sale is always better if you can pull it off.

I have bought and sold many new and used firearms on GB. If you do your research, are patient, and don't get all caught up in the bidding hype, there are some great deals to be had.

Not everyone understands or likes that......

Some older hard to find items can at times be snatched up for a bargain price. Much of it has to do with timing. You can also way overpay for something if you're stupid....I know from experience!

As many others have said, the short answer is yes. I have bought several myself. As others have ,also, said it depends on the price. Some people have an opinion that what their selling is worth way more than it really is,due to overpaying themselves or because it is the "in" gun at the time.

Some people have an opinion that what their selling is worth way more than it really is,due to overpaying themselves or because it is the "in" gun at the time.

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This is definitely true. If someone bought a gun at one of the extremely expensive big box stores they could take $300 off the price and still be asking too much. My local Dunham's is currently asking $1049 for a Sig p224 SAS while I gave less than $600 for mine brand new from an online shop. If some guy goes in there and buys from them and later on decides to sell the gun he might think he is offering a great deal, but anyone who has shopped around will realize that his asking price of $700 used is still way too much.

Yeah, I'm wondering what all of those AR panic buyers are doing when they try to sell/trade their panic purchase from a few years ago. They paid $1500-$2000 and now it's worth ~$600. Talk about sticker shock!

Great place for used guns.

I have sold several hundred guns on GB. Most were used and sold on consignment. If the owners would list near Blue Book price I could sell 75% of them.

If you want to see what the going price is you need to go to advanced, then type the gun you are researching (sako forrester) then push completed and then push bids a couple of times until you see guns that have had several bids. This will give you the selling price.

At one time I was looking for an old, OOP target pistol on gun broker. At any one time there would be 6-12 examples listed for $1500-1800. None of them ever sold. Every once in a while someone would list an example for under $1000 and they all sold. But people kept listing them for $500-800 mire over and over again thinking they would eventually get that price.

Another example is the surplus SIG P6's that flooded the market a few years ago for $250-300. The most I paid was $500 for a late production in unissued mint condition with 7 extra mags (mags alone are worth $30+ each).

Now I see all sorts of beat up early models with the old non-HP friendly feed ramps asking $600-700 thinking it's as valuable as a used P226/228.

GB has been online long enough now that there are many guns on there that will never sell.

The "sellers" are only selling if they can get a Prince's ransom.

I've sold bunches of guns and gun stuff on Gunbroker.
I've always sold it quickly, because I wanted it gone, and it sold quickly.
I've got over 100 feedbacks on GB. All positive.

I'm in the process of buying a shotgun off GB.
Not quite paying a Prince's ransom for it. Probably closer to a Squire's ransom.
Its a "niche" piece that I've wanted since the 80's and which doesn't come up that often.
It sat for at least a few months at the high price. Which I finally agreed to pay.
What's a couple hundred bucks "excess" for something you've wanted for all your adult life?
I can collect Social Security in 10 years (if its still funded).
My gun-buying account is funded for right now.
So, there it is.

Used guns on GunBroker? I have sold quite a few, a couple on consignment, and have bought even more.

I simply ignore any For Sale listing that has a 'Reserve'. Give my a Starting Bid and I can decide whether or not I am interested in buying that firearm. When selling, I try to have a reasonable starting bid and a somewhat optimistic Buy Now option. All the used ones have sold, as well as most of the new ones.

Well the way I look at is like this.

If you really want your gun to sell on Gunbroker, take a nice sample of what other people are selling there used guns for. Take note of the price of guns that are just like yours, in the same condition.

Then, drop that price just $5-10 and guess what?

You're almost guaranteed to get a sale in a week or sometimes much less. You will still get easily double what you'd get at a pawn shop or most corner gun stores these day.

There are a lot of folks who probably don't much need the money right away, who put their guns up on Gun Broker for rather high prices. They'd rather wait for a possibly greater return. As for me, I've sold several guns last year on GB and every one sold within 2 weeks because the way I saw it, I'd rather have the money now and get everything sold in a timely fashion instead of being stingy.

And as a matter of fact, I was able to at least break even if not make a small profit compared to what the guns originally cost me.

Try doing that at your corner Pawn n' Gun!

Yes they will sell.

If I am looking for something specific, I'll bid. I have been outbid many times, sometimes just by a couple dollars, but that's the way it works.

The one time I won an auction I was really pleased, not only because the price was right, the dealer happened to be local. I didn't even know that until I won the auction. Great gun shop. I bought other guns from them since.

There are plenty of new guns on GB at prices far exceeding Cabela's. I don't understand that.

v35 said:

... There are plenty of new guns on GB at prices far exceeding Cabela's. I don't understand that.

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I think of that as Trolling for Suckers.

As others have said, when I want something rare and specific I am willing to pay a premium. For good or bad, GB has the largest selection of that stuff. I have been very happy with my used purchases of some rare items, and I was willing to pay more than the current production of those models sell for new.

I think the bigger question is why anyone would buy NEW on GB. I've found that the big-box stores can order an item for roughly the same money without the hassle of shipping to a separate FFL.