how do you price used stuff?

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Axis II

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Need some advice from you all.

I recently purchased a marlin 45-70 and if the gun shoots well and I like it I want to sell my cva elite stalker with Nikon prostaff 3-9-40. the rifle itself runs about $250-275 new and the scope about $170.

would It be too rude to ask $275-300? I will most likely be selling it to my brother. He and I had a falling out and haven't spoken since November 2016 but I explained to our mom that I got something new and he doesn't have a deer gun because he's always used one of mine so I would give him first dibs on it because I know a shop will only give me $100.

Any advice for me here guys? I also have a couple of other guns and treestands to sell and don't really know how to price them without being rude to the buyer or losing my rear end.
 
Look up the item on the internet. If you can find one or more for sale, note the asking price(s).
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I did check into that on gun broker and they are going for $250ish. its looking like cva doesn't even make these anymore because everyone is out of stock.

just trying not to hit him with a high price and get a bunch of crap started but also don't want to let it go for $50.
 
Find out what they are actually selling for and price 5-10% higher. If it doesn't sell, drop it until it does sell.

No matter what you ask, someone will offer a lot less. You can always lower the price, but it's hard to ask for more once you've put it out there.

On that gun, I guess I'd ask $325, but take $275 after price drops or haggling.

Or sell the items separately. A scope on a gun adds little value to most people, unless it's high end or exactly something the buyer wants.
 
I usually just give my guns to family if I no longer have a use for them. I gave my brother a rifle and a pistol. I ended up with all of my dads guns. What goes around comes around. If he doesn't want it just put it up for sale on a site like Guns International. I've had good luck there.

I would keep the scope.

Never hurts to have a few scopes around in case you end up with another rifle or damage one.
 
I know it may not be practical, but is there any way you could just give your brother the gun? It might go a long way to thawing the freeze between you two.
It's more me holding the grudge but I'd rather not risk selling to a felon at a gun show. Plan was buy the Marlin and sell the other to offset cost. if I give to him he might end up selling it and making himself money.
 
Does he even want it?
I think since you're the one holding the grudge you need to either find a way to end it so you can discuss a sale, or sell to someone else.

If he doesn't want the gun it's a moot point. If he does, it's hard to work a deal if you aren't talking.
 
Does he even want it?
I think since you're the one holding the grudge you need to either find a way to end it so you can discuss a sale, or sell to someone else.

If he doesn't want the gun it's a moot point. If he does, it's hard to work a deal if you aren't talking.
He does because once gun week rolled around he'd try and talk me into taking the slug gun and him use the cva. even said he would buy it from me. He offered me what I have in it before we quit talking. mom asked him and he said just let him know. if he agrees on price leave money with mom and he can take the rifle.
 
Combination Blue Book and specialty books (like S&W or Colt books), internet prices for the local and region, and experience acquired over many years.

And that is how I do it! I appraise firearms for a local estate company here.

Deaf
 
Definitely don't sell it to anyone else without offering to sell it to him first. You really don't want that drama once he finds out (if he wanted it.)

I guess I'm lucky in that I only have uninterested brothers. The one who shares (shared) a father with me is a prohibited person, so he could not have had anything to do with our dad's guns when Dad passed on. The other, who has a different father, is a raging, heavy-drinking, weed-smoking, anti-gun liberal (despite me having taught him to shoot when he was still in his early teens.)

I think that the others here have pretty much covered pricing strategies.
 
He does because once gun week rolled around he'd try and talk me into taking the slug gun and him use the cva. even said he would buy it from me. He offered me what I have in it before we quit talking. mom asked him and he said just let him know. if he agrees on price leave money with mom and he can take the rifle.
 
It's more me holding the grudge but I'd rather not risk selling to a felon at a gun show. Plan was buy the Marlin and sell the other to offset cost. if I give to him he might end up selling it and making himself money.


Your talking of your brother, drop the grudge, sell to your brother what the dealer will give you ($ 100.00).
Be the brother, repair the family, if he sells it for a profit so good for him. You gave him a financial gift.
Do not put your mother in the middle of this, she is mom to both of you.
Friends you can make, brothers you have for a life time and you have a chance to build a relationship and bring your family closer together.

buflow
 
Well, you asked for 'advice'. If you need to get some money out of it to finance the other purchase, then giving it to him free is not much of an option. Drop the 'grudge' you are holding (you do NOT have to like your brother, but for your mom's sake at the very least, you should be able to deal with him civilly), give him a call, tell him you will be selling the CVA with the Nikon scope, and offer it to him for $200 or $250, whichever price you can bear. If he wants it, you are done - if not, price it as a $300 package and see how the market responds. Now is generally not a very good time to be selling firearms, especially if you want to make some money on them.
 
I have sold a lot of items through the years, and to me, there is no such thing as being 'rude' in setting a price. Figure out how much you have invested in the thing, factor in any depreciation (or sometimes, appreciation), and set your selling / asking price. People may huff and puff and say that is too high priced - that just means it is too high priced FOR THEM TO BUY. If no buyer is interested over time, you just have to either keep the item, or start lowering the price until it sells. It is never rude to say to a potential buyer, "that is what I have to get for it".

Unlike many folks, it is not in my nature nor in my cultural heritage to 'haggle' over prices, whether buying or selling. The last five vehicles and three personal firearms I sold in a small midwestern town were clearly marked for price and were only listed For Sale from one to five days. Over half went to the first or second potential buyer who stopped to look.They sold very quickly because I made a point of pricing them at the minimum amount I 'needed' to get out of them. Forget about being rude in setting a price - I have had extreme lowball offers made on things I was selling in the past and I was not offended at all. I was free to say "no, thank you" and wait for someone who was looking for a good deal and not an outright steal.
 
With most guns and quality optics I will find out the actual street prices a comparable new gun or scope is selling for. Not MSRP. Somewhere between 50-80% of that is usually a fair price. Whether it is closer to 50% or 80% depends on the individual gun and condition. Depending on how long I've owned it, and how much prices have gone up since I purchased it I could lose 1/2 what I paid, or I may be able to sell it for a lot more than I paid.

With really cheap budget guns or something with collectors status the price could well be well under 50% or well over 80%.

I find that optics made by better companies companies such as Leupold, Zeiss, and some Nikon's, will fit in the same 50-80% rule. Cheaper budget glass usually adds nothing to the value of a rifle.
 
its your brother! Best bet, extend it to him as a gift. 2nd best bet, sell it for the $100 you'd get from a gun store. 3rd best bet, offer to sell for $300.

and if you really don't ever want him back...send him a picture of you handing it over to somebody he doesn't like
 
ohihunter wrote:
Any advice for me here guys? I also have a couple of other guns and treestands to sell and don't really know how to price them without being rude to the buyer or losing my rear end.

All appraisal of value is based on the principle of substitution. You pay for something only what you would have to spend to get something functionally equivalent to the piece you are looking at. There are three principal methods of determining this:
  • Market - That is, what are other people selling similar items in similar condition for? You determine this by looking at what sellers are asking for the item and what buyers are actually paying.
  • Reproduction - What it would cost you to replace the item. If new Taurus PT-111 pistols are selling for $249 at Academy, I'm stupid to pay you more for a used one.
  • Income - The present value of what you could rent it for. Probably not applicable to most guns.
 
I hope the OP doesn't think he's doing his brother a favor :scrutiny:



Your talking of your brother, drop the grudge, sell to your brother what the dealer will give you ($ 100.00).
Be the brother, repair the family, if he sells it for a profit so good for him. You gave him a financial gift.
Do not put your mother in the middle of this, she is mom to both of you.
Friends you can make, brothers you have for a life time and you have a chance to build a relationship and bring your family closer together.

buflow


Worth repeating.
 
A 'scope is not always a big selling point.

The few times I sold a used gun, most people act like the first thing they want to do is replace the scope I had on it with one of their choice. I learned to keep my scope. Leave the mount base on the gun, but keep the scope and rings (unless the rings were specific to the mount or gun).

Considering if it were my brother, if we had had a falling out, I would offer it at barely above the least a dealer would offer me, just as a peace offering to my brother. You have little to lose but more to gain, and even if you haven't gained anything, you haven't lost that much.
 
Cheap gun Cheap scope... id hurt your feeling if I told you what Id give for it... Give it away, thats really about all its worth.
 
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