Are there still deals to be had at gun shows?

There is a reason all the good deals and seemingly better availability of cool stuff started dwindling around the time of the internet…everyone could easily look up top dollar on everything and price it a bit higher than that because they knew they could just sell online whenever…. or just sell the good stuff online and leave the drippings for the shows.

That’s what it feels like now. Drippings.

ARs made everything at the shows very uninteresting since there are always so dang many of them. Here is one for you: Ban ARs from gun shows. Haha. I’d be more apt to go. That would be suicidal marketing though.

I’ve heard rumors about gun shows that don’t allow new guns. That is a show for me.

All that said, the best time to go to shows is when a pro gun government is currently in office. Panic buying ruins them pretty thoroughly. I haven’t been to one since the last election. I stocked up on primers a few months prior (like everyone should do before every election) and just watched the chaos.

Back when GWB was in office I would make several deals an hour. I walked in with a basic 10/22 carbine once and wheeled and sealed until I found myself with a 760 Carbine in 280 and a Colt Diamondback 22. No other monetary exchanges besides trades. I think I had a Smith 27 and a Winchester 70 375 Safari in that mix of trades too.

No way that happens nowadays. Not because of values changing either but more because of availability. Smith 27s and Win 70 Safaris just don’t show up at shows like they used to. Neither does anything else that is old and neat.
 
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Gun shows have gone the way of garage sales, in that everyone thinks they can get eBay/GB top dollar so few deals, too big a pain.

OTOH, private swap meets are great. Some of the local gun clubs / ranges (at least here) have annual meets that are like tiny old timey gun shows, just not advertised but to the membership. Most people selling there are friend-pricing, so I bring a good bit of cash with me, and the checkbook because all you do is find someone who you both know, vouch and can chase you down if it bounces. I buy an armful of stuff at these (firearms, clothes, accessories, etc) every time.
 
I’m a bit of a gun shop fly (there was a thread on this a bit back) and I have a good memory for guns, where I see them, what they are priced at, and how long ago that was.

People at the shops are always asking me what I have seen lately and I have probably sold more guns without working at the shop that sold them than anyone ever….:evil::evil:

That skill also comes in handy for another hobby of mine, antique hunting. Buy cheap and sell for profit. Sometimes a little elbow grease like refinishing a piece of furniture. Antiques are not sold online quite as easily so there is still deals in that market.
 
No... at least not for collectors. As several folks have said, the internet has killed "the deal." It used to be a few folks would be walking around with a copy of the Blue Book under their arm. Used to set up next to a book dealer who had a real problem with folks coming to his talble not to buy a book, but just look up prices in the Blue Books he was trying to sell. Now everyone has a phone and its easy to find the "current" price for just about anything.

But there are two other, related problems for collectors at shows now. First, there are the "flippers" -- folks who buy something because they think its a deal because they found an on-line listing for $xxx dollars more than someone one was asking so they buy it and then immediately put it up for sale for that price they saw plus 10 to 15 %!!!! Recently saw the exact same gun as shown by the serial number sell on-line 4 times in three months -- these guys were all dealers and as "flippers" in business to make a living they boosted the price each time -- and some other dealer was willing to pay! It's like a dog chasing its tail. Second problem are the auction houses. Went to a collectors show last weekend and there were at least 6 auction houses with tables trying to get folks to sell their stuff with them. These auction houses will sell your firearm for top dollar becuase they are reaching out on-line to all serious collectors rather than those few who happen to come through that particular show that particular weekend. For example, saw a "flipper" pick up an item at a LGS a month ago. Nothing special, just a run of the mill $900 collectible that he might have been able to get $1000 for if he had put it on a table at a gun show. He had one of these auction companies list it and sold it for just shy of $2000! Now everyone who sees this on line thinks that their $900-$1000 firearm is worth $2000 or more "cause mine's in better shape." Best of luck -- thanks for asking.
 
I’m amazed some of the professional gun show flippers aren’t in prison by now. Everybody who thinks ATF has a large, lurking presence at gun shows to snag people “engaging in the business” haven’t been to the same shows I have. There are at least 10 guys (none of them hold an FFL) that have tables at every show I attend and rarely have any of the same guns at the next show. If you should happen to trade with them your gun shows up on the table 10 minutes later priced at a profit. There’s one guy I see all the time that probably moves 300 guns a year from two tables.
 
AlexanderA said:
Here's an idea for gun show promoters: have computers set up near the entrances with a database of items for sale at the show, and a search function. That way, an attendee looking for something specific can see immediately if it's there, and where it's located. That would cut down on one of the most tiring aspects of the show, which is wandering up and down the aisles, possibly for hours, searching for something that turns out not to be there at all.
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The idea already exists. It's called gunshowtrader.com the promoters list when and where the shows will be and sometimes list approximately how many venders will be in attendance. While the idea of setting up a computer station at the entrance has some merit to it. I can see that being a valid solution to what you are describing as a problem. Honestly I could only envision an idea like that working at a show that has 50 or more tables. It's a swap meet, or a flea market mentality for crying out loud.
Then comes the question of the inventory lists that you are referring to and would only work if the vendors would be willing participants to listing their property is another story. I doubt that it would work. Because having sold stuff in a flea market style myself I wouldn't.
Besides a gun show is supposed to be social event.
 
There are deals to be made. Just have to know your stuff. I do well by looking through the magazine bargain box. A few years ago I picked up an HK sl-7 magazine for $25 from a dealer who didn't know what he had. That magazine is worth $250 or more, depending on condition. I find a lot of very good to excellent condition Ruger P series magazines for $10 - $15. That's a pretty good bargain.

When I am the seller, I make money from small inexpensive items. Magazines, AR parts, ammo, Mini 14 and 10/22 stocks, ect. I put lever actions on the firearms display rack. They sell like hotcakes. I was fortunate to buy many pre- scandemic, when they were much cheaper than now. Knowing the market is key to making money, or getting a bargain.

There are deals to be made, or hard to find items to be found when you know what to look for.
 
Scout21 said:
I've noticed a few gun show threads have been started lately with many members complaining of high prices. I'm curious if it's still worth going to find a deal anymore. I'm thinking about heading to a show tomorrow, but I haven't been in quite a while and if all I'll be looking at is stuff I can get in stores for the same price or less I'm not inclined to go.
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Ah, that's the game - the thrill of the hunt so to speak. It always a hope to find a gun so beautiful, rare, or at such a price that you have to buy it. I was with a friend and when we walked in to a show the FIRST rifle he laid eyes on was a carbine he had be looking for for years. He bought it. Such events do occur but they are few and far between.
 
In my sixty years of doing and attending gun shows the real bargain finds dwindled down to almost nothing about five to ten years back.
My best deals were no more recent than about 1995. I had a table and almost sold out as my prices were very fair. I bought a 4" blue Python with one bad rust spot on the cylinder for $300, A three screw Ruger 357 for $300, a n 870 Special Field 20 for $35o, and a Norinco 1911 for $200.
Even if those prices were doubled you wouldn't see any today. A ratty Python at a show would be 1500, a transfer bar Blackhawk 800 or more.
I do a fair number of appraisals and people are flabbergasted at what some guns are worth. Some guns don't bring very good prices without the bells and whistles. I like 1100s and 870s. They have gone up but not as fast as the shows think they should.
I save my time and skip the shows although some of my best times in the sixties and seventies were at our tables with dad and my brother at Aledo. Mississippi Valley Gun Collectors Assn. I see they are having shows at the fairgrounds again. Maybe.......
 
AlexanderA said:
only where the item is located
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The real problem is that it would need some sort of real-time inventory interaction.
Will do no good to scroll the list to find table E15 has 1 box of 8mm Nambu, but it's already sold.

There's a vendor who is hooked up with Premier Shows. Dude has a lifetime's (or 2) worth of fiddly bits and bobs. I've never seen him with less than 5 tables at a show., and they are all covered in bins with boxes and bins under the tables. It would probably take a month to inventory all of his stuff, and it would be a moving target, as he wheels & deals in stuff, too. He might not have Mossberg M44 magazine at one show, but might at the next. Ditto Colt Pocket 32 mags. 1911 parts, S&W parts, any number of things. (It's kind of neat to play "Stump the Vendor" looking for things in his collection.)

That's just one vendor. Most of the parts vendors I frequent will be similar. Last FW show, there was a guy up from Brenham with 12 tables of ammo out of his warehouse. He had good prices, so the inventory was moving.

So, a good notion, but probably a difficult idea to try and implement.
 
Elkins45 said:
It’s hit and miss but still almost always worth the effort to me. Not too long ago I attended white would appear to be the worst possible show in history. I’ll bet there weren’t 40 tables and a whole bunch of empty space. I was almost going to ask for my money back, but decided I would at least walk the isles first. Somewhere along the way, I stumbled upon a table with an old guy who had a bunch of Lyman and Ideal cast iron bullet molds for $5 each. In one brief moment that went from being one of the worst shows I’ve ever attended to one of the best.

Same with another dinky little show I attended right before Covid. It was held in a glorified livestock barn and didn’t appear to be worth the admission price either. But I walked out of there with a Marlin 1895 rifle with a Leupold 1-4X scope and 12 boxes of factory 45-70 ammo for $600.

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Holy cow! Deal of the century right there!!! I paid way more than that for just my 1895 with no ammo... I traded a five-seven with a threaded barrel and 600rds of ammo for it.
 
The last one I went to I brought a Yugoslavian SKS 59/66 in just out of the crate condition and a Nagant 1893 revolver. I had several inquiries on the SKS, but no wanted to pay the $650.00 I was asking and the Nagant handled a lot but no takers for $200.00. One dealer sneered at me saying he sold one 10 minutes ago in better condition than mine for $500.00. Another dealer told me that was a complete lie the guy hadn't sold a thing and didn't even have a Yugo SKS. Caveat Emptor. It was a pretty small show and had nothing I wanted.
 
A9939D1B-066A-437B-9A23-4C8843EC6857.jpeg 1683DFB6-0130-477A-9198-DAAFBB602425.jpeg 9F5527FD-9D61-4603-869C-5A87790B216B.jpeg 86367DAB-C3FD-4A28-BB01-7E8A8CBC039E.jpeg 8EAF6A81-705C-47C5-A89F-4D19BC914A3E.jpeg 14C4A44B-AD2B-4D51-BC7B-CB5BE5BD3614.jpeg 5B8A2275-C7E0-4009-A883-D1A937283721.jpeg 0A333717-7DBE-463E-8640-2169A9C04182.jpeg 65F1DCF4-D636-42EF-B87D-2D62C2B337A1.jpeg Just when I thought there were no deals to be had at gun shows anymore, almost a year and a half ago, at 8 am sharp, when only lifetime members and table holders were admitted, I found a stellar antique Winchester Model 1892 rifle with several special order features on the table of a longtime collector at a bargain price. You know it’s a good deal when the seller tells me someone is mouthing behind my back to the seller “I’ll give you $250 more” as I’m peeling off $100 bills and, when I walk away, another individual tells me, knowing full well what I paid, that he’ll give me $500 more than I paid for the rifle and he tells me I’m nuts when I decline the offer. Both these individuals were dealers.

Situations like these happen far less than once in a blue moon, but they are what make me keep coming back.

And photographs of this rifle. I subsequently obtained the attached factory letter.
 
AlexanderA said:
The Internet has killed gun shows. It used to be, that as a (nondealer) seller, setting up a table at a gun show gave your stuff a wider exposure (among actual buyers) than running a classified ad, or putting it on consignment at a gun shop. Plus, the overhead cost was relatively low. Now, you can put your stuff on Gunbroker for about the same overhead cost, and get nationwide exposure.

The gun show promoters haven't helped themselves by raising table rents, parking fees, etc., to prohibitive levels, while at the same time watering down their product by allowing overwhelming amounts of non-gun-related stuff.

Attending a gun show these days is a pointless hassle. Lots of effort and expense, and little reward. And that applies to both buyers and sellers.
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I agree completely. It's $70 to set up a table at Land o the Sky shows which are held 5 minutes from my house. This drives out all the old timers selling out of personal collections which is where the good deals are. %90 of the show is dealers with big tables of new guns at full price or gouged up reloading components
 
I do agree that not all shows are created equal, and not all of them are worth the drive.


But as long as there are family members and friends coming into guns that either don't (quite) know what they have, just want them gone or just need the quick cash... there will be deals to be had.
 
Gun shows amount to being a weekend pawn shop mall or flea-market. Mostly way overpriced guns, ammo, and garage sale rated goods that only the hallucinating dealers consider to be valuable...also, there are way too many vendors selling candy, therapeutic candles, cheap gaudy chinese pot-metal knives, etc..
Yet still I attend as many gun shows as possible for the scarce deals being offered by some, especially the S&W goods. Three sets of mint condition K/L frame "Combat" grips were half-priced at the last show (they're mine now), and at another show a dealer sold off numerous NIB and used S&W 4506 mags for $15-25.
 
Scout21 said:
I've noticed a few gun show threads have been started lately with many members complaining of high prices. I'm curious if it's still worth going to find a deal anymore. I'm thinking about heading to a show tomorrow, but I haven't been in quite a while and if all I'll be looking at is stuff I can get in stores for the same price or less I'm not inclined to go.
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A friend and I recently went to a very large show here in the Cleveland Ohio suburbs. He was looking for a new carry gun. I just look for odds and ends unless I see a gun I have interest in. Gun prices were high. Left the show, I had some GI .45 ACP magazines. Stopped a few miles down the road at a Fin, Feather and Fur. Friend bought a gun he was looking at while we were at the show for about $100 under the best show price we saw.

Can a good deal be had? Yes but know exactly what you are looking for and fair pricing. When walking a show the option to buy or pass is on the shopper.

Ron
 
Reloadron said:
A friend and I recently went to a very large show here in the Cleveland Ohio suburbs. He was looking for a new carry gun. I just look for odds and ends unless I see a gun I have interest in. Gun prices were high. Left the show, I had some GI .45 ACP magazines. Stopped a few miles down the road at a Fin, Feather and Fur. Friend bought a gun he was looking at while we were at the show for about $100 under the best show price we saw.

Can a good deal be had? Yes but know exactly what you are looking for and fair pricing. When walking a show the option to buy or pass is on the shopper.

Ron
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Fin feather fur has had some good sales online recently, they had a 6.5 PRC Mossberg Patriot for 399 a while back! I paid 438 for mine lol.
 
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