Got a deal at flea market !

[welldoya]

I've never found anything good at a flea market but have gotten lucky a few times at yard sales :
Ruger Single Six in great shape with both cylinders in a zippered case - $150
S&W pre Model 10 nickel, made in 1946 - $110
Barrel for a Browning B80 and a Browning luggage case for a shotgun - $60
These were all a few years ago though. Seems like more "dealers" are out cruising yard sales these days and you've got to get there really early.

 

[Sniper56]

Yard sale

A few years ago I visited yard sales regularly and did luck up on one occasion.

A lady was having a yard sale and told me when I walked up she was very negotiable. She found out her husband had gone on a "business" trip and took a young lady with him who was not work related. She was pissed and clearing out his stuff while he was on the trip.

I found a Browning A5 12 gauge in near mint shape, a Winchester Model 70 in 30.06, a Ruger Mini-14 and an S&W Chiefs Special. I asked her how much for all of them and she cheerfully said "how about $ 200" and please take that box of bullets also. The box contained about 50 rounds of 30.06, 100 rounds of .38 special lead wadcutters and about 12 boxes of Federal .223 ammo.

I gave her a $ 50 deposit and asked her to hold it for 15 minutes while I went to an ATM for the rest. Got back quickly and paid her. She was quite happy and I was damn near ecstatic. Best shopping day I ever had.

 

[SpentCasing]

Oh yeah. I did find the deal of a lifetime. I probably would have got life if I had bought it. A guy offered me a crate of SKS Norinco's for $115 each. I had heard the BATF was hanging out that day. It had to be a setup. Nobody sells those rifles for that price any more. I asked him if I could buy one and he walked off. The guy didn't have anything with him. He didn't even have a table. He was a customer, not a seller. You have to watch your step at flea markets. There are a lot of guns at the flea market near where I live and apparently the BATF is a regular visitor.

I dont understand this. Are private sales illegal in your state?

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I bought a Silva Orienteering Compass NIB for a buck once. Does that count?

 

[HankB]

Flea markets are hard work. You can find some great deals but you have to walk by 500 tables of people hawking stuff for double it's value to find those good deals. I've bought some stuff at incredibly good prices at flea markets and I've wasted my whole day on nothing too.

Sounds like a lot of gun shows . . .

 

[Normandy]

A couple years back, I got a saddle ring carbine Winchester 94 in .30-30 for $225, and it was as new.
A couple years before that, an M1 carbine (Underwood) and a few mags, $475.
And during that time frame, two mini-14 Ruger mags FULL OF AMMO for $15.
Probably the best buy, though, was a M91 Mosin-Nagant, Finn capture, for $75. Heck, the handguard was worth $100.

Yeah, it still happens, but as said earlier, if you go every week, you'll find a real good buy about once or twice a year. You have to love the hunt.

 

[Sniper56]

Yard sales and Flea Markets

To answer a previous question, yes private sales are perfectly legal in Louisiana. The only requirement is that both parties are residents of the
state and most folks simply check driver's licenses; and I always get a bill of sale. Louisiana is one of the most gun friendly states.

 

[swopjan]

Traded a $200 .22 rifle for a $2,000 piece of A/C equipment a couple months back. Heck, I only paid $125 for the rifle in the first place too Buddy of mine spotted it at a yard sale and said he could make good money flushing out A/C systems a couple times a month with it but he hasn't done jack with it except put a big ol' dent in it from bouncing around in the back of his truck

 

[Cee Zee]

I dont understand this. Are private sales illegal in your state?

No but there's a limit on how many guns you can own for the purpose of resale without having a FFL. If I had bought that I'm sure something bad would have happened. Why else would they be trying to sell me something like that? Clearly no such deal existed. If it did the first 100 guys that joker approached would have taken him up on it. And I saw him talking to people for 2 hours before he started talking to me. Yeah he just picked me out of the crowd to offer an incredible deal to. Not in this world. If it sounds too good to be true it almost certainly is. BATF is not above setting people up. I think Ruby Ridge taught us that.

 

[newfalguy101]

No but there's a limit on how many guns you can own for the purpose of resale without having a FFL.

1) Please cite your source for this (mis)information

2) Cite your source that says its illegal to buy a case of SKS's, cherry pick the best and sell the rest.

 

[jamesinalaska]

Don't be That Guy

I love finding good deals too, but there are limits.

I had stopped by one advertised garage sale and it was quickly apparent the old woman who was hosting the sale had just lost her husband. Just as I got there I watched one guy haggle the widow down to $30 for a large tackle box with over $300 worth of salmon gear.

Don't be that guy.

 

[Archie]

Have to look...

I do check out garage and yard sales. I've never found a good deal on guns, but did score a large cardboard box of loading gear for fairly cheap. And a year or two ago, I found a hardbound (original) copy of Elmer Keith's Sixguns, and an original copy of Phil Sharpe's Handloading for $5.00 each.

It takes a bit of looking, but I wasn't doing anything anyway.

 

[Cee Zee]

Please cite your source for this (mis)information

So when the BATF threatens people selling guns at the local flea market it was just my imagination thinking they meant it. One of my friends told me they checked how many guns he had for sale almost every week. You do understand that buying from a wholesaler, which would include buying a crate of SKS's, is something that requires a FFL, right? Yes you may get by with selling a few because they are C&R but I know what the people who sell guns at the flea market tell me the BATF tells them. And it wasn't just one guy who told me that. These guys plainly said they are limited in how many guns they can have on display to sell at the flea market because they are there selling guns pretty much every time the flea market is open.

Even if it isn't the letter of the law it doesn't mean that it doesn't happen that way. There's a difference in what happens in the real world and what happens in lawyers talking to each other. Ever hear of Ruby Ridge?

I have seen with my own eyes feds threatening people for doing things that were completely legal. I KNOW that happens.

 

[newfalguy101]

So when the BATF threatens people selling guns at the local flea market it was just my imagination thinking they meant it.
Threatening what?? To stop selling without a license??

One of my friends told me they checked how many guns he had for sale almost every week.

Sooooooo they check every week, yet it seems have done nothing except check?? Has he been cited?? has he gotten a certified letter telling him to stop selling without a license?? Has he been contacted by anybody actually identifying themselves as ATF??


You do understand that buying from a wholesaler, which would include buying a crate of SKS's, is something that requires a FFL, right?

Poppycock, AIM or J&G or any number of other "wholesalers" will happily take your money, true they will have to ship to an FFL, but it doesn't require an FFL to buy..

Yes you may get by with selling a few because they are C&R

Some are some are not.....By the way, a C&R license is NOT a license to sell guns, selling to upgrade your collection is permissible, and probably really pushed to the limit...

but I know what the people who sell guns at the flea market tell me the BATF tells them.

Third hand info?? reliable....

And it wasn't just one guy who told me that. These guys plainly said they are limited in how many guns they can have on display to sell at the flea market because they are there selling guns pretty much every time the flea market is open.

Sooooo because they appear to be selling without a license, they claim to be contacted repeatably by ATF.... and yet.........continue to sell everyweek......

Even if it isn't the letter of the law it doesn't mean that it doesn't happen that way. There's a difference in what happens in the real world and what happens in lawyers talking to each other. Ever hear of Ruby Ridge?

Might wanna reconsider hanging your arguments on Ruby Ridge......Weaver WAS convicted of selling short shotguns.............$10,000 fine and 18 months

I have seen with my own eyes feds threatening people for doing things that were completely legal. I KNOW that happens.

see bolded

 

[oneounceload]

When I go to flea markets or yard sales...they think highly and dearly of every piece of rust on the tables. I've never come away with anything worth hauling home.

Go towards the end of the day - especially at those types of sales - no one wants to haul it home or put it back in the house

 

[Sol]

Where are these flea markets you guys attend?

The last time I went to a flea market all the sellers had junk. Used junk, rusty junk, broken junk and Chinese junk. Not a Chinese junk boat, that would have been cool though

I did however get a VHS copy of the the movie "The Bishops Wife" for 50 cents. New in box too.

 

[ilbob]

I have not seen much in the way of bargains at garage sales or flea markets around here in a long while.

People around here ask $50 for an old Coleman stove that does not even work.

I was at one place a couple years ago where the guy had a bunch of old butcher knives. Several were old Hickory knives. He wanted $10 each. They retail new for $13.

I did buy a plastic holster for a 1911 and a mag holder. I think the pair was $15. Not a great bargain, but an OK deal as such things go.

One place I was at last year had tools. Guy wanted $1 each for generic sockets. Mostly small sizes too.

 

[Cee Zee]

Might wanna reconsider hanging your arguments on Ruby Ridge......Weaver WAS convicted of selling short shotguns.............$10,000 fine and 18 months

Like the rest of your "information" you are dead wrong about this. Weaver was never convicted of selling that sawed off shotgun.

I plainly told you that the sellers at the local flea market were allowed to sell a limited number of guns. At some point you really have to have an FFL to sell a substantial number of guns. I don't think you know just how many guns these people had for sale. And it is certainly true that buying from a wholesaler for the purpose of retail sales is the very definition of what requires a FFL.

I'm done with your misinformation. Just so you know Weaver was convicted for failing to appear to address his arrest regarding the sale of the shotgun and also for certain things he did while awaiting trial. You can find that information on the justice deparment's web page here. It is common knowledge that a Federal Judge ruled after the siege at Ruby Ridge that the weapons charges amounted to entrapment by the FBI. Weaver had been sent erroneous information on when to appear for his court date - in what appeared to be a deliberate attempt by Federal authorities to initiate the confrontation. It would have been a simple matter to correct the error and give Mr. Weaver another chance to appear. That in part is why the Federal Judge ruled the gun charges amounted to entrapment.

Let's put it this way. If you pulled into a flea market with 4 semis loaded with firearms for sale and you sold thousands of guns in a day do you think the BATF wouldn't harp about you not having a FFL? You do not have a clear grasp of even the most elementary facts sir. Despite what you seem to think you can't just sell a limitless amount of guns just because you're doing it at a flea market. You obviously don't have a clue how many guns my friends brought to sell every week. But you go ahead and type in big bold letters if it makes you feel better. It won't make you right though. And I won't be reading it either.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

OK, stopped at a couple small yard sales today and found a Buck Guild Master 813^ sitting on the table. It looks unused but not NIB so for $3.50 I figured it might be a good deal.
From what I can tell these were only made from 88-89...

 

[grubbylabs]

I ran a cross a guy about 4-5 years ago trying to sell some primers from his grandpas reloading stuff after his grandpa passed away. I bought 3,000 primers for $30.00. At the time they were $30.00 a thousand, and I told him so. He just wanted them gone.

 

[Deaf Smith]

Once at an estate sale I bought two boxes of .41 long colt for 8 bucks.

Traded it to a cowboy action shooter for a savage .22 rifle. Yes an eight buck rifle.

Deaf

 

[Erik M]

Found a beat up toolbox at a place that liquidated stuff from storage lockers, they must have not opened it to see what was inside. I paid $20, ended up with a decent toolbox, a craftsman socket set, various wrenches and pliers, and a western auto shotgun cleaning kit that was older than me.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

My best advice is get money and get out there and SHOP.

 

[homatok]

Best yard sale deals---303 Lee Enfield with a box of ammunition for $12.00, and a tackle box with about $200.00 worth of lures for $15.00. A year or two later, an 8mm Mouser for $8.00, including a cleaning kit.

 

[HankB]

. . . an 8mm Mouser for $8.00 . . .

So you bought a small, cheap cat?

How big a rodent can an 8mm "Mouser" actually catch?