The prices individuals think their used rifles are worth...

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Macchina

Macchina

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I have been shopping for a cheaper deer rifle to loan out to siblings and cousins this year and have been met one insultingly high price after another. Browsing a few local forums and Armslist I see rifles such as the Savage Axis, Ruger American, Mossberg ATR, etc. being advertised anywhere from $50 to $100 ABOVE the current brand new price from my local gun shop! I put a few WTB ads out there looking for a well used Marlin or older bolt action (such as a Savage 110) and people send me offers for non-JM stamped Marlin 336 rifles for $450... This rifle is $399 at Walmart! The two bolt action offers I got (USED Savage Axis and USED Mossberg 4x4) were either at or above the in-stock price at gun shops. When I sent the sellers a link to the price they said they couldn't beat it...

What is going on here? Not only have I seen a ton of extremely high prices, I have yet to find a decent deal on ANYTHING used. I'd love to find that one "cosmetically challenged" rifle but each time I find one with dents and scratches it's priced right around the brand new MSRP. I have been diligently looking for weeks and have yet to find anything worth looking at.

Maybe this is a hint that I should just a buy a brand new gun...
 
It ain't just guns. Lately people seem to be off their rocker about what their used crap is worth. It's like they're finding the highest "buy it now!" offer on eBay and adding 20% or 30%.
 
people list high because they expect to be lowballed/ negotiated down....send them a reasonable offer and see if they take it.
 
Reminds me of the local gunshop a few years ago.

I went in looking for a used 10/22 to build up on.

He had two on the shelf, wood stock and blue barrels. Both were cosmetically challenged, dents and dings and some rust on the barrels. Looks like they rode behind the seats(or under) of trucks for a while.

When asked how much, the owner responded with, "You can have either one for $189".

So I asked how much a new one was...$179
 
That's just it. I've made some offers but when someone is asking $300 for a rifle that sells new for $229 and you offer $175 (just 24% off of the brand new price) they get offended because "you are offering only half of their asking price". I don't take the time to explain that's not how it works...


I think people are still attempting to sell as if we are still in the panic when you could sell anything that shoots. They don't take the time to check the actual value of a used budget bolt action. I think the real problem is nobody would be will to sell a decent and very accurate used budget rifle for $150, even if that is what the current market is saying they should be selling for used...
 
people list high because they expect to be lowballed/ negotiated down....send them a reasonable offer and see if they take it.
Click to expand...

The problem, as Macchina pointed out, is

they get offended because "you are offering only half of their asking price".
Click to expand...

There's a difference between asking for a bit more than you expect to get, and listing at or above new price.

I doubt I'm unique in that I generally won't even bother to read the ad, let alone make contact, if I can buy new for similar money. Doesn't matter if it's a gun, a tool or a power wheels toy for the kids.

And then there's the type who won't give you a figure. Had one of those the other day on a Sherline CNC mill, "well, come take a look, see what you think, then we'll talk about money". Bite me. I'm not gonna take the time and burn the fuel to drive across town unless I believe it's worth it, which I can't possibly know if I've no idea what the seller's minimum price might be. For more common stuff, I wouldn't have even clicked on an ad with "$1" in the header for an item that is obviously hundreds or thousands of times that.
 
Look for a Mosin-Nagant. Cheaper than dirt, unless you are trying to get a sniper variant, and even cheaper to shoot. Like any milsurp I'd look up information on how to tell if you're getting a good deal or not. I saw someone try to sell a "sniper" Mosin for about $1000 USD. Serials didn't match, wood was 10 kinds of messed up, and the whole thing looked like the guy just tossed an older scope on a beat up Mosin.
 
Used guns are getting to be like used cars and worse in some cases. 20 years ago I was able to make some great buys on used guns at pawn shops but, thanks to the internet, every pawn shop has a resident "expert" that prices the guns. Back in the day the pawn shop would buy the gun, add a profit, and sell it. Now they buy it, look on Gunbroker, add 20% to THAT price and put it on the shelf. I routinely see POS shotguns and 22 bolt action rifles that are pitted throughout and these guys want $200 for them. Old beater MN's for $299????
Armslist and others are about the same. I was on a FB trade page but the people all thought they were on an episode of "Barter Kings".

My advice is to go to Walmart and buy a Ruger American or Savage with accu-trigger as a loaner gun. You will have a fair quality loaner that will do the job acceptably well. I have a Savage in 30-06 that I routinely loan out as well as a 336 on occasion.
 
Just pass the exorbitantly priced ads by... maybe if they get no response after a few months, they will adjust their price.

fwiw, I have noticed this too, and just chuckle at what some people want. They justify it by calling their particular offering "rare" or "hard to find"... yeah, I guess the other thirty seven pages of gunbroker ads for the same thing are rare too.

another thing that gets my goat, while I am on the soapbox...

"For sale: Model XYZ revolver in 38 spl. LNIB, slight holster wear at the muzzle, bobbed hammer, finish looks to be 92%"

well, if the finish is at 92%, there is holster wear at the muzzle, and someone took a hacksaw to the hammer, it damned well is NOT LNIB...
 
Unfortunately, far too few people understand basic economics. Even more unfortunately, far too many of these people vote.
 
well, if you don't like the price, don't buy it. not sure what the big deal is :confused: of course if you offer half the asking price they'll mock you, you'd be laughed at by anyone anywhere if you offered that kind of low ball on anything, not just guns, i'd heartily laugh to be sure and not stop until you left the vicinity or hung up the phone. if they don't know what their gun is worth, they'll figure that out when it doesn't sell, and eventually change their price to reflect real market conditions. or they won't and it'll continue to sit in their safe, lol.
 
zchry said:
Look for a Mosin-Nagant. Cheaper than dirt, unless you are trying to get a sniper variant, and even cheaper to shoot. Like any milsurp I'd look up information on how to tell if you're getting a good deal or not. I saw someone try to sell a "sniper" Mosin for about $1000 USD. Serials didn't match, wood was 10 kinds of messed up, and the whole thing looked like the guy just tossed an older scope on a beat up Mosin.
Click to expand...

Mosins aren't cheaper than dirt anymore. I just sold a run-of-the-mill 1941 Russian Mosin for $200. (Paid $140 2 years ago) That was with the bayonet but none of the other accessories. To me that is too close to the price of a new entry level bolt to buy the Mosin unless you are interested in the history.

A think a lot of this is because of the crazy prices the last couple of years. People paid crazy prices for a gun and now think that is what it is worth. They don't realize or believe that they paid 100-200% more than normal due to the panic
 
Older 10/22 vs newer, even if birch stocked...........yup, the older ones with alloy trigger guards are in more demand.

And nobody keeps the birch stock. So degree of cosmetics there doesn't influence price.

Anodized receiver vs painted. Some folks also like the diff between blued and painted bbls........but builders rarely run the factory bbl.

Not all 10/22's are the same.

I scored a factory checkerd fingergroove sporter, priced as a used regular deluxe sporter (due to the checkering). $275 out the door with sling and scope :)
 
Low end rifles like the Savage Axis (and similar)........lots of places sell them, many of them big chain or box stores.

So with volume buying, their prices are probably the lowest around.

Lots of people around me buy them, and then need money, and try to dump them at my local gun shop. Many times they are like new, or beat to heck (seem to be extremes).

Some have been funkied up with NC Star and other cheap accessories, paint jobs and bubba stock mods.

Many folks who can't afford more expensive rifles are also of the type that proly couldn't afford the entry level rifle in the first place.........always needing cash, soon after any firearms outlay...............you'll see them sell a Heritage .22 revolver and 6 months later an H&R shotgun. Or a Mossberg 500...............or a Savage Axis.

Seen it over and over.

The lesser priced gun market is flooded. With new and used. Those who don't understand that a used rifle of that type needs to be priced accordingly............either need money and don't understand the market, are going for max recoup...........or think the lack of a 4473 commands a premium.

Or the price high thinking something will be offered in trade, or they will be offered less in cash price............or they'll find a sucker.

Savage Axis aint a bad rifle, it just isn't anything great. The worst things are the 710 series Remingtons (and similar). Most shops won't take them in trade or buy them used.
 
Rust = Patina; add 10%
Manufacturer couldn't sell so discontinued = Rare; add 15%
Seller got it free from grandpa = Heirloom gun; add 15%
Negotiating room; add 15%
 
Yup. A $300 gun new, cosmetically challenged, should proly be around 200.
When you get that low......most folks won't go bankrupt over $200.

Losing 33-50% just doesn't sit well with people, and when the amount overall is low..........many just won't sell it.

Oh well.

When the car payment is due or they need Xmas money they'll drag it back out and try to sell it to the gunshop. Of course it proly hasn't been oiled for months, and now has more rust. And they'll expect the same amount they were offered months before..............even if the rack now has 3 rifles like their's used, in better shape.

Clueless.
 
I don't get it either. The local pawn shops are pricing above retail for current model used guns. They are not budging on their price either. They must be getting asking price, their inventory changes constantly. Who knows. A couple of weeks ago I saw a GLOCK 22 in a pawn shop for $600.00. It was all scratched up, no case, 1 mag included. :confused:
 
JSH1 said:
Mosins aren't cheaper than dirt anymore. I just sold a run-of-the-mill 1941 Russian Mosin for $200. (Paid $140 2 years ago) That was with the bayonet but none of the other accessories. To me that is too close to the price of a new entry level bolt to buy the Mosin unless you are interested in the history.

A think a lot of this is because of the crazy prices the last couple of years. People paid crazy prices for a gun and now think that is what it is worth. They don't realize or believe that they paid 100-200% more than normal due to the panic
Click to expand...

Oh I know they're about $200. But I don't know of any other rifle that isn't some beat up .22 that costs as little. Especially since OP wanted a loaner deer rifle. So it's (relatively) cheap as dirt and it should shoot just fine.
 
I owned an M44 Mosin in the past and let my Dad use it for a season before he got a deer rifle. The safety on the rifle makes it a very poor deer gun. It's OK for drives when you can walk with the chamber empty but it cannot be effectively used as a stand rifle. I traded my Mosin for a .22 rifle and will probably never own another.
 
TIP! Check out you're local pawn shops.
Click to expand...

The ones near me are right up there with gander mountain.

(I can by new cheaper!!!)


oh and blame "Pawn Stars", "Storage Auctions" and any other reality show that hyper inflates prices on real goods..
 
What bugs me is people put these stupidly high prices on their stuff and it sells a lot of the time! I put up something that's priced to sell quickly and it sits there with a bunch of tire kickers being the only contacts. Oh well, it happens. Adapt or die and hope it will return to normal in the next year or two.

Also as far as the Mosins, they banned the further importation of Russian made Mosin Nagants which is why the prices has gone out of sight recently.
 
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