Used firearm value

[Pepperman]

Have a friend looking to sell a very nice semi-auto rifle and I have another friend that will likely be buying it.

The seller is effectively adding up everything he's put into the gun and asking for 80% of that number. Is that an appropriate value for a private sale?

 

[The Tradition]

The value of something is always equal to what someone is willing to pay for it, and has nothing to do with how much the seller has invested in it.

 

[naturalmwa]

The value of something is always equal to what someone is willing to pay for it, and has nothing to do with how much the seller has invested in it.

I bet this will prove very helpful to the parties involved.

 

[TexMichFan]

Google?

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

The value of something is always equal to what someone is willing to pay for it, and has nothing to do with how much the seller has invested in it.

No.

 

[soybean]

I bet this will prove very helpful to the parties involved.

It should be. Sounds like the seller doesn't already know it though.

 

[The Tradition]

No.

Are you having another "argue for the sake of argument" moment?

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

I'd have him check local gun shops for the price of similar used firearms. Many do sell used firearms.

He might also be able to look online.

I would base the value on that.

 

[Pepperman]

I'd have him check local gun shops for the price of similar used firearms. Many do sell used firearms.

He might also be able to look online.

That's what I said too. Sites like gunbroker are good for this. Both parties are looking at these values.

I just wondered if anybody had any other advice or experience with private sales and if ~80% of new was pretty common or fair.

Tradition and soybean couldn't be more incorrect about this, by the way.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

That's what I said too. Sites like gunbroker are good for this. Both parties are looking at these values.

I just wondered if anybody had any other advice or experience with private sales and if ~80% of new was pretty common or fair.

Tradition and soybean couldn't be more incorrect about this, by the way.

Don't know, I don't have any experience buying or selling used firearms. I would say that 80% of the cost of a new firearm + 80% of the cost of whatever money he put into the firearm seems awefully high for a used anything.

I suppose it depends upon condition but I can't think of very many things that keep 80% or better of their value sold new for very long. So just going with my gut without having any information to base this on, I would be highly suspicious.

 

[ClarindaA's]

look on gunbroker.com...see what similar items are actually selling for.

 

[The Tradition]

Tradition and soybean couldn't be more incorrect about this, by the way.

Yeah, Tradition is incorrect.

Go ahead and put a $50,000 kitchen in a $70,000 house and see if you get any sort of return on that investment.

 

[soybean]

Yeah, Tradition is incorrect.

Go ahead and put a $50,000 kitchen in a $70,000 house and see if you get any sort of return on that investment.

My

That's what I said too. Sites like gunbroker are good for this. Both parties are looking at these values.

I just wondered if anybody had any other advice or experience with private sales and if ~80% of new was pretty common or fair.

Tradition and soybean couldn't be more incorrect about this, by the way.

 

[Funky Bunch]

 

[Pepperman]

Yeah, Tradition is incorrect.

Go ahead and put a $50,000 kitchen in a $70,000 house and see if you get any sort of return on that investment.

If only kitchens and houses were commodities. You see, guns kind of are a commodity, especially if they have been cared for and have no defects.

Anyway, Clarinda is a poster I trust to have a view worth listening to, and he's already confirmed what both parties are doing is correct... The only thing is the seller gets full "retail" price instead of selling it to a gun shop that would take a margin. So I think the buyer should be able to talk him down a bit, but I'm not getting in the middle of this one any more than I need to be.

 

[The_Joker13]

80% seems high, especially for the aftermarket parts, but if the gun is barely used or in excellent condition it could be reasonable. I buy all my firearms at gun shows so it's easy to compare what guns are going for.

 

[Gimmered]

It

Have a friend looking to sell a very nice semi-auto rifle and I have another friend that will likely be buying it.

The seller is effectively adding up everything he's put into the gun and asking for 80% of that number. Is that an appropriate value for a private sale?

It depends on when he bought it. AR-15s that were selling new for $1400 18 months ago are back to $670 now. I wouldn't want to pay $1100 for a used one now.

 

[whatsup13579er]

It all depends but guns don't really depreciate. As Gimmered said there was a run on ARs that inflated their value but other than that guns are pretty stable. Have said friends look online and compare similar guns to make sure neither gets screwed, intentionally or unintentionally.

 

[Pepperman]

It

It depends on when he bought it. AR-15s that were selling new for $1400 18 months ago are back to $670 now. I wouldn't want to pay $1100 for a used one now.

He has had this gun for a long time, maybe 8-10 years. It is a very nice piston-driven SIG and the extras he's throwing in are things you'd go buy anyway (most likely). I think the price he's looking to get is almost identical to what gunbroker and other online sites are showing so it's largely a finished deal now. The only thing I'd quibble at if I were the buyer is that he cannot sell it to a dealer for the price he's asking the buyer to pay, but it's sort of like a used car in that there is a private buyer price and a dealer price.

What I'm finding out is this is largely a fair deal and both sides will likely walk away equally happy (or angry, or indifferent) in which case the market worked as usual.

 

[GarryO37]

A used firearm is not in the same realm of a used car. If the owner took reasonable care of the firearm, 80% is a fair deal in my book as long as it's in line with the current market value of the weapon.

Personally, if I were the buyer, I wouldn't want the seller to consider the cost of what was put in to the firearm unless it's exactly what I would want for that particular weapon. In most cases it's not; which is why I would ask not to figure in the cost of what was put in to the gun. If I'm just going to swap things out, then I don't really care what the seller put in to the weapon.

Again, it's still a fair deal if the weapon is exactly what the buyer wants.

 

[CarolinaHawkeye]

One really has to abuse a firearm for it to depreciate, so it is pretty feasible for someone to sell for more than cost, particularly if there has been any passage of time.

 

[Pepperman]

A used firearm is not in the same realm of a used car. If the owner took reasonable care of the firearm, 80% is a fair deal in my book as long as it's in line with the current market value of the weapon.

I agree with everything you posted. My comment about the "used car price" had to do with the price you can sell a used car to a dealer (who needs to make his money) vs a private sale to an individual.

In my example, let's say the gunbroker prices are $1000. A local gun shop would probably offer you $800 or less knowing they need to make their money re-selling it. That's the "dealer price" whereas maybe you could expect to sell it to an individual for something like $950 (after all, that's cheaper than the sites like gunbroker and whatever the local gun shop is going to try to sell it to you for, plus there is no tax). Hope that makes sense...

The deal is now done, by the way. The buyer took a bit longer to get around to responding (not an intentional foot drag, just life going on and such) and the seller said "I'll sweeten the deal a bit" and they agreed. I think it was a very fair exchange all things considered.

 

[Derekd3408]

Have a friend looking to sell a very nice semi-auto rifle and I have another friend that will likely be buying it.

The seller is effectively adding up everything he's put into the gun and asking for 80% of that number. Is that an appropriate value for a private sale?

My BIL sold some Hi-Power rifles about a year ago and got 50% on one and 60% on the other. They had quite a few custom parts though and the market for his weren't huge. He planned to use them for competitive shooting but never found the time. The used rifles I have were purchesed at about 65% of the new value. They were in immaculate shape as well. I also buy directly from sellers, gun shops will have larger markups.

 

[86Hawkeye]

Sounds like these percentage approaches are simply benchmarks to help people set prices and convince people that guns are worth X amount.

In the end, it still comes down to what someone is willing to pay (even if influenced by these "metrics"), so Tradition is correct.

 

[Pepperman]

Sounds like these percentage approaches are simply benchmarks to help people set prices and convince people that guns are worth X amount.

In the end, it still comes down to what someone is willing to pay (even if influenced by these "metrics"), so Tradition is correct.

I think the semantics of this are probably true, but it is still a silly argument in my opinion. If I had asked what price a friend should sell another friend 1 share of Facebook, I think I'd have gotten answers that referenced the market price of Facebook's shares, but you could still be a jackwagon and answer Tradition's way, couldn't you? If you want to say "he's correct" that's fine. It would be more proper to say "he added nothing to this thread with that answer". Your post above is the way to go about giving that answer, in my opinion.

 

[73chief]

W

everything he's put into the gun

What are we talking about here? Optics, laser, lights, rails, grips, or has he made upgrades to the operating systems? I buy/sell/trade about 50 guns a year so let me know what you are talking about and I'll try to help. As others have stated, it depends on what value the buyer places on the upgrades. I'm personally pretty particular about optics and unless the one included is exactly what I want, it would be worth $0 to me. In fact I would almost require them to take it off and I'll reduce my offer price accordingly. Conversely, if someone has installed a high end rail system that can allow the optics of my choice to be installed same day, then I would be willing to pay a premium for that. If he is including high capacity magazines, I would pay a premium for that as well.

 

[theIowaHawk]

What was it used for?

 

[Catfish_ Crazy]

Don't know, I don't have any experience buying or selling used firearms. I would say that 80% of the cost of a new firearm + 80% of the cost of whatever money he put into the firearm seems awefully high for a used anything.

I suppose it depends upon condition but I can't think of very many things that keep 80% or better of their value sold new for very long. So just going with my gut without having any information to base this on, I would be highly suspicious.

You should be able to sell a gun for as much as you payed for it.

 

[Derekd3408]

You should be able to sell a gun for as much as you payed for it.

So what keeps the buyer from just getting a brand new one then?

 

[theIowaHawk]

So what keeps the buyer from just getting a brand new one then?

 

[Derekd3408]

Looks like a responsible gun owner and a savy businessman. No way he pays full price for used weapons.

 

[LuckyNed]

As many have already stated it depends on the make, age and condition of the rifle. Adding all the bells and whistles normally will not substantially increase the value of the rifle. Much like a car you can only customize so much and expect to sell the thing for close to what you put into it.

Also the price of a lot of rifles have been falling and in some cases you can buy new for less than what some people want for used.

My experience is that you can get a better deal in trade at a gun show than at a place like Cabela's or Bass Pro imo they give you crap for your weapon and then they try to double the price when selling.