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I would not even consider selling a firearm back to a gunshop for the reasons Banzaii stated. A private (face to face) sale will give you a better return on your money (assuming they are legal in your state).
 
Banzai88 said:
Folks used to get highly irate when they would bring a gun to me to sell it back to the store. EVERYONE thinks that they should get back what they paid for it. EVERYONE. Even folks that know the business. Always amazes me and leaves me shaking my head.

This is how it's played out for me for the 30 years and different stores/ranges that I've worked:

Pretty much the standard quote is 1/2 of DISTRIBUTOR/WHOLESALE price (my price) - whatever % factor for wear and tear/condition. Our gun markup is generally +15% (15% is enough to keep the doors open and the lights on....barely).......so something that costs me $500 to put on the wall has a $575 price tag on it.

Call it a $600 pistol, out the door.......shoot a few boxes of ammunition through it, keep it for 6 months....then need cash for Christmas purchases.......trade-in for me to buy it? Yep, you guessed it......$250. They leave angry as hell......go to a pawn shop and get offered $125.....and come back to me a week later BEGGING for $350 or their old lady will leave them. That's when I put $250 cash and a bill of sale that they need to sign on the counter.....and 99.99% of them take the $250.

I then take that $250 pistol, with a few hundred rounds through it, send it to the gunsmith for a full detail clean for $35, and put it up on the wall as 'USED' for $450 right next to that new $575 one.........and sell the used one the next day.

At one point I audited our bound book and nearly 20% of our stock 'rotated' in this manner at least once before leaving forever. I had one Springfield Armory 1911 that I sold 4 times across 2 years before it never came back.

Want a nearly 100% predictor of that that 'rotating inventory' gun is going to be? Keep an eye on whatever gun the hero/villain uses in the latest action movie. Chances are that it'll be flying off of the shelves for the next month or so, only to come back in stacks the week after purchase, or the week after Thanksgiving when Christmas sales start. It's such a 'thing' that our distributor reps often call with 'movie specials' the week or two BEFORE a blockbuster movie comes out.

Trade in to buy something else? $300 STORE CREDIT ONLY that cannot be cashed out.

Same with rifles, except that any Franken AR that someone assembled from a lower and parts at home gets an auto minus of about 50%......even if you have the receipts to prove your high end parts.......If YOU built it, for me to re-sell it I have to disassemble it, clean it, and reassemble it, PROVING each part is what you say it is, if possible (and most parts are impossible to prove lineage in the AR world) and make sure it works......or I'm left with a dud that no 'manufacturer' will take on a warranty claim and I have to eat the cost of making it work........after all, it was sold as parts, NOT a complete rifle.

The harsh reality is, if you want more $$$? Go peddle it on ARFcom, I'll see you back here in a week.

As for bolt rifles, unless it's a limited run or a distributor special, no special consideration, even for accessories. Best bet is to sell those separately on ARFcom, Gun Broker, or Ebay, because my mark up on those is ABSURD, and you would be insulted by any offer I would make on them individually.
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Worked at a gun store/range. I saw exactly the same thing.
 
Steve Shannon said:
Jewelry is even worse. Everyone thinks it’s “an investment.”
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Ugh....I was in Pawn for a while, too. NOTHING makes people angrier than taking in "The Ring" with "The Rock" thinking that they paid high end custom jewelry store prices for a VVS1 or 2 clarity diamond with papers only to realize that they paid 5-10x the going rate for something highly inferior from the mall and what they're holding is only gonna get you $500 (at most)....and that they should STILL get back the $5K that they paid for it.

So sorry, NOT TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Americans pay S.T.U.P.I.D. prices for mass produced jewelry and synthetic stones.

Heck, even at the Gold Souq, we only ever paid the spot price for gold adjusted for fineness.....PLUS the 'making charge', which was always expected to be negotiable. And gems? Dime a dozen compared to US (insane) prices. Heck, stones were even cheaper in Israel!
 
rharshberger said:
The gun stores I worked in had a slightly different formula but same idea. Our used gun formula was the same unless you had purchased the gun from us (we did have records after all), then the 50% of wholesale price was modified to about 80% as long as it was in like new condition. Optics were considered zero value as there was no easy way to determine whether they were reliable or not, so a $600 rifle with a $600 scope was....$600. The worst purchases were older guns like Lugers and old Win 94's, while they would easily sell, determining an actual value was really difficult. I once had a Luger come into the shop, after several hours work and talking with a local Luger guy, best we could come up with was that it was a post war gun built with some leftover prewar parts (DWM toggle, etc), not as valuable as the owner hoped, however in typical german fashion all the parts were serialized. Win 94's have a whole lot of "specials" depending on which dealer ordered them and what options were put together, short mag tubes, octagon, half octagon barrels etc.
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Good to know. I figure as much. Usually what I see is someone selling a $2000 rifle with $1000 of upgrades. Only shot 100 rounds once at the range then sat in the gun safe for a year.

Of course their not gonna tell me the whole story. Why did they spend so much only to sell it a short time later? You answered some of that...
 
MClark said:
In six months when people realize there is not going to be a civil war they are going to try to sell the handguns they paid way over retail. The Glock they paid $1500 for will only bring $200 due to the market being flooded with used guns.
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I’m looking forward to stocking up on ammo and primers.
 
I get grief over ammo storage from my child bride.

It’s neatly and safely stored in ammo cans like rocket motors.

My mantra regarding most things is “Some is good, more is better, and too much is just enough!”

Shooting Illustrated addresses storage in the latest issue: “ Have a 10 year supply on hand. Replace what you shoot as you shoot it if possible.”
 
So I have a line on a Rock River Arms LAR-15 A2 NM rifle, which comes with a custom RRA carry case, 3 magazines, single shot sled, and sling for $1025 shipped. Looks to be in great shape over all. As an A2, it is not a flat top, and therefore optics choices become severely limited... which is what has me not hitting the buy switch. Thoughts on the deal?
 
I have used GB in a pinch, but would rather look locally first. The largest gun store here locally usually has a nice selection of AR platforms, so I need to get out of my "safer-at-home" and make a visit.
 
If walmart is any indicator... I believe the local walmart has cleared the shelves of all ammo and rifles prior to Nov 3... Academy was mighty wiped, but not empty like walmart. As for the largest gun store in North Alabama, Larry's Pistol and Pawn, it would be hard to imagine the shelves being empty, but based on the atmosphere of the current situation, they could very well be emptied out as well.
 
DRAGON64 said:
As for the largest gun store in North Alabama, Larry's Pistol and Pawn, it would be hard to imagine the shelves being empty,
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Coincidentally, my counterpart at work was just mentioning them. They aren't empty, but they're employing Supply/Demand pricing options, so be expecting high prices.

I'll be going out with said counterpart and one of my subordinates to shoot at one of their friends property Sunday. They are former marine and army respectively so I expect to be soundly outclassed, but a good time will be had!
 
SGAMMO will randomly have ammo from time to time. My LGS was able to reload tens of thousands of rounds from his private stock of primers and not like upcharge everyone. I’ve stopped buying ammo for this year. I swapped the PSA lower for a BRN-4 lower. PSA lower will go on another build at later date. I voted too. Corona kinda hit my company hard. A lot of us aren’t going to range as much anymore.
 
DRAGON64 said:
So I have a line on a Rock River Arms LAR-15 A2 NM rifle, which comes with a custom RRA carry case, 3 magazines, single shot sled, and sling for $1025 shipped. Looks to be in great shape over all. As an A2, it is not a flat top, and therefore optics choices become severely limited... which is what has me not hitting the buy switch. Thoughts on the deal?
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You might be able to find a A4 flat top upper from new Old Stock FN or other contract M16A4 as parts kit. Way cheaper. Sabre defense was selling some. You’d have to piece a stripped lower together in semi auto config. Might save you a few hundred bucks for mags, ammo, and sling.

I think J&G has T91 wolf A1 Piston uppers flat top for $600 ish. Would be a 16” carbine barrel but similar short stroke to HK416 at much cheaper pricing.

I like piston AR. Eat it on weight. Much cleaner on cleaning the bolt lol. Runs cooler. Vents heat to atmosphere.
 
Well, I ultimately moved my thoughts back to rocketry... I am building a large rocket that needs a launch pad, so I just cut into my budget to secure the raw material for said project.
 
I might have a buyer for my W. German P226. Sad to see it leave, but it is too big to carry. My wife was thinking an XDS would be a better replacement. I cleaned it up and found a small amount of surface rust from storage in my safe too. It is cleaned after every use and stored with desiccant, but I guess that wasn't enough
 

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NateB said:
I might have a buyer for my W. German P226. Sad to see it leave, but it is too big to carry. My wife was thinking an XDS would be a better replacement. I cleaned it up and found a small amount of surface rust from storage in my safe too. It is cleaned after every use and stored with desiccant, but I guess that wasn't enough
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Nice. I have several german made as well. Smooth as silk and dead flat reliable.
 
Banzai88 said:
Nice. I have several german made as well. Smooth as silk and dead flat reliable.
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It is a pleasure at the range. Easy to handle and doesn't really require aim adjustment between shots. I just wish it were smaller. The potential buyer's grandpa was born in W. Germany and collects items made there. If the price is right, I'll part with a tool.
 
Took my new (to me) 1966 Remington model 700 30-06 to the range for the first time today. Put about 40 rounds through it. Got a smile on my face and a bruise on my shoulder! :p Need to find a nice scope for it now.

Also got in a little practice with my 1911 and Mossberg MC-1. Not a bad day...
 

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