negotiating on a used rifle price,
03-22-2019, 06:37 AM
#1
Super Moderator
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: texas
Posts: 1,201
negotiating on a used rifle price,
I occasionally stop in at a couple local gun stores and pawn shops looking for bargains ,
I try to stop by every few months , at the local pawn shops, Im , not really in the market for a rifle but if I spot a bargain.....
you obviously need to know both what your looking at and what a reasonable price to pay for something your looking at will be,
you can bet your last dollar that most pawn shops will start out asking far more for any firearm from some guy they don,t know,
than it could reasonably expect to bring.
example I walked in too one local pawn shops about two years ago,
, and theres an old blue steel,marlin lever action in cal 35 rem,
its stock has some obvious wear, bluing is turning silver in places,
it looks almost like someone used oil and extra fine steel wool,pad, to remove mild surface rust , at some point.
the rear sights missing,but it looks like it spent the vast majority of its life in a closet or gun case the bore looks almost new but a bit dull,
rifling almost unworn, but maybe some dust rust at one time.
I ask the guy what the asking price is and he says $600, as those old marlins in rare calibers like 35 rem are collector items.
I pointed out that 35 rem ammo is occasionally hard to find. and the rifle was missing the rear sight,
I rather doubt he paid anyone who pawned that rifle over $120 for it. I well remember those guns selling new, in either 30/30 or 35 rem,
for under $170 ,when I was much younger and that rifles sure not in prime collector condition.(I doubt this rifle qualifies as)
(FAIR CONDITION) but if I could get it at a reasonable price?......I offered $200 in cash.... he looked like he would choke.
I smiled and said , well whats a reasonable price? he said, I could let it go for $500,
I smiled and said, well at least your starting to move in the right direction, Ive got the $200 in cash when you get into the mode to sell it.
I've been back about every 2-3 months over the last two years, and the rifles still on the rack,
this Saturday one of the guys I regularly hunt with asked if I knew where he could find a used 30/30 or 35 marlin
I told him to, look it over carefully and if he was interested.. offer no more than $175 , show him the cash, and let the guy think it over.
today I heard from the friend he got a call and was offered the rifle for $225
I don,t know what will transpire yet
http://www.firearmspriceguide.com/guns/
I try to stop by every few months , at the local pawn shops, Im , not really in the market for a rifle but if I spot a bargain.....
you obviously need to know both what your looking at and what a reasonable price to pay for something your looking at will be,
you can bet your last dollar that most pawn shops will start out asking far more for any firearm from some guy they don,t know,
than it could reasonably expect to bring.
example I walked in too one local pawn shops about two years ago,
, and theres an old blue steel,marlin lever action in cal 35 rem,
its stock has some obvious wear, bluing is turning silver in places,
it looks almost like someone used oil and extra fine steel wool,pad, to remove mild surface rust , at some point.
the rear sights missing,but it looks like it spent the vast majority of its life in a closet or gun case the bore looks almost new but a bit dull,
rifling almost unworn, but maybe some dust rust at one time.
I ask the guy what the asking price is and he says $600, as those old marlins in rare calibers like 35 rem are collector items.
I pointed out that 35 rem ammo is occasionally hard to find. and the rifle was missing the rear sight,
I rather doubt he paid anyone who pawned that rifle over $120 for it. I well remember those guns selling new, in either 30/30 or 35 rem,
for under $170 ,when I was much younger and that rifles sure not in prime collector condition.(I doubt this rifle qualifies as)
(FAIR CONDITION) but if I could get it at a reasonable price?......I offered $200 in cash.... he looked like he would choke.
I smiled and said , well whats a reasonable price? he said, I could let it go for $500,
I smiled and said, well at least your starting to move in the right direction, Ive got the $200 in cash when you get into the mode to sell it.
I've been back about every 2-3 months over the last two years, and the rifles still on the rack,
this Saturday one of the guys I regularly hunt with asked if I knew where he could find a used 30/30 or 35 marlin
I told him to, look it over carefully and if he was interested.. offer no more than $175 , show him the cash, and let the guy think it over.
today I heard from the friend he got a call and was offered the rifle for $225
I don,t know what will transpire yet
http://www.firearmspriceguide.com/guns/
03-22-2019, 10:23 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 2,743
well I will say this, as a previous owner of a gun shop
some times you sell things at a loss(you try to NEVER do so), but some times you do just to get rid of something that has been about too long, and or you got bills to pay and things have been slow
but 99% of the time I would never even sell something worth more for less
all the more so with today's world wide web and the ability to sell things online m, where you can get million so of folks looking at what you have for sale!
good deals happen all the time, but there NOT super common!
who know's maybe sitting on the shelf for 2 yrs the bore got rusty too , or gun had been dropped by a few customers or??
don't laugh this stuff happens
after so many yrs selling guns, the stories I could tell would shock a lot of die hard gun owners!
deals like this and flea market finds again, DO happen, but I wouldn;t count on it as a way to BUY anything you want!
some times you sell things at a loss(you try to NEVER do so), but some times you do just to get rid of something that has been about too long, and or you got bills to pay and things have been slow
but 99% of the time I would never even sell something worth more for less
all the more so with today's world wide web and the ability to sell things online m, where you can get million so of folks looking at what you have for sale!
good deals happen all the time, but there NOT super common!
who know's maybe sitting on the shelf for 2 yrs the bore got rusty too , or gun had been dropped by a few customers or??
don't laugh this stuff happens
after so many yrs selling guns, the stories I could tell would shock a lot of die hard gun owners!
deals like this and flea market finds again, DO happen, but I wouldn;t count on it as a way to BUY anything you want!
03-22-2019, 11:18 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,902
I’m with Mrbb on this - I’ve worked in a few shops and made a business of buy/sell/trade guns for several years. Sitting on a rifle like that for 2 years is a sign of a poor businessman, letting it go below market value to avoid further inventory cost on it is yet another.
Inflation is a powerful thing. We remember Marlins sitting on the rack for $200-250 not so many years ago, and wonder in awe how they might be priced so high today. Inflation over 20 years adds 50% in “dollar for dollar” cost, then you add the value of a JM stamp reputation versus a Remington built rifle, and consider that leverguns have shifted from being a staple firearm to a boutique status - they easily bring far more than their pre-2000 retail price might suggest. I’ve enjoyed this fact myself, as I had a handful of pre-Remington Marlins and pre-Miroku Winchester leverguns in my safes which tripled or quadrupled my money when sold. Rough shape is rough shape, but we’re not playing based on their retail prices any more.
Incidental to the timing of this post, I picked up a 35rem JM stamp Marlin a few months ago as barter against building an AR upper. I haggled a $400 value to the rifle, negotiating its sale for $550 to the new owner even while I was negotiating its acquisition from the original owner. I only had it in possession for 3 days.
Commodities are worth what a person is willing to pay. Tiffany & Co sells a gold plated bookmark shaped like a 2.5” long paper clip for $1500... There’s no real trick to it - know your market’s price tolerance for a product and know how to move products at profit. Sometimes you get stuck, most of the time you don’t.
But the OP story really just sounds like a local shop owner who needs to buy a computer and learn about online selling. He could get $400 for a 35 Rem Marlin without breaking a sweat.
Inflation is a powerful thing. We remember Marlins sitting on the rack for $200-250 not so many years ago, and wonder in awe how they might be priced so high today. Inflation over 20 years adds 50% in “dollar for dollar” cost, then you add the value of a JM stamp reputation versus a Remington built rifle, and consider that leverguns have shifted from being a staple firearm to a boutique status - they easily bring far more than their pre-2000 retail price might suggest. I’ve enjoyed this fact myself, as I had a handful of pre-Remington Marlins and pre-Miroku Winchester leverguns in my safes which tripled or quadrupled my money when sold. Rough shape is rough shape, but we’re not playing based on their retail prices any more.
Incidental to the timing of this post, I picked up a 35rem JM stamp Marlin a few months ago as barter against building an AR upper. I haggled a $400 value to the rifle, negotiating its sale for $550 to the new owner even while I was negotiating its acquisition from the original owner. I only had it in possession for 3 days.
Commodities are worth what a person is willing to pay. Tiffany & Co sells a gold plated bookmark shaped like a 2.5” long paper clip for $1500... There’s no real trick to it - know your market’s price tolerance for a product and know how to move products at profit. Sometimes you get stuck, most of the time you don’t.
But the OP story really just sounds like a local shop owner who needs to buy a computer and learn about online selling. He could get $400 for a 35 Rem Marlin without breaking a sweat.
