Practically have to give'em away...

[Joe13]

I won't buy another similar auto handgun in WA until the laws change

 

[bikemutt]

I know this has been discussed before, but it sure is hard to sell guns for reasonable prices these days. I have a Sig P220 that's been on consignment since last July, not even an offer. Price seems fair considering all the extras included, but no one is interested. I remember a time in the not too distant past that ANYTHING Sig went for the better part of $1K, yesterday I saw a Sig like mine in the Classifieds for $550. Guess I'll pick up my SIG the next time I'm in Riverside, if it won't sell now, I guess I'll just have to wait until the next panic . Sorry guys, mostly just venting, later.

If you have the gun for sale at Dave's Gun & Pawn in Riverside, WA that's a pretty small shop with not a lot of foot traffic. I used to live in Riverside is why I mention this. I'm not sure how FFLs treat consignment redemption these days, the last one I did meant I had to get a BG check to get my own gun back, with a CPL that was no problem. Hopefully with the new legal landscape of mandatory waiting periods you don't have to go get the gun twice.

It is tough to sell just about any gun these days. I did a lot of dealer trades when I was living in Renton, I still hear from buddies who live up they telling me this dealer of that still has one of my trades under glass, some of those trades are 3 plus years old.

As much as it's a bit more hassle, it may make sense to consider one of the online websites, at least there you have exposure, and if it's priced right it will sell.

Good luck OP.

 

[gmerkt]

Agree. The classic example for me is a used car which is worth $2000 but the owner put $2000 wheels on it and a $1000 stereo. It's still only worth $2000 and actually if the wheels are unusual or ugly it may turn away a lot of prospective buyers. It's maybe worth up to $2500 if the buyer values the wheels or stereo but the seller would never get anywhere near the retail price for his extras.

95% of people don't want to buy somebody else's mistakes.

I won't buy another similar auto handgun in WA until the laws change

I'm seeing lots of this. In Wash. the recently enacted anti-gun laws have made many gun fanciers, well, gun-shy.

It is tough to sell just about any gun these days. I did a lot of dealer trades when I was living in Renton, I still hear from buddies who live up there telling me this dealer or that still has one of my trades under glass, some of those trades are 3 plus years old.

I think a common belief for many gun fanciers has been that in addition to their inherent utility, guns are a store of value. In other words, you need your money out of it, you can usually get it to some degree. However the new laws in Wash. have taken a lot of the liquidity out of guns as a store of value. It's much harder to move them from one person to another. People don't want their money messed with, so this is causing gun avoidance.

Until Federal laws are changed, I'd say one alternative to moving guns is using an online portal to sell them into another state. Like Gunbroker or similar. Yes, it's a pain in the butt and involves loss of money in fees. And, common guns net you may as well take a steep loss locally.

This past Saturday, I was at the WAC gun show in Monroe. Which I didn't spend very long at. The bigger dealers with many tables have quit showing up because they know what a waste of time it is. I didn't see guns moving. In fact, I saw more M1 Garands for sale there than usual for what has become a smaller show. Also more than usual, Remington 742's, semi autos that in Wash. are now considered an assault weapon. Guys want to get their liquidity out of these while they can.

I-594 and I-1639 have greatly affected the economics of owning guns in Washington.

Yes, we might see a pickup of gun commerce when the Dems get back in full power. It may be a short window, depending on what they come up with. So be prepared to take advantage of the situation whether a buyer or seller.

Yes, buyers benefit from this situation at present. But they must weigh the wisdom of stocking up on items that may become even less liquid in the future. We know more bad news is already coming at the state level in Wash. Legislators and others are talking up regulation of ammunition in the next session.

 

[nammac]

I was thinking about holding out for a panic but I am not sure that we will see another time like we did during the Obama era. There are so many firearms out there now it seems everbody who really wants one, has ten.

Let a dem get elected to the White House, especially Bloomberg, and prices will skyrocket... You heard it here first!

The pendulum will swing back the other way, question is when...

 

[leadcounsel]

I think a common belief for many gun fanciers has been that in addition to their inherent utility, guns are a store of value. In other words, you need your money out of it, you can usually get it to some degree. However the new laws in Wash. have taken a lot of the liquidity out of guns as a store of value. It's much harder to move them from one person to another. People don't want their money messed with, so this is causing gun avoidance.

Until Federal laws are changed, I'd say one alternative to moving guns is using an online portal to sell them into another state. Like Gunbroker or similar. Yes, it's a pain in the butt and involves loss of money in fees. And, common guns net you may as well take a steep loss locally.

This past Saturday, I was at the WAC gun show in Monroe. Which I didn't spend very long at. The bigger dealers with many tables have quit showing up because they know what a waste of time it is. I didn't see guns moving. In fact, I saw more M1 Garands for sale there than usual for what has become a smaller show. Also more than usual, Remington 742's, semi autos that in Wash. are now considered an assault weapon. Guys want to get their liquidity out of these while they can.

I-594 and I-1639 have greatly affected the economics of owning guns in Washington.

Yes, we might see a pickup of gun commerce when the Dems get back in full power. It may be a short window, depending on what they come up with. So be prepared to take advantage of the situation whether a buyer or seller.

Yes, buyers benefit from this situation at present. But they must weigh the wisdom of stocking up on items that may become even less liquid in the future. We know more bad news is already coming at the state level in Wash. Legislators and others are talking up regulation of ammunition in the next session.

This is a good assessment. During the Obama years we had 3 spikes and regular threats to gun rights. Prices generally went up, not down, even incrementally. I know I bought some higher priced items I currently could get a LOT cheaper. They are quality items, but I just paid too much. There was an "Obama tax" so to speak. It was a sellers market.

Then when it was pretty clear that Hillary would win, odds were good, there was definitely a feeling of "Buy it now if you ever wanted it" and a "Hillary tax." I know for sure that I bought a few things on a whim during that phase.

So, both as a store of wealth but also a level of urgency to buy now or never at these prices.

I think about this often. Right now, guns are still a store of wealth. Just not immediate liquidity cash "wealth." Nowhere in the world can you legally get the quality and quantity of guns and ammo and accessories we can get here and now. For $500, you can easily get a top quality modern excellent self defense tool, hunting rifle, home defense weapon, etc. FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS is pretty much nothing for most people.

Some places in the world, you cannot even contemplate owning guns. Heck the guns sitting in my home office right now would be cause to kick in the front door, murder or arrest a citizen similarly armed in the UK or Spain or whatever. Possession, acquisition, owning, or carry would be very dangerous... In other places, it's only for the rich and well connected.

To the OP, keep the Sig P220. It's a fine gun, currently undervalued. A right that is incredible and for which most can't have nor could even afford that gun in their home market.

 

[JuglansRegia]

If you are trying to sell any used gun that is still currently being produced, you will need to take at least a 20% loss on it, closer to 30% if you want to sell it in reasonable amount of time and 40-50% if you want to sell it quick. I would sell accessories separately.

 

[Legion489]

I see so many used guns, especially military surplus guns, going for outrageous (to me) prices that I wonder if the gold, jewels, inlays and case of ammo that go with it at that price are under the table and you have to ask.

Then there are the internet dealers with no over head, and the brick and mortar stores are just sales agents for the internet store. One guy got out of new guns entirely, tried to sell everything at 15% over cost and couldn't sell at that, then 10% over cost to just move them out, probably still has some left. He deals in used guns exclusively and if you want a new gun you pay for it up front. People give him grief, but he had well over six figures in new guns that drew dust and sold more guns for internet dealers than he liked. He got tired of the "but I can buy it for 10% under your cost on line, will you match that if I buy yours?" Then these same people bubblegumed about the transfer fee, "Hey, no problem if you don't want to pay the transfer fee, I'll just send it back to them collect! After all you you didn't want the new one I have on the wall that you looked at for 10% over my cost before buying this one on line!"

Of course I hear about all the new guns that are selling like hot cakes everywhere, just not here. I go to gun shows and see all these junkers that are offered for huge prices, then the next guy comes in and sees those prices and thinks his is worth twice that, then the next gun comes in and sees that... I got no idea who is buying at those prices, but then I don"t see any of them selling anyway judging by the number of times I see the same guns on the same dealer's table month after month, and year after year.

If you can't sell your gun(s), just take them to the local auction when they have a "gun sale" and put a minimum on it. I've seen trashed parts guns sell for more than the whole gun sells for new! As has been said, extras do not add value to most people. If I don't want them, I've already got them, or they are not something I can sell, I don't care how much they cost you. Sell them separately or keep them. Your cost is of no concern to me me. The value is how much I want it, what i can do with it, and am I willing to pay that amount for it.

I have been offered "Annie Oakley's [post 1964] 94 Winchester" (yes, really) and the guy was pretty disappointed the S# dated to 1966 as he claims he spent a lot of money for it as a "collector's" item. One guy had a mil surplus camo shirt with a few burlap strips stapled to it as a "gilly suit" and was crying he spent $30 on line buying it and couldn't sell it for $20. Don't know what they really paid, but neither was worth anything to me. Same with everything else, if you can't sell it for what you want, keep it or sell it for what it will bring if you want to get rid of it. Who knows, it might be a collector's item in 20 years so hang on to it.

 

[bikemutt]

Just spotted this headline in a well-known SW WA fish wrapper: "Ferguson, Inslee seek ban on sale of assault weapons."

If these two get their way ARs etc may become contraband, that won't help the prices, unless .gov buys them all.

 

[TTSX]

One of my favorites is "I've got over $2500 invested, selling for $800." Well, you're a crap investor. Or "selling for $3k" yeah... I'm not going to knowingly give you a $500 profit

 

[E4mafia]

One of my favorites is "I've got over $2500 invested, selling for $800." Well, you're a crap investor. Or "selling for $3k" yeah... I'm not going to knowingly give you a $500 profit

Dude, didn't you read? HE KNOWS WHAT HES GOT!

 

[gmerkt]

I see so many used guns, especially military surplus guns, going for outrageous (to me) prices that I wonder if the gold, jewels, inlays and case of ammo that go with it at that price are under the table and you have to ask.

Not everybody gets the word or understands trends. And prices may be depressed in Wash. due to politics that don't affect some other states.

One of my favorites is "I've got over $2500 invested, selling for $800." Well, you're a crap investor.

We see this in old cars, hot rods, etc. Subsequent buyers cannot realistically be expected to atone for unwise expenditures of the past. The old saying for cars goes something like, "Buy the best you can afford up front." Because the worse the condition, the more money will be needed to restore it. Don't know how many times I've seen people get buried in hot rod builds and old car restorations. Hobbies can do strange things to people.

 

[Uvaggio]

I know this has been discussed before, but it sure is hard to sell guns for reasonable prices these days. I have a Sig P220 that's been on consignment since last July, not even an offer. Price seems fair considering all the extras included, but no one is interested. I remember a time in the not too distant past that ANYTHING Sig went for the better part of $1K, yesterday I saw a Sig like mine in the Classifieds for $550. Guess I'll pick up my SIG the next time I'm in Riverside, if it won't sell now, I guess I'll just have to wait until the next panic . Sorry guys, mostly just venting, later.

I lived in California for a while - anything listed on NWF would be at least 3x in Cali. Just took a beating on rifle sale in on NWF. It was good for the buyer but bad for me. Good on the buyer for getting a good deal !

Anyone selling P320 Legion ? I will not beat you up too much

 

[Koda]

The used gun market died when they passed background check laws. Ive pretty much accepted that any new gun I buy I will never get a fair used price for it if I need to sell it. I know I wont buy a used gun for anything that doesn't include the price of the background check thats worth the used value in total, might as well put the last ~25% up for a new one.

Agree I would sell the accessories later separately.

 

[orygun]

I've seen a lot of gun "trends" pushed by political reasons. HeySoos, when Obama was elected anything gun related became a must have and people went nutz! Supply dwindled and prices soared. I remember feeling lucky finding a lonely brick or Federal Gold Medal Match large pistol primers for $34. 22LR ammo? What ammo? That crap was instant gold. ARs sold like hotcakes and for stoopid money.

Then we got lucky and Trump made the cut. Whew.

I've also seen different firearm platforms rise and fall in popularity. What was popular a decade or two ago is older than old news. Later it/they will be cool again.
It is nice to see revolvers gaining some popularity again. Prices for them were in the dumpster, but I've seen them edging upward.

 

[orygun]

The used gun market died when they passed background check laws. Ive pretty much accepted that any new gun I buy I will never get a fair used price for it if I need to sell it. I know I wont buy a used gun for anything that doesn't include the price of the background check thats worth the used value in total, might as well put the last ~25% up for a new one.

Yeah, that surely took the fun out of it. I've done nowhere near the buying/selling/trading I used to do since the new laws went into effect. Grrr.

 

[Mikej]

It's a roller coaster ride.

Just wait till the next law to be passed and that $500 goes to $1500.

I'm more worried that the $1500.00 gun will go to $150.00 when they ban it and offer $.10 on the dollar for you to give it up!.

 

[Member 34319]

I'm more worried that the $1500.00 gun will go to $150.00 when they ban it and offer $.10 on the dollar for you to give it up!.

People will pay outrageous amounts to get something before it is outlawed.

It is essentially worthless if you are going to turn it in because they said so.

However the guy that wants it, and probably isn't going to turn it in, will pay top dollar before the ban.

 

[Koda]

People will pay outrageous amounts to get something before it is outlawed.

It is essentially worthless if you are going to turn it in because they said so.

However the guy that wants it, and probably isn't going to turn it in, will pay top dollar before the ban.

Only on the black market....

A legal sale has no real value.

 

[Mikej]

People will pay outrageous amounts to get something before it is outlawed.

It is essentially worthless if you are going to turn it in because they said so.

However the guy that wants it, and probably isn't going to turn it in, will pay top dollar before the ban.

I don't disagree with anything you said. My PERSONAL worry is when/if the time comes......

 

[OldTengu]

Another issue, at least one I'm having, is that many of our newer members are unaware that transfer fees and bgcs are required, and are turned off from purchasing once they find out.