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I am planning on selling some of my firearms in the near future. In today's over supplied market, I'm expecting to take a loss on the sales. One way I am trying to make myself feel better about the loss is by estimating what it would have cost to rent the firearm vs buying it for the same period of time I have owned it.

Another way to look at the loss is how much did my ownership of the firearm cost per day. For example if I paid $300 for a rifle 5 years ago and sold it for $150. It cost me about 8 pennies a day to own the rifle. I doubt you could rent one for anywhere close to that.

Is renting a firearm by the month or year even an option in this country?

How do you make a loss on a firearm sale more palatable?
 
You make a great point, firearms market has gone soft, it's a buyers market. My last sale was for exactly half what I paid for it about 5 years prior, painful... But the proceeds help fund that "something new", which helps ease the pain...

I currently have a couple up for sale and expect to not get asking price even though they're priced reasonable and competitively... Any arms that one considers of higher value are best held onto, as the 2020 election draws near, prices should begin to rise again.
 
I've got gear head friends. I just think about what those buddies lose on track toys over the years, and my more painful losses begin to seem trivial real quick. Or friends that frequent the bars, or pretty much any other hobby, honestly. I buy, sell, and trade a lot. Definitely lose a lot more than I did prior to 941 going in, but it's still not awful.
 
I usually look at the use, and consider how much it'd have been to rent as well.
Plus there is the joy of having one to call your own, which is priceless.
 
How do you make a loss on a firearm sale more palatable?

Me? I cry a little. ;)
Seriously though its just one of those "it is what it is" things now. Back when we could buy and sell I never had to eat the cost of something I wanted to sell so I could buy something else. It was great to be able to play with something for a while, sell it and try another. Well those days are gone mainly due to new laws on top of the market being so soft now. So I ended up with a lot more guns now. Many I never even shoot. Figure what the hell if I every was really in desperate straits and had to have cash they are still worth some. In the mean time it sure slowed down my buying sadly. For those who buy something and really want something else but, just can't justify keeping others? It's their money and if they are willing to take the hit to get some cash back, hey great. I have a couple rifles (PCC's) that I keep toying with selling at a shop that will sell them for a cut. I fully expect to have to only get back about 2/3ds of what I have in them if I do. It's why I still have not done it but its tempting to get some cash back out of them to spend on something else :confused:
 
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I am planning on selling some of my firearms in the near future. In today's over supplied market, I'm expecting to take a loss on the sales. One way I am trying to make myself feel better about the loss is by estimating what it would have cost to rent the firearm vs buying it for the same period of time I have owned it.

Another way to look at the loss is how much did my ownership of the firearm cost per day. For example if I paid $300 for a rifle 5 years ago and sold it for $150. It cost me about 8 pennies a day to own the rifle. I doubt you could rent one for anywhere close to that.

Is renting a firearm by the month or year even an option in this country?

How do you make a loss on a firearm sale more palatable?
Sorry to hear of your "loss". I have buddies that bought real cheap firearms (mainly rifles) at retail cost and then hope to turn around and sell said rifles for what they paid for them. At least you get the concept, as they always ended up taking it in the shorts. Is there a lesson to be learned there? I hope you don't take too much of a loss on your sales.. Good luck.
 
For me it depends on just why I have to sell...

When times were bad , money tight and I didn't have a regular job...
Making a house payment and buying groceries , seemed a better choice than having a cool rifle.
Those sales still hurt.

Mostly though ...if the gun that I want has more of a use value to me than the one that I am selling ...
Then that is good enough for me.
Andy
 
Me? I cry a little. ;)
Seriously though its just one of those "it is what it is" things now. Back when we could buy and sell I never had to eat the cost of something I wanted to sell so I could buy something else. It was great to be able to play with something for a while, sell it and try another. Well those days are gone mainly due to new laws on top of the market being so soft now. So I ended up with a lot more guns now. Many I never even shoot. Figure what the hell if I every was really in desperate straits and had to have cash they are still worth some. In the mean time it sure slowed down my buying sadly. For those who buy something and really want something else but, just can't justify keeping others? It's their money and if they are willing to take the hit to get some cash back, hey great. I have a couple rifles (PCC's) that I keep toying with selling at a shop that will sell them for a cut. I fully expect to have to only get back about 2/3ds of what I have in them if I do. It's why I still have not done it but its tempting to get some cash back out of them to spend on something else :confused:
Same boat here, I have firearms I bought years ago and have yet to take them out. And many more AR "projects" I have started but never finished. I think I may have a little ADD and Chronic Procrastination Disorder:)
 
Don't look at it in the safe, don't pull it out to say goodbye, when you DO pull it out to transport it for the sale, don't touch it for any longer than you have to so you don't have second thoughts. Pretty much try your best to put it out of your mind.

Don't think about it any longer than you have to, and don't feel bad when the new owner cares very little for what it's personal value meant to you. You'd be surprised the number of people who tell you they plan on flipping that gun you just sold them, that has sentimental value to you, as soon as they can. So far no one on Northwest has done that, but on some other sites that are a lawless wasteland- yeah.

It stings, especially when seller's remorse kicks in. There should be a support group on here for that sorta thing haha.

Actually, now that I reread this post- it doesn't really help. Having to sell your guns always sucks.
 
I don't collect firearms, so if I buy one, it gets shot. I cannot imagine otherwise. The gratification and return on the investment is concurrent. I have never had buyer's remorse on a gun. Other things - heck yes.
Unless you need the money, give it away. To friends and family, I give time, money and firearms. The ones the they remember are firearms. And, when I do give, their reactions are priceless. :)
If I were to count what I paid for those firearms and what I would have received in a sale, it's probably close to $4K upside down. Amortize that over 10 years, my average duration of ownership, it's < $400 a year or $8/week.
The unrecoverable expenses are the ancillary items I buy for said firearm: a sling that I find I don't like, three holsters for a pistol, of which I'll use only one, etc. I still have ~$1,000 in dies and brass for a 338 Lapua that I no longer own.
 
I wouldn't worry about it. Lots of people's hobbies/pastimes include putting, and then generally losing, tens of thousands of dollars on the turn of a hand of cards for example.
What we do is extraordinarily tame and inconsequential compared to many other popular pursuits.
 
For me it was all about the experience. We got rid of many firearms that did not bring us the joy they should have been. And down the road when I had the money I got things that brought me more joy then they did.

For some of them I think back now and say what took me so long to get rid of that? In fact the experiences with them were so bad that it left a bad taste in my mouth for firearms with the same pattern, or caliber even. I know it's completely silly that I would blame all rifles for example of the same caliber because of a bad experience with one firearm....

But I still do it, and even though there have been many I've wanted similar, I still haven't been able to bring myself to do it.

Especially when the guns I moved to brought me so much joy and absolutely no regrets to the point where I've bought more similar ones. And they were cheaper, but not as good of an investment.

Investments are a nice surprise to me but it's the joy that matters most.
I'm grateful one of the things that makes me happy in life is also a decent investment. Imagine if it had been cars where half its value drops the minute I drive it off the lot.
 
Yep, the cost of my hobby. I buy the latest new gun, I shoot it for a while, I get bored, and move on. I do not expect most modern guns to appreciate, other than inflation.

Lots of other hobbies and pastimes, folks spend a bunch of money and don't think twice.

I also have firearms I'll never sell. A whole 'nother story. I'll let my kids sell them when I'm not here any more. And I expect them to be worth a whole bunch more than I paid.
 
Cost of the hobby.

I estimate liquidation price when I buy. It's an object with value.
 
I'm bummed about losing money also, but after factoring in the transfer fees, you almost always take a loss, because they could buy new for just a few dollars more otherwise. I also look at the monetary loss as a got to try it or rental fee. You could spend more trying roller coasters at a Six Flags or trying new experiences, and that is life. Usually though, whatever I'm going to buy after selling makes up in the warm fuzzy quotient.
 
Not sure I get the rent idea,
But I look at it like anything else, everything loses value over time. You have to look at the cost of new items, you can either sell it for what it's worth at the time or hold it until the values go up.

But when you look at other items that lose value guns actually hold value pretty well.
Firearms always have value, may not be what you want but it's worth a decent price.
Most other hobby items are worth pennies on the dollar when sold.

Heck you buy a car and you lose a quarter of the value just driving it off the lot
 
For me need sets the price, in '08 both my wife and I lost our jobs so our need became greater than our firearms wants. Of course everyone was fire saleing their guns off as well so we took a loss but we kept the lights on and mortgage paid. Now days I've taken a couple of guns for a walk at a gun show with what I think is a fair market value price only to bring them home. I just don't need to sell them that bad today.
 
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Treat it as a rental. Lost $100 on sale? Bad deal. Rented for two years for $100? Good deal.

Firearms sales is like refinancing your home, if you do it too soon you will almost always lose money. Better to hold 5 years.

I also think if you customize your guns, keep all the old parts. When you sell it, reconfigure back to stock. Custom guns are like custom cars and custom houses - beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One man's beauty is another man's beast.
 

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