A thought on the used handgun price gouging and others...

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EastCoastGunner

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Hey all. I know I'm late to the party and recently submitted my rpal license application but I wanted to share a thought about the recent run on handguns by those that have recently purchased their 15th g44 and are now listing them for inflated prices. First off, Im not complaining. If you can get a price get it. My main thought is that this is pushing people out of the gun hobby such as myself, who is now reconsidering. What this will leave you will is one less gun rights ally. Why would I care about voting in a political party that may or may not reverse these gun bans knowing that you guys are just going to try and rip me off again? Think first about buying up all the incoming guns and selling them to others at inflated prices. I wont vote to support your hobby if I cant afford to participate. It doesn't take a genius to watch sites for incoming items and then see them disappear in 3 hours only to see them pop up on the EE or other spaces, as soon as they reach your door.

One thing I have noticed now about guns in Canada is its all so cliquy. Too many snarky comments in response to newbie questions. A lot of "ive been doing this for 50 years, im not going to help with any real advice or assistance "or the best one... "check google". Ok then I wont join any forums and help to grow your community. Guns, like many other hobbies, such as fishing or gardening can be highly confusing and what's worse is the poor attitudes ive seen by many of you enthusiasts including those that work at retail outlets.
I was at a store a few weeks ago asking questions about shot guns and wanting to hold a few to see how they fit and one sales guy walked by and said something to the effect of " why are you getting that gun?" and kept walking. It's because I don't yet know enough about firearms to just walk in and grab one and go.

If you want others to support your rights, don't be an ashhat when people ask about expressing that same right or people like me will just stick to wood working or other hobbies and let yours die.
Now just watch how many of you respond with "tough noogies"
 
OP, whining weenies abound these days in Canada, where the new motto is "everyone is self entitled"

If you can't afford the sport, well you can't. Don't get all snively.

There's lots of things in my life that I feel I can't afford, liken Night Force scopes and Lamborghinis or a P51D, which I likely wouldn't be able to afford the fuel for.

I find the guys/gals worrying about the price of firearms are the same people that can't afford to shoot them.

You picked a bad time to get into the game, whoes fault is that??? Not mine or any of the folks you are sniveling about.

Koval, do you own a house??? Why won't you sell it to me at a loss???
 
bearhunter said:
OP, whining weenies abound these days in Canada, where the new motto is "everyone is self entitled"

If you can't afford the sport, well you can't. Don't get all snively.

There's lots of things in my life that I feel I can't afford, liken Night Force scopes and Lamborghinis or a P51D, which I likely wouldn't be able to afford the fuel for.

I find the guys/gals worrying about the price of firearms are the same people that can't afford to shoot them.

You picked a bad time to get into the game, whoes fault is that??? Not mine or any of the folks you are sniveling about.

Koval, do you own a house??? Why won't you sell it to me at a loss???
Click to expand...

There is a difference between selling at a loss and selling a used glock 17 for 1500.

I only opened your message because I have you blacklisted, now I remember why I put you there.
 
I agree with you honestly, mostly before I bought and upgraded old skidoos as a hobby before I wanted to get into handguns seriously, just like I don’t ride skidoo very often I don’t shoot very often, nearest range is a 2 hour drive, but I love collecting handguns and rifles same as I like collecting old junk skidoos, the thing I don’t understand is how a used gun is worth more than a new one I can still buy, I get rare and collectables are going to demand a premium but I’m talking about 300$ norincos that people bought 10 years ago and put 1500 rounds through being sold for 700$ now, it doesn’t make sense to me but hey I guess I’m just poor
 
You make a good point but there always a few percent of people who will be 'Dicks' regarding anything, including the gouging or snarky comments. Thats the problem with any social media. I have found everyone I have actually transacted with on the forum for a buy, sell, or trade to be great to deal with, no issue. So, cut the majority of us a little slack, ignore the haters, and you will get useful information on questions etc. The pricing thing is a little wonky right now, people are upset, and you get all kinds of abnormal things happening. I bought a modestly overpriced Glock 19 recently but I figured, I wanted it and a few hundred bucks won't kill me. I felt zero malice towards the seller as I don't know their situation, I was just happy to get it.
 
Owning guns is not like owning ski-doos, or any other consumer product. The market is subject to forces that no other manufactured product experiences. Forces like governments commandeering production capacity in times of war, and flooding markets with huge volumes of product at salvage prices in times of peace. Forces like panic buying as the world goes to hell, and scrambling to stock up when a new round of fundamentally unjust legislation is forecast. There are shortages and surplusses, price ups and downs that cannot be compared to anything else. It is part of what makes guns such a rewardingly diverse field to enter.

As for the OP, he can take heart: if he just now applied for an RPAL he isn't going to have the opportunity to own handguns unless we can beat Trudeau and keep his scheme from becoming law, anyway. And if we do that then price and availability will go back closer to normal, or at least as close to normal as we have been over the last 10 years or so.
 
Unfortunately OP , being late to the party does make it difficult as Trudeau is banning firearms quicker than people can buy them , and this is driving the price up as people panic buy before the gun buying door slams shut ; and yes , a few may be profiteering , but not all . The best option is to get involved with the CPC , and get these gun grabs reversed when Trudeau is kicked from the PMs office next election ; and the prices of firearms , and the opportunity to possess them , will again return to normal , and there will once again be peace in the Universe .
 
The used gun market generally follows the prices of new guns. We have seen new pistols double in price in the last couple of months so the used market simply follows the rule of supply and demand. Prices are up due to high demand and low supply. You might call it profiteering, I call it economics 101. If you have the only horse in town, then that becomes one valuable horse.

Yes there are those who buy up everything they can find and go for maximum profit. Ignore them. Some stuff, particularly handguns, are on the endangered species list (along with our rights and freedoms) and are selling at high premiums. No-one is trying to rip you off and yes, it takes time and effort to find any deals in this panic buy niche market.

Inflation, war, covid, supply line issues and politics have combined to make everything pretty expensive this year. I am more worried about my next grocery bill...
 
I understand and support supply and demand but the OP has a good point. There are people out there being dicks and it affects people getting their first handgun. Whether you think he is whining or not is irrelevant. My hope is that the guys doing it get stuck with them when Trudeau tightens the noose even further. I am sure they will be the first ones to be crying.
 
It was fitting that a lot of the replies you got absolutely proved your point. I just got back into this and for the short time i have been here I see that the gun group seems to be on a straight ride to destroying itself for reasons that you address. You are not the first one to make that complaint. Because of that in a generation or or 2 things like handguns will not exist as a legal sport.

Yes there are people buying up guns and reselling to make a profit, but really nothing that can be done about that. There are some deals out there. For instance i ordered a Norinco Olympia .22 semi auto that was on sale for $199 from MarStar. Reviews are great and it is a bargain. Go get one, they still have them. Prophet River still has some nice Ruger Wrangler 6 shooters for $319. I also saw them for $260 at one of the sponsor sights but cannot remember which one.

You have a very short time left to get into this so if you want in either anti up for the inflated price, be satisfied with the ones that are left at reputable dealers., or simply find a new hobby/sport because this one has a lifespan and it is getting shorter.
 
I agree with those who advise anyone who doesn’t yet own a hand gun to beat the current dead line, if you can. Never getting another chance is a definite possibility. Many here would say a probability. But, there are no guarantees. These are particularly volatile times. Stock prices are up and down like yo-yos. Used cars can sell for more than they were new. House prices are sky high and climbing one day - coming down fast the next day.

I’ve seen all this before - more than once. It seldom unfolds the way you’d expect. One thing remains constant. The pendulum swings one way, then it swings back. As remote as some folks may think the possibility of these classification changes and “freezes” being reversed may be, it remains a possibility. The point being, there are a lot of opinions out there as to how the future will unfold.

Each individual assesses the odds and comes to their own conclusion as to what is most likely to happen. Some will sell their equities and buy gold. Others will sell their home and buy farmland. There are as many different opinions as there are people. One constant I’ve witnessed is that the majority opinion is almost always wrong. It takes a lot of small losers to make one big winner. Volatile times such as these produce some seriously big winners, so there have to be masses of losers.

If you will never forgive yourself if you miss out on your last chance to own a handgun, then pay what you have to in order to get one. But it sounds more like it’s on your wish list, but if you miss your chance it will just be one hobby you won’t be getting into. If that’s the case, relax - nobody has a crystal ball, you may still have a chance after Trudeau goes to jail.

The crazy prices that some are asking are a direct result of what they expect will happen. Not everyone is asking crazy prices because not everyone is in the same position in terms of what they own, their financial state, or what they predict will unfold. Most of my handguns were purchased with they expectation that I would resell them at a tidy profit. But, life got in the way and I fell in love with them. Now, you’ll have to pry them from my cold, dead fingers. Actually, better than that, I transferred them to my kids, so they’ll be in private hands for another generation.

When I bought them, I couldn’t really afford them and certainly couldn’t afford to belong to a club and buy ammo to piss into the wind. Yet each time I bought another one, they were more expensive than the last and my salary had increased to the point where they were more affordable. Now, I shoot them and enjoy them and would never consider letting them go. You don’t want to know how much they’re all worth. But it doesn’t matter because they were written off as investments a long time ago.

We could see a severe recession. One that would devalue almost everything you can buy. We could see a CPC government. One that will reverse some or all of this stupidity. I would suggest you keep an open mind to all the opinions, even the trolls. Use your own judgement to decide who will probably be right, and who might be wrong when the dust settles. Learn what you can about the various makes and models so you can have your own informed opinion of what you should even want to find. Then take your time, shop around, enjoy the hunt. It’s like s ex. Enjoy the seduction, the foreplay, and the passion. Don’t just come in here and blow your load like some kind of virgin.
 
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It's simple, if you believe people should have 100% freedom meaning they can do whatever they want, then you should allow people to list for whatever prices they want to list. That's how capitalism work, supply vs demand and no government intervention. If people are buying used Glock for 3 times the price of a new one, then that means the demand for Glocks shifted that high, to achieve market efficiency the price must be raised higher it is as simple as that.
 
Its a sad story and a weird threat from someone too late to the game to purchase a handgun anyways. You have my sympathy. If you can stomach it to not be so petty in your voting, perhaps one day this could all be turned around. Until then the rest of us will continue to fight for your freedoms, regardless of your spite.
 
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