FOMO... price gouging... SKS'... whats the deal?
- Thread starter fiftycalforsquirrels
- Start date
Thx for the replies and insights. I get supply and demand. Supply dwindles, prices go up. Demand goes up, prices go up. Supply doesnt dwindle, demand goes up, lets gouge the market.
Lets hammer this question home.... is the surplus(or supply) drying up? Or is there still a million surplus rifles ready to ship out of Russia at any day of the week for the next 10 million rifles for xx dirt cheap per rifle? As a consumer, I wouldnt know. As a distributor, I might know, yet take advantage of the blind folded consumers and say here these were hard to get, this is the price x10.
Totally pulling arbitrary numbers...just trying to illustrate my question.
Can look at this the other way too I suppose... say all retailers are phoning Russia saying drop 1k rifles into a shipping container and send em...next thing you know Russia is withholding stock saying nope we're scrounging can only ship 200 at X price.
As for condition wise..... sure, 1 out of 1k rifles might be primo compared to par for course.... alright. Small market for those collecting stuff saying theirs is rare. Its worth what the market will pay. But how about a "heres a military rifle. Its used. No guarantees if the hammer even drops. Its $399 for a potential shooter or wallhanger." How about no.
Is it economics 101, or greed 101?
These are military surplus rifles. Not modern rifles with either a guarantee to fire, or guarantee to MOA.
Lets hammer this question home.... is the surplus(or supply) drying up? Or is there still a million surplus rifles ready to ship out of Russia at any day of the week for the next 10 million rifles for xx dirt cheap per rifle? As a consumer, I wouldnt know. As a distributor, I might know, yet take advantage of the blind folded consumers and say here these were hard to get, this is the price x10.
Totally pulling arbitrary numbers...just trying to illustrate my question.
Can look at this the other way too I suppose... say all retailers are phoning Russia saying drop 1k rifles into a shipping container and send em...next thing you know Russia is withholding stock saying nope we're scrounging can only ship 200 at X price.
As for condition wise..... sure, 1 out of 1k rifles might be primo compared to par for course.... alright. Small market for those collecting stuff saying theirs is rare. Its worth what the market will pay. But how about a "heres a military rifle. Its used. No guarantees if the hammer even drops. Its $399 for a potential shooter or wallhanger." How about no.
Is it economics 101, or greed 101?
These are military surplus rifles. Not modern rifles with either a guarantee to fire, or guarantee to MOA.
This question has been asked and answered several times on this site and others. Supplies of European SKS rifles is dwindling. There are several reasons for this, including UN sanctions and nations preferring to destroy their existing stocks, rather than put them on the surplus market.
Likely many nations still store thousands of the rifles for a "just in case scenario." I have my doubts whether or not those rifles will ever surface for civilian sales again.
Most of the new Chinese SKS rifles are long gone. Now, just like most milsurps, the lesser grade, non FTRed, issued, but still Field Grade condition are being released onto the surplus markets.
Some of the rarer models are commanding higher prices. I never believed I would see the prices milsurps of all types are commanding these days. Best investments I ever made.
fiftycal, your post is coming off as a snivel.
Prices are regulated by availability and the market of the day.
When cheap ammo starts to disappear, the price of SKS rifles will stabilize for a few years, then continue to rise.
Mixmasters will always bring less money than unissued, all matching number specimens. The difference between the two categories will be very significant.
FTRs with matching numbers will bring more than and FTR mixmaster and so on.
If you can pick up a shootable SKS for $300 or less, in today's market conditions, that's about as fair as it gets. Some places are still advertising surplus Chinese SKS rifles. They aren't shiny, recently FTRed pieces. Some even have matching numbers. Most have oiled stocks, which don't appear to be Chu Wood, slightly worn bores that still shoot to spec etc.
Wild West out of Edmonton has both Russian at $279 and Chinese starting around $300
If you think ammo prices are bad here now, just look south of the border. They are paying up to 80 cents per round for bulk .223/5.56 and similar prices for 7.62x39.
The cheapest 7.62x39 bulk right now is $450 from some sight sponsors. Taxes in, brings it to about $520 for 1440 rounds of the Chinese stuff. That's still 36 cents per round, and is a good deal when compared to everything else on the market. If you lack a crate, now is the time to buy because it won't get cheaper.
You can still buy SKS's in the $300 to $400 dollar range that will still shoot and function well enough. That is still a good buy for what you get. If prices that low are a concern to anyone, I suggest finding better work.
The cheapest 7.62x39 bulk right now is $450 from some sight sponsors. Taxes in, brings it to about $520 for 1440 rounds of the Chinese stuff. That's still 36 cents per round, and is a good deal when compared to everything else on the market. If you lack a crate, now is the time to buy because it won't get cheaper.
You can still buy SKS's in the $300 to $400 dollar range that will still shoot and function well enough. That is still a good buy for what you get. If prices that low are a concern to anyone, I suggest finding better work.
Why can't I buy silver at 12$ anymore? Are all the other buyers going crazy?
The (Russian) SKS has not been a 200$ rifle in a long time. I have seen the cost of importing more SKS rifles, and let me tell you, you couldn't get it for 200$, and even the importer couldn't pay 200$ for them right now.
To add to that, I doubt that an SKS could be made in the US for less than a Mini 14. Add to that that the new buyers won't have the same tolerance for bad triggers and bad stock fit so I think we're looking at 1200+ CAD
The (Russian) SKS has not been a 200$ rifle in a long time. I have seen the cost of importing more SKS rifles, and let me tell you, you couldn't get it for 200$, and even the importer couldn't pay 200$ for them right now.
To add to that, I doubt that an SKS could be made in the US for less than a Mini 14. Add to that that the new buyers won't have the same tolerance for bad triggers and bad stock fit so I think we're looking at 1200+ CAD
StansfieldMcElroy
CGN Regular
- Location
- Upper Canada
Nothing is coming out of Russia anymore due to the crimea/Ukraine related sanctions
StansfieldMcElroy
CGN Regular
- Location
- Upper Canada
been around since 1945
Most of the sks were coming in crates from the Ukraine. Since the war there, i have never seen a large crate come in...
The same people tire kicking about an SKS costing 300 are the same people who were tire kicking ten years ago saying they shld be 75 dollars with a free can of ammo. If i want to collect or shoot something an extra 100 dollars to spend won’t hurt.
People are expecting all matching numbers on re built surplus rifles.
Now they expect Sks rifles to be all matching.
There is a big shortage of surplus non restricted rifles available for Canada
The main market is America, an they don't have barrel and magazine restrictions etc
They only have a restriction on Russia and China, we also have the same restrictions.
So, there won't be the big containers of Combloc firearms coming from them
The rest of the old ComBloc firearms that can go into America are, ie Ukraine,
Then there is the UN deal, many countries have signed on to the concept, so, they are
scrapping guns like Canada does.
There hasn't been 5000/10000 gun deliveries to Canada for a very long time
This limits what is available, unless some American Dealer's want to send guns North.
What is here, is what is available.
New gun rules, make it less likely that you will see semi auto surplus rifles in big numbers
Now they expect Sks rifles to be all matching.
There is a big shortage of surplus non restricted rifles available for Canada
The main market is America, an they don't have barrel and magazine restrictions etc
They only have a restriction on Russia and China, we also have the same restrictions.
So, there won't be the big containers of Combloc firearms coming from them
The rest of the old ComBloc firearms that can go into America are, ie Ukraine,
Then there is the UN deal, many countries have signed on to the concept, so, they are
scrapping guns like Canada does.
There hasn't been 5000/10000 gun deliveries to Canada for a very long time
This limits what is available, unless some American Dealer's want to send guns North.
What is here, is what is available.
New gun rules, make it less likely that you will see semi auto surplus rifles in big numbers
I had some old donkey admonish me on ####### saying "I can't see paying $300 for an SKS". Go back to your cave, moron. I priced it based on everything else for sale. Just because Grandpa Simpson paid 10 buttons for an SKS 20 years ago doesn't mean when you venture off the farm it will be the same again.
Slipnslide
CGN Regular
- Location
- Ontario, Canada
Which ain't bad. Offered a guy 250 for a chinese sks a few weeks ago and he looked at me like I insulted him.
I priced my stuff based on the market. I am fully aware of the accessories misconceptions - I've built and sold custom motorcycles my whole life. Just because you've added x-amount of extras on anything doesn't mean you can just add it up to the list price. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. Lately, SKS's have been going for around $350 on #######. What I think of that is of no consequence - you ain't gonna find a $250 SKS much anymore.
rifleman762
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Alberta
Absolutely. We're still being subsidized by Soviet taxpayers. It's the same way that the price of older houses is affected by the cost of a new-build.
townpost and ####### are the most expensive sites to shop on. IMHO of course
People are looking for a $200-$250 sks where in the real world a good one can easily fetch $500 not to the average Joe that will stretch out a penny to make copper wire. If a buyers budget is a Big-Mac he should be eating a steak
