For those that buy and sell frequently...

The Kurgan

The Kurgan

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
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Location
Steel Town and The Peg
How much, on average, do you loose on firearms that you buy, keep for a year or two, then sell? Obviously trades are hard to calculate and I only trade if it is truly "straight", or if I get the better end of the bargain ;)

I seem to be averaging a loss of about $450-$460 per rifle/shotgun... but this includes costly extras that I throw in to "sweeten the deal" (ie. commercial ammo, accessories, etc.). I am curious to know if this is good, bad, or average.

After doing a thorough accounting on firearms and firearm related purchases, including ammunition, accessories, cleaning supplies, gun club memberships, etc., since June of 2010, and then experiencing a rude awakening on what I have actually spent, I have decided to keep what I have and only sell if absolutely necessary !

Chime in and let's hear your expense horror stories :D
 
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I have never lost anything other than the sales tax on something under 2 years old, as i keep my stuff in mint condition on the outside and clean them all good. So when I go to sell, I can sell at retail to save the next owner the taxes for an essentially brand new firearm.

The only time i took a loss was a sale to a family member...but I get to shoot it every time we go to the range, so im not at a loss per say :)
 
I list to sell... So 200$ is the norm so far on handguns I have sold...

But if I had the gun 2 years and lost 200$ thats cheap shooting...
 
On this site? I don't think I lost anything, You have to know prices and what you want to spend. You may make a couple of bucks on one item and a couple hundred on another, It all pan's out, if you do it right.
 
I always lose, nobody wants to pay top dollar even for a bnib gun, when they can get it from a dealer. I always have to lower the price to get it sold.
 
I try to buy a fixer or a good used gun. I keep them to shoot or not and sell. I have lost on a few, broke even on a few and made some coin on a few more. If I bought new I would expect to loose a bit every time. I have gone from having two hunting rifles to three from my money made on EE sales. Not bad.
 
i guess if you have patience somebody will come along and give you what your asking, other then that if you want it to sell in a couple weeks the price will need to drop. At least thats my experience.
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
If most of us are taking loses , why are things priced higher than new in the EE??:confused:
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those are the ones not selling, the ones we took losses on are sold!

I got a BNIB 92fs inox up now for 800 shipped, it cost me 965 new thats taxes included. Best offer i got was 700 so far. I figured a new gun, save 165 bux would be a good deal. Guess i was wrong.
 
I've never once bought a gun to make money. I buy guns to shoot and have fun. I DO NOT have fun baby-sitting an ad in the EE.....
 
joe-nwt said:
I've never once bought a gun to make money. I buy guns to shoot and have fun. I DO NOT have fun baby-sitting an ad in the EE.....
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:DWell said and I have the same outlook.

I forgot to add, at one point in time I did try collecting, Colt New Service revolvers. I got to four decent pieces and came to the realization, that game wasn't for me. If I don't use them, hunting or shooting, they're history.
 
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People price high in the EE because they know no matter the price everyones gonna try and cut them down on it. You will always lose money on a gun you bought new. If I buy a gun new it's because I intend on keeping it. If I want to "break even" say on a cartridge im not sure Ill like or whatever, I'll buy used because generally if you pay a fair asking price, you will get it back a year later, a week later, etc.

For example, if I wanted a .30-06 SPS Model 700 but I was unsure of liking the SPS, I'd look for a used one for something like 530-550$ shipped. Maybe the guy will throw in dies and mounts for another 50$ who knows. I wouldnt buy a new one because after taxes and shipping you're looking at 650$ for a gun that you're only gonna be able to realitstically get 500+ shipping for.

Just an example anyways. :cool:
 
The degree of loss depends. Buying new and paying taxes and so on then selling even if it is unfired you can take a pretty big loss. Unless they are hard to come by and all of a sudden they are the newest rage. Buying used guns I take much less of a hit and pretty much break close to even.

I tend to keep my scopes and recycle them to the next project. Also, I tend to stick with weaver style rings and reuse them as well.

And once every blue moon I'll make a buck. Buying and selling allows me to try many many different types of guns and rounds and keep things affordable. Over the years I've turned over close to 100 different guns. If I had to buy and keep all those I'd be in the poor house. I have an account just for this. I probably have to add less than $200 per year to it and I get to play with many different toys. I wish I could keep them all but losing a bit of cash each deal is a small price for the hours and hours of enjoyment I have at the range, in the field, and in my basement tinkering with reloading or tuning in the next project.

When I price I set it fairly with the intention of selling it in less than a couple of weeks. People are free to price high and hope some one will buy but I don't like that game. And those looking for a fire sale are politely ignored. So far things have gone pretty smooth here for the last seven years and will probably continue that way.
 
A good chunk of my losses are from the extras I throw in to expedite the sale, like ammo, spare stocks, whatever. Paying for shipping is another killer! I'm not complaining though as I was able to quickly unload, make space, and in all cases, make some other CGNer happy that they got a good deal. Interestingly, the only items I have sold so far were all purchased new, thus the extra hit with tax, etc.
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
If most of us are taking loses , why are things priced higher than new in the EE??:confused:
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If you can see an ad in the EE, it's because it hasn't sold. Look for the guys with 200+ deals under their names - that's where you want to go. But you gotta be quick - 15 minutes is often too long.
 
i've never sold a gun that i bought new (only 2) but on used guns i am generally from -$50 to +$25. accessories are a big lose if you try to sell them.

the only thing i have ever made a profit on was some cases of milsurp ammo.
 
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