This market sucks

Man one thing I wish I had and that’s as much time as you do... and maybe your obsession with my posts... and being a dramatic liar.. lol

keep on keeping on, smart man.
i worked hard to earn this free time, and haven't lied about anything. you sure have an imagination on you Jimmy boy.
 
Which is interesting given all of the anti-hype out there right now. We've seen panic buying with less chatter from the politicians.
I think we're dealing with market saturation and burnout from the last crisis. When Wally first announced their selected ammo ban, some stuff flew off the shelves, presumably by scalpers. The shelves have since been fully re-stocked.
 
3 nights ago there were 248 Colt SAAs on GB..11 had bids...11. One of my Pards that owns an indoor shooting range said it had been months since he sold anything over $600. He stocks lotsa Les Baer and Wilson guns.
I really believe the handgun market...in general and with a few exceptions is a $500 market.

Recently a man was here and was looking at a Perfect Nickel 29-2. He said, how would you like to try to sell this to someone by saying....This holds 1/3 the ammo your gun does, weighs twice as much, and costs 3 times as much. There will come a time when these grand old guns will only be for collectors of great examples of the last century's manufacturing capabilities.
 
3 nights ago there were 248 Colt SAAs on GB..11 had bids...11. One of my Pards that owns an indoor shooting range said it had been months since he sold anything over $600. He stocks lotsa Les Baer and Wilson guns.
I really believe the handgun market...in general and with a few exceptions is a $500 market.

Recently a man was here and was looking at a Perfect Nickel 29-2. He said, how would you like to try to sell this to someone by saying....This holds 1/3 the ammo your gun does, weighs twice as much, and costs 3 times as much. There will come a time when these grand old guns will only be for collectors of great examples of the last century's manufacturing capabilities.

I think we are already there, in many ways. The last decade (at least) has been the era of the tactical/concealed carry shooter coming into its own. Most new gun owners want the most bang for their buck, so they are going to opt for some of those $500 guns that fit their needs. And I don't blame them at all. Glocks, CZ, Smith, and so forth all make extremely solid platforms that fit many different needs. The "collectors" who go over old single actions, nickel wheel guns, and other 'more elegant options of a by-gone era' are becoming more scarce, if not just due to dying off or aging out.

Not to derail too much, but I also think that many more modern shooters have less and less disposable cash to throw at a $2,000-3,000 pistol when a more budget friendly option has shown itself. If you only shoot a few times a year, a Rock Island 1911 for $500 will fit most peoples needs as much as even a $1,000 Colt. Personally, I am good with it. I think modern manufacturers are reading the market and have realized that if they want to be competitive, then this $500-600 range is where they need to concentrate, and by concentrate I mean make solid firearms that will work "just as good" as the expensive options of even just a decade ago.
 
I've always struggled to move anything more than a grand. You literally have to pay someone to take it off your hands.
 
I've always struggled to move anything more than a grand. You literally have to pay someone to take it off your hands.
i ended up trading my new Dan Wesson Valor for my CZ Shadow 2 B&B from a dealer at a show, because nobody was interested in it at $1200 cash.
 
You know, this forum has mostly really knowledgeable people who understand the mechanics, the aesthetics, the history, the sport, the camaraderie, and the politics of firearms. And then there are some people who -- how shall I put this -- make me sit back in my chair and say quietly to myself, "Man I sure have got a lot more to learn!"

I am very thankful that I finally "membered up" here after lurking for a year or so (I'm not much of a joiner, I guess). You have all been a blessing to me, and I'm grateful. I just needed to say that (again).

Now back to your regular program. :cool:
 
My wife and I were discussing the "collectible" traditions that are now disappearing at an alarming rate. Our parent's generation collected all kinds of things. From salt shakers to signs to coins to stamps to knives to china to silver to guns. Growing up just about every family had a set of silver that they used on special occasions. Many also had the "good" china. My mom had a very nice set of china (Rosenthal) that was very expensive when she bought it. I did a search online and I can buy it for pennies on the dollar simply because nobody wants to keep up with a set of china anymore. Silver is the same way. It's only good for melting down and selling, not to eat your peas with. Most guns are in the same category and do not appreciate in value. Only a few do and they are either very very old or in limited quantity and in 100% condition. I do not collect guns. I shoot the piss out of everything I own. On average most of my guns that I bought new are in 90% condition or less.

I knew one gentleman that collected .22 rifles. He had hundreds of them! He always thought that his collection was "priceless" but most of what he had were run-of-the mill .22's in 75-80% condition. My point being that today I know very few people who avidly collect things like the previous generations did. Thinking of my friends none of them seriously "collect" anything. They have lots of "stuff" but they don't have rooms filled with one particular "collectible". They just aren't interested. They want new "stuff" not old "stuff". I don't see the younger generation(s) interested in avidly collecting as did the previous generations. I think it could be attributable to lower income, greater mobility (its a pain moving when you have boxes and boxes of "stuff"), and lack of interest or knowledge.

Someone mentioned the lack of interest in Colt SAA's on GB. I can see it. Like Grandma's china, no one wants it.
 
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For what it's worth, I would've bought your G19 in a heartbeat if I weren't stocking up on reloading components.
 
I think that the 600 lb gorilla in the background is the economy. Many economic indicators are predicting a recession, and a lot of folks don’t want to be reducing their disposable funds right now.

According to the latest economic reports, technically we are currently in a recession for our manufacturing industries. Output has shrunk for the last two months.
 
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I think that the 600 lb gorilla in the background is the economy. Many economic indicators are predicting a recession, and a lot of folks don’t want to be reducing their disposable funds right now.
or people are hoping to profit from a Democratic scare.
 
Here’s how you sell a gun.

Post pictures. Good pictures.
Offer it for sale/sell/cell/sail at a price in line with the current market. Not with how much you have in it.

Don't expect people to like your choice of holsters, extra mags, extra ammo, or all the bells, whistles and racoon tails you hung on that gun, etc

Offer the gun for sale alone. Offer all that other stuff for sale separately, or offer a good deal on that stuff to the buyer AFTER you have worked a reasonable deal on the gun.

You’ll be surprised that you'll usually get it sold, and most the ancillary extras that went with it, either to the buyer or to somebody else.

This year I have sold a Wilson, a Wesson, a couple of Colts, all for what I expected to sell them for. Did I get all my money out of them? No. But I got them sold.
 
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Here’s how you sell a gun.

Post pictures. Good pictures.
Offer it for sale/sell/cell/sail at a price in line with the current market. Not with how much you have in it.

Don't expect people to like your choice of holsters, extra mags, extra ammo, or all the bells, whistles and racoon tails you hung on that gun, etc

Offer the gun for sale alone. Offer all that other stuff for sale separately, or offer a good deal on that stuff to the buyer AFTER you have worked a reasonable deal in the gun.

You’ll be surprised that you'll usually get it sold, and most the ancillary extras that went with it.

This year I have sold a Wilson, a Wesson, a couple of Colts, all for what I expected to sell them for. Did I get all my money out of them? No. But I got them sold.


or just don't sell it at all. it won't lose value sitting in the safe.


...unless it's a glock.
 
Don't expect people to like your choice of holsters, extra mags, extra ammo, or all the bells, whistles and racoon tails you hung on that gun, etc

You may have to 'splain that to some of the younger crowd.
 
I also think that many more modern shooters have less and less disposable cash to throw at a $2,000-3,000 pistol
This money for a Swenson, Almond, Behlert, King, Pachmayer, was common to get a gun that you had confidence in.
If you only shoot a few times a year
Oh My!
"just as good" as
Just for me I have always tried to obtain the yardstick the product was measured by...just me.
You have all been a blessing to me, and I'm grateful. I just needed to say that (again).
Me too Pard, me too.
 
Unless there is for-real financial investment where the item increases in a tangible value, "collectible" it's just a mechanism for hoarding what you like. What most people call a "collectible", it's just brickabrack to most other people.

I think there is still a community for collecting all those other types of guns, wheel guns, SAAs, but even then there are probably more on the market then there are legit collectors. You don't buy those guns to shoot, you buy them for display cases and to sit.
 
My wife and I were discussing the "collectible" traditions that are now disappearing at an alarming rate. Our parent's generation collected all kinds of things. From salt shakers to signs to coins to stamps to knives to china to silver to guns. Growing up just about every family had a set of silver that they used on special occasions. Many also had the "good" china. My mom had a very nice set of china (Rosenthal) that was very expensive when she bought it. I did a search online and I can buy it for pennies on the dollar simply because nobody wants to keep up with a set of china anymore. Silver is the same way. It's only good for melting down and selling, not to eat your peas with. Most guns are in the same category and do not appreciate in value. Only a few do and they are either very very old or in limited quantity and in 100% condition. I do not collect guns. I shoot the piss out of everything I own. On average most of my guns that I bought new are in 90% condition or less.

I knew one gentleman that collected .22 rifles. He had hundreds of them! He always thought that his collection was "priceless" but most of what he had were run-of-the mill .22's in 75-80% condition. My point being that today I know very few people who avidly collect things like the previous generations did. Thinking of my friends none of them seriously "collect" anything. They have lots of "stuff" but they don't have rooms filled with one particular "collectible". They just aren't interested. They want new "stuff" not old "stuff". I don't see the younger generation(s) interested in avidly collecting as did the previous generations. I think it could be attributable to lower income, greater mobility (its a pain moving when you have boxes and boxes of "stuff"), and lack of interest or knowledge.

Someone mentioned the lack of interest in Colt SAA's on GB. I can see it. Like Grandma's china, no one wants it.

This is very much true. Go to an estate auction sometime and watch people turn their noses up at furniture (expensive bedroom suits especially), fine china, silverware, and other collectibles people have spent a lifetime hoarding up. When setting up an auction you have to break it to these people that grandma's junk she bought as an investment is just that to people now- junk.

Interestingly enough, there are lots of things that have gone up in or retain value that you wouldn't expect. Old pyrex for example, always seems to sell. Bloggers and apparently HGTV have made quality vintage kitchen mixers like Kitchen Aid worth big money in good shape. People even buy them to restore them.

As it turns out, with most things, value is subjective.

I think in the coming years you're going to find that the younger crowd will do the same for the firearms the older folks are collecting. For example, like you said, there's a lot of Colt revolvers out there that bring serious money from certain demographics, but I don't see people my age ascribing the same value to them, and when the older generation hoarding them starts dieing off, there will be more supply than demand and they'll be cheaper and more easily attainable.

I honestly think the only firearms that will ever maintain real value that isn't based on political rumblings or personal feelings are those with historical significance. I doubt you'll ever see people lose interest in owning German Lugers from WWII.
 
You don't buy those guns to shoot, you buy them for display cases and to sit.
Not all of us. I like the Jay Leno thought process. He says he gets cars to a 10 and then drives them down to a 6 or 7 . I have a couple of dozen or more that I bought new and Have Shot And Enjoyed that are still worth considerably more than what I paid for them. Yes they would have been worth more if not shot but every penny was worth it to me.
 
Not all of us. I like the Jay Leno thought process. He says he gets cars to a 10 and then drives them down to a 6 or 7 . I have a couple of dozen or more that I bought new and Have Shot And Enjoyed that are still worth considerably more than what I paid for them. Yes they would have been worth more if not shot but every penny was worth it to me.

Whats the old saying? Not shooting a gun because you want to keep it new is like not having relations with your wife so she is fresh for her next husband.
 
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