Do accessories add value?

Depends on the buyer, but generally no. If you don't have time to part out the accessories individually, you're going to take a huge hit selling them with the gun they're on. You're significantly better off selling them separately, and even then you're frankly very likely to take a huge hit trying to sell things that aren't known for being especially desirable. I *start* my pricing for gun accessories at 75-80% and sometimes the item still doesn't sell until I've got it at 50% value. Maybe not even then. Chinesium tacticool parts are a dime a dozen and nobody is going to pay full price for the piece you got just to try out, so best to skip them whenever possible. Holsters and lights are not guaranteed to strike someone's fancy or fit their mission parameters, especially when people all have their preferences and brands they either love or avoid. When I have a gun that I have accessories for that I'd like to sell too, I've taken to listing the firearm listed either completely OEM spec, or with one or two things I just don't feel like swapping back out and don't care that I'm taking a loss on. Then from there, in a separate paragraph in the same ad, I'll say "will add X stock or Y grip or Z weaponlight for an extra (dollar amount)." That way the user sees the base price, doesn't get sticker shock, and from there they know I have accessories available and what I am willing to sell them for with the rifle. Usually at a discount because the buyer is conveniencing me in that I don't have to make a separe trip to the post office or to meet someone else. If they don't want those accessories? No worries, I just make a separate thread for those parts once the gun sells in the BST, or find another gun to put them on. Or put them in the spare parts bin to give to friends who need help completing builds or customizing their completely stock lower-end gun.

Ultimately, nobody is going to see the same value you do in the cash you put into a "custom build." They just don't care. They've got a set price that they subjectively associate with the brand/source of the gun. Their mind is made up the moment they read Anderson/PSA/Aero/whatever. If you want your gun to hold value, invest in guns that actually command a respected premium, and be prepared to have to wait for like-minded buyers that are willing and interested in paying for those premium names if you do decide to sell. In the end it's way easier to sell a $1500 Daniel Defense OEM-configured rifle than it is your $1500 Frankengun project on an Anderson lower receiver you picked up on sale one day. That's just the way it is.

Holsters, mags, lights? Things that are totally valid and worthwhile pieces of equipment that are worth having on the gun or the gun in? Don't just give those away for free. Sell those separately. Offer the buyer of the gun the chance to buy them at a discount, but don't just throw it in for free unless it's just not worth the time trying to sell those items separately (super-duper cheap items for instance, sure just throw those in because you'll only get a few dollars for them anyway). Just make informed decisions when purchasing these items to begin with, so you're sure of their quality and know they're desirable enough that people will want to buy them of their own merit. $5 generic knockoff holster? Meh who cares, throw that in. $75 holster, $100 light and $25 magazines? Absolutely no I'm not throwing those in for free. Well, unless it's a friend and I owe them a birthday present or something. Just also don't assume that just because someone's buying the gun from you, that they want those items too. Make it known they're available, but try to avoid insisting on package deals whenever possible. A little patience goes a long way in making a sale that doesn't completely wreck you as the seller. That way you don't impose yourself or your stuff on a prospective buyer, and you don't inadvertently give yourself the drive shaft either.

Now that I've just about sold off all the accessories I have that I don't use, I try to just steer clear of aftermarket mods and just focus on buying quality guns to begin with. I only accessorize guns I know I want to keep, and I try to keep the accessorizing minimal, and down to a few select high-grade desirable pieces I know people generally want (and I want them too). Don't accumulate a bunch of janky excrement nobody will buy from you if you don't like it, and you don't have to worry about the fact that you can't possibly sell it for what you have in it. Learn to use what comes stock in the gun you buy, or invest in a gun that comes stock with features you want already.
 
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I don't sell a lot of guns and when I do it's usually to close friends. I try to get the weapon back into its original stock configuration if I can as I like to keep any accessories. You never know when you will need something down the road for another one. Usually that means optics, stocks, and triggers. The only exception is if there is a particular item that I want and I'm trying to raise funds to purchase it. I keep most of my optics and surprisingly a few times a year someone needs to borrow one temporarily or I switch one out. Accessories rarely do much for me when I find a gun for sale and have little value knowing that they will be taken off or replaced. For example I'm a southpaw so RH holsters have zero value to me.
 
Depends. If it's a budget AR, a Geissele trigger, a top shelf barrel, hang guard, Night Force glass, etc. makes it worth more to me.
Bravado/punisher logos are a turn off. That's the last thing I want on a weapon if was to use it in self defense.
 
So to sum up this thread if you are adding quality accessories you might get more sellng as a package. You will most likely you will get less than selling the upgrades separately.

No one wants your cheap add ons so you list whatever you put into them because the new buyer is going to bin them.
 
extra mags and night sights are always a plus. normally the holster is garbo and I have to many laying around.

I typically will not buy a complete ar as I fit my own to my liking but it I had to I would want a factory built mid/upper tier. people think their palmettos and andersons are worth what they paid or more. that's fine it can sit on the forum. the used plastic pistols at msrp is a bit much though. you can go out and spend slightly more after tax and get a new one that hasn't be fondled.
 
As a southpaw, can I just say I absolutely love when people just have to offload their thirteen RH holsters with their handguns? It adds so much value to the purchase for me. /S

To be honest, unless it's something like a nice trigger on an AK, or maybe an RMR or good light on a handgun, accessories are almost always a deal killer for me. 95% of the time it's junk I don't want that the seller seems to think greatly adds value. - Accessories are very personal decisions, not everyone likes the flavor.

People are generally really crappy at pricing their items and tend to think their stuff is worth far more than it is. - Or they see stuff go for $XXXX on GunBroker or Fleabay and don't realize the extra costs/fees and hassle involved. It's not like you keep it all.

But...by FAR, the worst sellers/buyers are newbies in the home gym realm. They take the cake for pricing/offer malpractice.

Sent from my moto g fast using Tapatalk

Nah, fam, not spending $3/lb for your rusty kettles....
 
Kinda crazy how many plastic pistols are on there for more than I can get them at my local dealer… even worse when they’ve had a 25 cent trigger job by the seller
 
Perhaps this has been posted before, if so I apologize.
As I was looking at the classified section today I saw several handguns priced 2 or 3 times higher than the cost of a new one. Each one had several accessories as partof “the package”. I just don’t get it. I have never considered accessories or Cerakote to add extra value to a firearm. Sure you pay for them, but unless you find a person who wants that specific color or that specific add on part, then to me that is no added value. I have my thick skin on today, so flame on.
And as a side note, I have never seen a P365 I thought was worth $1600.
That p365 looks like a DIY version of the new Spectre 365. The spectre is 1200 bucks new, what a joke. The triggers on p365s are absolute mushy garbage. I can’t imagine paying over 1k for any gun with that trigger.
 
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