Gun shop frustration...

The gun seller is allowed to say the gun shop "has the typical shelves of overpriced used guns that you would have to be insane to pay the asking price for", but if the gun shop has the same opinion of the guns you bring it they are arrogant jerks...
 
This gun store however, has the typical shelves of overpriced used guns
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And you are asking him to put even more overpriced used guns on his shelves.

I just got back from a gunshow where I tried to sell/trade a very good quality gun. Just wasn't able to make it happen. I did find 1 gun that interested me. The guy at the table wanted to make the trade, but called the shop owner before commiting. After he got off the phone he told me that he would have normally made an even swap with me. He apologized saying that they already had 3 other used guns in the shop just like mine and they just didn't need a 4th. No matter how good the deal would have been for them. No reason for me to get mad, I understand the business from his point of view.

You also need to understand that with the bad economy there are probably a dozen guys a day coming in his shop trying to unload junk. They just don't have the shelf space to take everything. Offering to sell your guns at cut rate prices also hurts his business. He has similar guns already on the shelves that he can sell for slightly more, and make a higher profit on. Selling your guns at a cheaper price means they will go first, earning him less money while his more profitable guns sit on the shelves.
 
The gun seller is allowed to say the gun shop "has the typical shelves of overpriced used guns that you would have to be insane to pay the asking price for", but if the gun shop has the same opinion of the guns you bring it they are arrogant jerks...
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Well let me give you an example of what occurred.They had a FEG PA-63 in the same condition as mine and also a 9X18 which is the only caliber the 63 came in as far as I know (.380's weren't known as 63's to my knowledge) in the case for $279.99 yet mine was somehow barely worth $100.00!
That's the mentality I was dealing with.

And not to be a smart a**,but I don't think some here know what a consignment is.
Definition
con·sign·ment[ kən snmənt ]
con·sign·ments Plural
NOUN
1.
delivery: a quantity or package of goods delivered or to be delivered
2.
disposal of somebody or something: the disposal of somebody or something, usually for a long time, if not permanently
3.
entrusting of somebody or something: the handing over of somebody or something to the care of another
on consignment on the understanding that payment will be made only when the goods have been sold and that any remaining unsold articles can be returned
Click to expand...
 
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In a previous life (decades ago), I was an Oil Trader and did business every day measured in the millions of dollars. Take it from me that buying and selling are both easy to do, but buying well and selling well are very tough to do, particularly if the intent is to make a living selling what you bought for more than you paid for it. If you buy a gun for full retail, don't plan on selling it for a profit in any reasonable amount of time, and that's if it's a top of the line gun. If the gun is lower quality, you probably won't ever break even on a sale. A gun trader, when he looks at a gun for sale, isn't thinking about absolute price. He's thinking about what the sale value or potential sale value is if he buys it. A $600 dollar Glock at full retail is a $600 Glock, but it isn't an opportunity for profit. However, a used $600 Glock for $300 has potential as a purchase for resale. I still think like that. I guess it's ingrained by now. Only bothers me when the wife needs a new refrigerator and I start thinking how much money I'm going to lose on this purchase. And now is a good time to mention that one of the reasons that I normally only buy Leupold scopes is for the proven long term worth they'll carry (and yes, I'll probably lose money on each one, since I paid retail). But will a Bushnell or a Vortex carry that same long term value. I don't know, but if I pay the same price I'd pay for the Leupold, I have introduced some amount of added risk to the equation.
 
You do realize that these are the same GREAT gun stores that for about 3 years now have gone to places like walmart and bought up all they had in ammo and resold it as their old at very inflated prices.

These are the same gun stores that feed on the fears of normal people and inflate gun prices/new and used well beyond what they are worth.

These are the same gun stores that tell you what you are trading isn't worth a plug nickel but if they bought from you,it will go in the case for 4-5 times what you sold it for.

Making money is one thing but extortion is another.
 
I had the same problems trying to sell my gun. After trying to put it up for consignment the sales person walked away after telling him I was trying to sell my Hi Point.
He was interested in me until then.

If the store would have put it up for sale, they probably would have sold it within a few days. Sorry but around here i have never seen Hi Points stay in a store very long due to the price.

I ended up selling it to a friend.

None of my money has ever gone to the gun store in question. And I ended up buying two more after leaving that place, and I even was willing to pay a little more at my current gun store due to customer service and they way they interact with customers who may own "junk, cheap,crap" guns, as some responses have named these.

I asked them if they would have had a problem taking it for consignment and you know what, they said no problem, and that they sell well for them.

I think that the OP did well to leave that store and move on to others that want his business. Like him, I like going back and seeing all the consignment guns still sitting there for sale (of course overpriced like their other guns).

I know that these stores are in business to make money, but with the attitudes of snubbing their noses at people, they drive away customers that have the money to spend.
 
,and I was asking fair street prices for my guns
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Not to be a smart azz as you say - but you want fair street value for your guns - so how is the gun store owner supposed to price them to pay you "fair street value", while he covers his costs and then gets his consignment fee?

Why do people like you think that the store owner's price means the balance is all profit? There are fixed costs, variable costs - these include wages, payroll taxes, utilities, utility taxes, rent/mortgage and real estate taxes, all other overheads and those taxes....................

you have 4 very inexpensive guns - if you want "fair street value", then sell them yourself on the street
 
And not to be a smart a**,but I don't think some here know what a consignment is.

Quote:
Definition
con·sign·ment[ kən snmənt ]
con·sign·ments Plural
NOUN
1.
delivery: a quantity or package of goods delivered or to be delivered
2.
disposal of somebody or something: the disposal of somebody or something, usually for a long time, if not permanently
3.
entrusting of somebody or something: the handing over of somebody or something to the care of another
on consignment on the understanding that payment will be made only when the goods have been sold and that any remaining unsold articles can be returned
Click to expand...

Quote:
It is impossible for a seller and a gunshop to make a profit. I don't see the point in even trying to sell used (or new) guns to a shop.

Do you know what "consignment" means? The OP asked the shop to sell these guns on consignment. He didn't ask them to buy them, or to take them as trade-ins.
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I know precisely what consignment is, I am not an idiot (at least most days). I guess I was speaking more to what I consider pure futility in selling to/ trading with/ consigning with gun shops. It is far too easy to sell guns on gunbroker, armslist, or my local bulletin board if ever I decide I don't need a particular gun any longer. And when the sale is over, I don't owe anyone anything (unless a gunbroker fee is required). I love dealing with my local shop when I can, but the only thing I dare sell them is holsters.

To be completely honest, if I happened to own a gun shop and someone brought in the originally mentioned firearms, I apparently would end up the butt of an internet forum thread, because I wouldn't have taken them either.
 
Personally, that set of guns, as another poster put it, is not worth much. it would be more trouble selling them than they are worth.

I would keep them as range beaters until they break. My Taurus 740 Slim is in this category.
 
None of my money has ever gone to the gun store in question.
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So you have never spent your money in THAT store, but you expect THAT store to do you a favor?

As other have pointed out, a store has costs associated with it. I have some guns that just do not fit in to my local stores' wares. But I was told if I wanted to sell them, he would handle the consignment for me. Why? Because he knows how much I spend there and who I am.

I am sorry, but I have to laugh at a lot of people who post stories about gun shops. Everything is overpriced and the clerks are rude/ignorant/full of it. I am surprised there are any gun stores left.

As an aside, maybe the legal guys could answer this: If I stole a few guns and then took them to a gun shop that I had never been in before to be resold, who would be responsible for: 1. Refunding the money if you bought the stolen guns? Me or the gun store? What if the gun store could not find me? 2. Would the gun shop stand to lose its' license if it was found out they had sold a few stolen guns?

Seems to me both the gun shop and I would be in a world of hurt.
 
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When looking at dealers and price ratios, bear in mind the dealer probably gets new guns at wholesale prices. For the guy who was shocked at the theoretical offer of $350 for the Glock 21 with night sights, what do you suppose a new one would cost him at wholesale?

So why would he feel any need to offer over $350?

Ever notice that car dealers don't offer as much for your used car as you could make in a private sale?

But selling to a dealer is easy; there is no advertising involved; no meetings with strangers who might be shady, etc.

You can have convenience, or you can make more money.

Get over it.
 
Well first off,let me make clear to Uncle Buck that I never said what he is quoting me as saying.?????
This thread seems to have two thoughts of thinking.One side tends to agree with me in my thinking that a shop is foolish to turn away FREE customer supplied inventory regardless of brand and the other side leans toward the aforementioned museum quality Patton signed Garand apparently.I fully agree that any shop has every right to decide what they put on their shelves but still think its foolish in light of the fact that there is ample space for these guns.
The wonderful shop I used to live near was thriving and would consign used guns at 10%! If they werent 2000 miles away,I would use them still.
They happily let me put an Excam GT-27 :( on the shelf for $100.00 and an old Mossberg .22 rifle that was truly a parts gun for $75.00 and both guns were sold within several weeks.I sold an additional 8 or so guns there over the years.One last thing for the people who assume I was asking outrageous prices for my guns.Here are the real world prices I would have listed them for.You may not agree,but I feel all were fair for their condition.
1.Cobra Patriot---$225.00
2.Hi-Point comp 9----$125.00........sold by the way
3.FEG PA-63-----$200.00........also sold
4.Turkish Mauser-----$160.00......this was a tough one and Ive decided to keep it.Its a 1940 dated KKALE and who knows what its seen.I wish it could talk.
Te Anau-----------out!
 
Simple Solution...if you do not like the shops practices do not do business with them. The shop owner has every right to practice business any way he sees fit.

Works for me.
 
This store stood to make around $140.00 in consignment fees on my guns.Four background checks X 5 minutes and an additional 100 minutes of them showing my guns to various people before they were sold equals $70.00 an hour.That's plenty!!!
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$35 is an average fee for a FFL to do a background check and transfer alone. Handguns average a little more. So by your own calculations, basically, you were asking the shop to display, be responsible for and to sell your guns for nothing. My favorite LGS does not sell guns on consignment for many reasons. One is because of who's liable if the gun becomes damaged by a customer or ends up losing a part because it sat out in an open rack. Second is because in many cases the shop has similar models of it's own for sale. Folks will bring in a gun for consignment and price it just a tad lower than one already on display so it sells before the shop's gun, and still want the shop to only take 20%. Third is because very seldom does the shop come out ahead, especially on cheap guns. Sorry, but $35 profit on a gun won't keep many shops in business for long. You claim many of us do not know the definition of consignment......but I believe you do not know the meaning of profit margin or capitalism. Besides, it sounds like the shop did you a favor by not taking the guns on consignment, you easily made more monies selling them yourself and got to keep one you didn't want to sell anyway. Sounds like a win-win for you.
 
Gunbroker is a true friend of the gun owner wanting to sell a gun.

I have bought and sold a few, and was always happy with the deal
 
+1 to buck460XVR.

The dealer doesn't have room to make a decent profit on a HiPoint consignment. It doesn't matter what his percentage is, he can only get so much for a used HiPoint, and he won't net much for his effort.

As far as "ample space" goes, why would the dealer want to put up a gun that might draw interest away from something that would bring him a better profit? Even if space exists, it doesn't really serve his business to put that pistol on the shelf, unless his market is largely geared toward such.

Again, if you want to buy cheap guns, that's great - so long as they work. But don't expect many dealers to be very interested in them; even pawn shops in my area tend to have better quality guns on the shelves than that.
 
This store stood to make around $140.00 in consignment fees on my guns.Four background checks X 5 minutes and an additional 100 minutes of them showing my guns to various people before they were sold equals $70.00 an hour.That's plenty!!!
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Again it seems, someone with NO idea how a business works............:rolleyes:

Hopefully you can sell your cheap stuff by yourself to max out your "profit"
 
I'm kinda hoping for a padlock as this has gotten pointless.Some of you believe all of these guns are worthless boat anchors,and I contend that you need to learn quite a bit about firearms.
 
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