Have internet gun prices spoiled anyone else?

[KEYBEAR]

Last Winter I bought two New Handguns from Bud,s Guns at the same time .
Free Shipping Great price and my FFL is very close for 10 bucks total .

I saved some money saved some gas and had my new firearms in 3 days .

 

[SEKLEM]

Huh??

GB does have a feature that allows you to see a complete list of auctions whether they were sold or not. Go to advanced, select "Completed Items" put whatever you are looking for in the "Search Words" box and then search. This brings up completed auctions and you can see what sold and what didn't and for how much.

Do you have to be logged in to do that? I've never made an account if that matters.

In any case, that's really neat that they do, I didn't realize that.

Thank you.

Edit: I see that they do require registration in order to view completed listings. Slightly annoying because they REQUIRE you pay a one time fee of $1.00 to join which requires me giving more information than I'm not willing provide to at this juncture.

 

[Sevens]

Gunbroker makes signing up a bit of a hassle -- they really, really, REALLY want to discourage schmucks from making shill, junk accounts to throw random bids up that have no intention of follow-thru.

Imagine the mayhem if it was EASY to quickly make a Gunbroker account. You could just jack up 10 auctions to be obnoxious or, well, for any reason... and that act would damage the seller AND the previous/current high bidder.

Sometimes the picture is bigger than what you think you see. For all the folks who think Gunbroker is overpriced, waste of time, etc etc etc... just go ahead and stay away. Works better for those of us who know better.

 

[SEKLEM]

Sometimes the picture is bigger than what you think you see. For all the folks who think Gunbroker is overpriced, waste of time, etc etc etc... just go ahead and stay away. Works better for those of us who know better.

Gunbroker is not in of itself overpriced, but there are a large quantity of sellers there who are a bit overzealous. I've seen plenty of good prices there, it just takes some looking. If you're looking for something specific used that you don't see everyday it's great. Some sellers take great pride in their work and it shows and they mean to do business. Some of them don't have a clue, again it's just about looking.

I don't have a personal problem with giving them my information, when I'm seriously ready to buy something. As I said, I'm not willing to provide it at this juncture, as there isn't anything I'm ready to buy.

Compared to slickguns gunbroker can be a bit tougher to navigate and find that "best price" on a new firearm, but then gunbroker really isn't the place to shop for new firearms. There's rabid competition there and mom & pop gun dealers cannot hope to contend with larger dealers who can get bulk discounts. Gunbroker is best for USED firearms.

Slickguns is easy to find the best price on new firearms. Just put in what you're looking for, press enter, and the prices come up from lowest to highest.

 

[johnwilliamson062]

It gets even worse when I look at the prices that people are asking for used guns on local sales sites. I see people on gun forums talking all the time about the great deals they got on used guns and I would not be surprised if at least 3 out of 5 ads I see are asking more used that I can buy new online and the sellers actually act offended if offered what I consider a decent used price.

I send a weblink to an online ad for a new gun that is less i I recognize such a situation and then make an offer. Usually the person is not responsive, but occasionally I get a positive response. I often find they were absolutely ripped off by a local store and based on what they paid what they are asking isn't that out of line.

 

[SEKLEM]

I send a weblink to an online ad for a new gun that is less if I recognize such a situation and then make an offer.

This.

Usually the person is not responsive

Because they're embarrassed or they're looking to make a profit off a new purchase ranging from ignorance to more nefarious reasons.

but occasionally I get a positive response. I often find they were absolutely ripped off by a local store and based on what they paid what they are asking isn't that out of line.

It's pretty rare to get into contact with someone that can be reasoned with. More times than not when I see someone trying to sell a firearm for too much I just kind of chuckle and move past it because occasionally it invites the wrong kind of response and ends up being a waste of time.

 

[jasmith85]

I often find they were absolutely ripped off by a local store and based on what they paid what they are asking isn't that out of line.

I would not be surprised if this is the case in many instances. I was recently talking to a guy that I used to work with about guns, and he told me that he had just bought a plain jane Springfield XD 45 service model at one of the local shops here for $580 plus tax. I then sent him a link to an online dealer, I believe it was Kygunco, that was selling the same gun for $369 with free shipping at the time. As can be expected, he was completely dejected and said he would never buy from that shop again. He could take $200 off of what he gave for it and try to sell it and it would still be high compared to the new online price at the time.

 

[Sevens]

On Gunbroker, in regards to "crazy high prices", if we're talking about XD's, M&P's, Rock Island 1911's and other high volume WHATEVER guns then sure.

But you -have- to know, if you're talking about:
older
sought after
collectible
highly revered
oddball
scarce
historically signficant
...understand just how little it costs a GB seller to list these at some lofty, catastrophic price. No different than the long time dealer at a gun show who ALWAYS has that one Python with the $6,000 tag that he never sells.

Sometimes? These guns SELL. For the few pennies it costs to list them with crazy high prices, it lets a LOT of potential buyers around the globe know that you have it. It is irrationally low cost advertising to a GLOBAL market.

I could write dozens of examples...
I'll describe just one:

 

[Sevens]

In the first week of May 2015, a GB seller listed a S&W 952-2 Long Slide. Maybe only a hundred or two of these were made circa... 2007 or so? MSRP at the time was just under $2,800. So what does one of these in NOS (new old stock, like a time capsule) actually trade at?

In this auction, two different bidders decided that they really, REALLY wanted it. It takes at least two bidders to take a final auction sale price really high and on this late spring Sunday night around 9pm, the losing bidder decided finally that $6,525 was more than he wanted to spend... and the other guy won it.

Next day Monday, a guy listed another one for sale just like it and with a "Buy it Now" price of $6,350.

Not only did that not sell in the second week of May...
He has RE-LISTED the same pistol endlessly since that day. Endlessly and it is there, live right now.

What is it "worth" ?! Is it "worth" $6,525?
No. It was in early May on a Sunday at 9pm.
Today, it is "worth" some price under $4,500 because there are 4 of them live right now and none have sold and the lowest is $4,500. Those have been live for a few weeks.

All it takes to sell something like that over $6k is the right combination of bidders and market. And it costs VERY little for the seller to list it.

I don't know the seller but I would bet that he isn't scared about missing a car payment. Frankly, my hunch is that prior to May... he had no interest in selling his very cool and rare pistol UNTIL two guys with fat wallets and excess caffeine decided to get in to a bidding war.

 

[O4L]

Well, good for you Sevens. I'm glad you're such a GB stud.

I will not give any website my personal info, such as DL number and I can't even remember what else, to sign up, especially with all the sites that get hacked these days.

 

[Sevens]

Nice insult. And I've never guven GB my DL.

Shame that you're too shallow for Gunbroker. Armslist is more your speed.

 

[O4L]

I don't use armslist either, too many flakes on there.


From what I have been told, if you registered on GB a long time ago, they didn't ask for as much info, but when I was going to sign up about a year ago, they just wanted more than I was willing to give them.

 

[O4L]

Gunbroker makes signing up a bit of a hassle -- they really, really, REALLY want to discourage schmucks from making shill, junk accounts to throw random bids up that have no intention of follow-thru.

Imagine the mayhem if it was EASY to quickly make a Gunbroker account. You could just jack up 10 auctions to be obnoxious or, well, for any reason... and that act would damage the seller AND the previous/current high bidder.

Sometimes the picture is bigger than what you think you see. For all the folks who think Gunbroker is overpriced, waste of time, etc etc etc... just go ahead and stay away. Works better for those of us who know better.

This post is why I took a jab at you.

It sounded pretty condescending towards those of us that aren't GB fans. [emoji6]

 

[SEKLEM]

I saw what I thought was condescension as well, but chose not to be offended. If you don't like GB you shouldn't use it. I don't like using the interstate bypass even though it's efficient. Preferences my friend.

 

[Andy Blozinski]

The last two pistols I bought were from Gunbroker. We were actually going to buy one from a local small gun store, but they sold it before we came back after making the decision. I checked on gunbroker on a whim and found it for $170 less. We did the transfer through that exact same store and the clerk said we got it for less than they usually buy them for.
The second was a slightly (36 shots) used Chiappa Rhino for $200 less than typical going price.
With shipping and transfer it was still quite a bit cheaper.

 

[jimbob86]

By the time you add in shipping and Transfer fee, I'm not seeing a huge price difference ...... add that to the fact that you can't really inspect the guns bought online, and have to wait days for your purchase ..... I don't buy much online.

 

[cc-hangfire]

Short answer to OP's question: yes

This isn't a criticism of those who don't use Gunbroker or ArmsList, but 90% of the collection I've accumulated over the past years have been from those. My local gunsmith really likes me for the transfer fees, & some refinishing work its generated for him. Even with shipping & transfer fees, there are good deals available on GB. ArmsList has a different set of concerns since it involves cash, guns, and - sometimes- strangers. As mentioned there are dangers and drawbacks to both those sources.

I buy/bought mostly used older firearms that aren't available in my area. Since I live in a rural area with only medium sized towns nearby, online is the only source for the variety of guns and ammo I'm looking for. I do shop the LGS & pawn shop gun cases when I can, and the locally owned spots have reasonable prices on used guns, so I've bought a couple when they had one I was looking for. Even then, I knew what a good price was from online research of what sold (not the asking prices as discussed above).

The nearby Gander Mountain & Academy Sports like their firearms a lot more than I do, although Academy has good deals on ammo from time to time.

 

[BigBL87]

Dunham's is incredibly overpriced on their firearm stuff (guns, ammo, accessories, all of it), or at least the one near me is. Most non-gun stores seem to be. The one exception for me has been Rural King. For not being a gun store, they always seem to have very reasonable prices. A little above Internet prices, but close enough I'm usually willing to give them a shot before I buy online.

 

[boatdoc173]

I am VERY loyal to my LGS BUT that said only if the prices are close to my lgs

my lgs owner gives me 10% off --period)excepts guns like glocks where the margin is too small).I want to and do support this store. They have been great to me and deserve whatever business I can give them. I hate paying the CT sales taxes,especially since this state has raped my gun rights. I have prioritie s though and supporting people who are kind to me is my #1

If I find a lower price on line( significantly lower or he cannot get or will not order what I want--then I transfer in the gun I want(ex some CZs or an Ed Brown 9mm)

 

[SEKLEM]

The one exception for me has been Rural King. For not being a gun store, they always seem to have very reasonable prices. A little above Internet prices, but close enough I'm usually willing to give them a shot before I buy online.

Love Rural King. One of my favorite stores to shop at.