Is it wrong to take advantage of these suckers on Gunbroker/Armslist?

Is it wrong to take advantage of the panic buying?

  • I don't know.

    Votes: 6 5.3%

  • It's wrong because you are taking advantage of their emotional reactions to the political climate.

    Votes: 11 9.6%

  • It is not wrong because they are not being forced to buy anything.

    Votes: 97 85.1%
  • Total voters
    114
C

CoRoMo

New member
There have been some very hysterical buyers this week who are all too willing to part with most of a hard earned paycheck just to get what they think are the last Pmags in existence. :rolleyes: It's ridiculous!

So if you've hoarded up a good pile of mags, do you think it's wrong to get while the gettin's good, and grab some of the money being thrown around by some of these poor panicked souls?
 
I can see both sides of the argument.

Yesterday I saw at least 20 ARs sold 99% of those were to people that knew exactly zero about ARs. Some planned on making a fortune, some just wanted to get one before they were 'outlawed'

I also know many people that would love to own an AR but lack the money to get them. What about them?

Also yesterday I saw that 1% from a gentlemen that was planning to surprise his son with an AR for Christmas, thankfully he had it reserved, but it was sad to see him try and locate some mags and ammo at the already cleaned out shop. All he was worried about was trying to find them before christmas.
 
Like Venom said I see both sides. It comes down to supply and demand. There is 0 supply right now and a huge demand. If the government bans AR's from private citizens, you will only see prices go much higher. (For the first time ever, I think there is a very real chance of this happening). For me personally I can live without my AR if I can triple what I paid for it. And I have had 5 serious offers to sell it for close to this amount.
 
It's free enterprise.

The only exception are limited supplies of essential items, like electricity, gas, etc. Those are things that are essential to modern society.

People buy stocks (business shares, not rifle parts;)) every day with the explicit intent of waiting for a price increase and then selling. I bought Apple stock at $17 and sold it at $31. I was pretty proud of myself. One might argue that I "Ripped off" the buyer by charging them 75% more than I paid, except they didn't "need" to buy and they willingly paid what I asked. (If only I'd kept that stock! It's at $519 today!:(:o)

There's absolutely no moral dilemma with asking any price for any ordinary piece property. If you LIE, that's one thing. That's wrong. Tell people that this $5 thing sells for $100 all day and you'll give them a deal at $90, that's bad.

Taking something that you paid $20 for and putting it up for sale for $50, $100, even $1000, no issue. That's the free market. Don't like it, don't buy it.
 
So far, I've played it cool. My LGS produced about seven boxes of Pmags yesterday, so I casually strolled in and picked up a couple (at a normal price). They are just too cool, I don't know what I would do without them :)
 
The value of any good or service is based on what people are willing to pay. This kind of thing happens all the time. Buying a winter coat is much more expensive during winter than buying one in the spring.

The prices of guns remind me of the housing bubble that burst. Obviously there is a real threat to a ban on certain items, but who knows if that ban will happen. If it does will it either expire or be reversed sometime in the future.
 
I for one am looking forward to Feb, Mar, April when alot of these ARs and such hit the market because the folks that rushed out and bought them found out that they couldn't afford them.

I predict that there will be deals.
 
You have to be smart enough not to get swept up in the hysteria. If owning an AR was important to you, you should have picked one up at any time during the last four years. There were some tremendous deals out there. Same with mags. I would gladly sell my RRA AR for triple what I have in it if somebody wanted it. I'd also sell the 15 PMags I have for $60 each if someone was silly enough to pay that. I don't think I'll actively try and sell them, but if it came up I would certainly do it. Then I'd go buy me a nice bolt action 22-250, some ammo and a 1/2 oz of gold.
 
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If you question their judgement, then why should they be allowed to purchase a firearm. It is a slippery slope, and I would prefer to think the buyers have their sanity.:rolleyes:
 
I think that it's totally fine. I wouldn't part with my AR for really anything. It's also a left handed Stag, so there's that going against it.

It's just a seller's market right now, in 10 months all these people spending multiple thousands of dollars on run of the mill products are going to take a huge loss and we'll be talking about the insane amount of cheap ARs and their excesories.
 
Most likely if I sold my Daniel Defense with its Pmags right now I could get upwards of 3k. But I'm juuuust a bit too uncertain about the future.

I don't think there is a moral issue unless you lie. If the market will bear $100 per Pmag, so be it.
 
I think its the free market in action. Its not your fault everything is upside down right now, you didn't wish this would happen. If you sell at less than the going price someone will pick them up and resell at market price anyways. Why give the profit to a stranger? The end user is going to get "ripped off" either way.

The only thing i can see is that maybe as an indirect consequence it would make a new enthusiast bitter that his first purchase was during a scare and he paid more than he wanted to. Might lose more people on our side from the sour taste of his/her first purchase...but they have to realize its just timing. Gas, beef, baseball cards... its not just guns that wildly vary in price.
 
I would not part with any of my rifles unless it is to fund another rifle purchase. Don't be too sure who the sucker will be in the end.
 
People are being reactive when they need to be proactive.

Proactivety begins when you write, call, or email your congressman expressing the need to preserve the Constitution and the Bill of Rights despite the political climate. In particular; The Second Amendment
 
If we word it as "taking advantage of suckers," then yes, I have an ethical problem with it.

As others have mentioned, if there were to be a ban, I'd have divested myself of the very objects I can't replace.
 
we are all big boys and girls. spend your $$ wisely. once its gone, it dont come back:eek: and you may need some when you get old.:D
 
If we word it as "taking advantage of suckers," then yes, I have an ethical problem with it.

As others have mentioned, if there were to be a ban, I'd have divested myself of the very objects I can't replace.
Click to expand...

The number of NIB guns for sale at large mark up by low or first time sellers would seem to indicate that some people may be buying guns and then reselling them at a large mark up. They already have guns but are trying to make money by taking advantage of a short term demand/ supply issue to profit. This exacerbates the problem and increases profit for the people who participate.
 
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