Guns 4 sale on the TFL

[454]

I have been looking at the handguns for sale and noticed often high prices. This is just my opinion. For example, a glock that I can get new for 489 at the local store selling for 450 plus shipping and transfer fees, and an sp101 that sells for 349 at the store asking 290 + +. Why does anyone bother? Does anyone feel the same way? Why get a used gun for the price of a new one without the trouble?

 

[Jason280]

You would be surpised at the prices people will spend over the internet. But, if you will notice, a lot of those "overpriced" items never even sell.

 

[juliet charley]

I wonder as well. There's used CZ83 on the board for $300 that you can buy NIB any day of the week for $319. Even better over on Glock Talk somebody's trying to sell a used Browning BDA for $400 when CDNN is selling them NIB for $370--$30 over retail. And all of this is before shipping and transfer fees which can add another $50 to the price.

 

[Blue Duck357]

Prices vary by region a great deal. I happen to live in gun buyers hell. New Glocks $580 (without night sights), Used Glocks $500, Ruger SP-101 $425...+ $40 or so sales tax. Tax is a big issue with some buyers, no tax on internet sales means a big savings to some people in states with high taxes. When somebody buys at these inflated prices they often try without success to get at least decent portion of it back when they sell.

Another thing to note is accesories sold with the gun. A base small frame used Glock for $450 is not a good deal. A G-23 with a FML Hi-cap ($90) and new Heine night sites ($90) might be a good deal if you were going to get those two accesoris anyway. Then your only "really" paying $270 for the gun which is a steal.


As always though it comes down to what the market will bear-Capitalism at work

 

[C.R.Sam]

To the buyer....an item is worth what he is willing to pay.
To the seller...an item is worth what he can get for it.

Sam

 

[Eric Larsen]

I get the same feeling from the internet alot. Some are very good deals...not incredible. But if Im looking for a gun and the price is right....Ill do it again.

Ive gotten some damn good deals off of the net....a NIB CZ83 for 210$ shipped, SP101 with CTC grip for 400$ etc etc......

I found a LNIB K40 locally at a gun/pawn shop for 350$ out the door taxes and paperwork....
Some you cant pass up.....

Ive also seen a NIB CZ83 on GA for 465$ for over a year..they list for 429$ give or take....and can be bought for 320$ anywhere you look....

Sam nailed it....you sell it for what you can get for it...as its fair.
You buy what you want for the same fair price.....to each there own. Shoot well

 

[Mike Irwin]

I second Blue Duck's comments.

I've seen guns advertised for sale here for SIGNIFICANTLY less than what I could ever hope to get them for in Northern Virginia.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Another thing to concider as well. If the asking price is a little high in your eyes then feel free to PM the seller with an offer. Never know, the seller might be willing to deal. Concider this, when you go to buy a new car do you just walk up and say I'll take that at your asking price or do you wheel and deal? Same goes for shopping for handguns and the sort. Thats what makes shopping fun.

 

[Jack Carson]

TFL Provides a Great Service for buyers and sellers!

I have been both a buyer and a seller here and the experiences were equally satisfying and fair.

The people who post here regularly have varying degrees of skill and expertise but the majority certainly seem honest and polite. The same cannot be said for the potential buyers you will deal with if you use a classified ad in a metropolitan newspaper!

As for prices, just what C.R. Sam said with a sidebar: I recently sold a pistol on TFL simply to get another model of the same brand and caliber. It was a really good pistol and it would have been fine with me to keep it. I priced it at the upper end of the range of what it was worth as I viewed the transaction as a trade. That is, I priced it the way I would have traded if I were trading for the gun I wanted.

A gunshop will not trade with you the way an individual will. In this case, the buyer got a high quality, reliable handgun for the same money or less than he would have gotten for the same used model at his gunshop with my personal assurance that it would arrive as I described. He emailed me as soon as he picked it up and shot it and thanked me for the transaction.

He was pleased and I got the model I wanted. My "trade" for the brand new model I wanted was about $70 difference.

The "buy, sell, trade" forums here are wonderful. Where else can you advertise to such a target market (yuk, yuk) FOR FREE! My only complaint is that my timing for checking the forums has been off so many times when the great deals on stuff I'm looking for have already sold

Sorry this was so long.
Jack

 

[Jspy]

I agree with the previous post. It seems as if I'm always a day late for the good buys. I generally use listings as a guide to compare local prices on some of the more common guns. What I'm usually looking for on this and other internet sources are the ones you can't find locally. An HK P7M8 is a good example. I hardly ever see any at all at both shops and the gun shows.

 

[Dan Morris]

I tend to buy the classics, true, some are over prices, as to auction sites, you just have to be pickey and bid what it's worth to YOU.
Dan

 

[TaxPhd]

Tax isn't as big an issue as you might think.

When shipping and FFL transfer fees run, what, $40 ($15 shipping, $25 transfer), that is comparable to 8% sales tax on a $500 gun bought locally. Make sure you are comparing "out the door price" when shopping.

And you are paying your use tax on your internet purchases, right?

 

[Chief Jones]

I agree with Sam.....if both parties feel like they made a good deal, then it was one. Now I just need to break that nasty habit I have of continually looking for a better deal AFTER the sale......

 

[JMC]

To the buyer....an item is worth what he is willing to pay.
To the seller...an item is worth what he can get for it.

This is the bottom line to any deal.

I worked in an old fashion type gun shop back in the late '60's, early '70's. We did a lot of horse tradin' in those days.
We used to say that if both parties were happy with the deal, it was a good deal. Many came back, some didn't. That's life.

I've recently sold a few handguns on the Internet and I've purchased a couple also. So far, so good. I'm actually ahead right now.

What I've found lately is that there are a lot of "tire kickers" out there with no jingle in their pockets to buy the right time of day. They are usually the ones who do nothing but complain about the prices being asked.

I presently have a 1st generation G17 (pebble grain frame) for sale with two NFML mags and Mepro night sights in the original box and in real good shape for a 13 years old pistol. Five people have inquired and only one seems to have the $$ to be a serious player. A couple of the others seem to think I should give the pistol away because they don't have the $$ to spend. Looking is cheap, buying takes money!

One has to read the whole deal before they come to a decision on a fair price. Many semi-autos come with night sights or pre ban standard capacity magazine. Both options can raise the price of a standard pistol substantially.

The guys that really piss me off are the ones who come back at you with, "Ill give you..." or "I can buy the same gun for..." You'll give me nothing because I won't even respond to you. Go buy the same gun where you say you can. They never seem to buy that one, do they?

The pending deal could/would go much smoother if they would use, "would you consider"?

For the most part, many of us can not walk into a gun shop/firearms dealer and find the "inventory" that is listed on the various sites on the Internet. If you don't like the price, pass it by.

 

[Redlg155]

I'm also one of those guys who live in a place where the guns are outrageously overpriced. Sometimes you can walk in and find a great deal, but that is the exception and not the norm. I tried going north to find better deals but that wasn't the answer either. Try 1100 dollars for a Post Ban Bushmaster AR15 at Kevins in Tallahassee. And that's their sale price. I can get one on the internet for approx $800 after shipping and FFL fees. Much less for a used one.

Try buying a Pre Ban AR15 at a dealer vs Internet sale. A big difference in my area. In all fairness I do have one dealer that will work with me on the price if he has one in stock. I give him just about all of my local business and have him do my FFL paperwork for intenet ordering.

I find that I save money on internet buying as well as getting the weapon that I want. I don't want to wait 6 weeks or whenever my dealer can get one in stock. If someone has one for sale right now I'll buy it. Internet is also a great way to get discontinued items.

Good SHooting
RED

 

[Coronach]

ditto variance by region. What seems expensive there might be a good deal here.

If it doesn't sell, its overpriced.

Mike

 

[Rail Gun]

In most cases the lack of sales tax pays for the shipping at least. Here's a case of a S&W revolver a friend bought. Then if you can get a NIB mod. 67 revolver for say $389 + shipping + FFL costs online you're looking at $425 total when a new one in the local shop is $449 + tax for a total of about $466. In this scenario there was a savings of about $40 cash money. It's a good way to but things in my opinion and you have to shop around because you really need to find it for way less than you can get it for in the real world. And as soon as you mention to the gun shop guy the idea of doing a transfer they all of a sudden want to know the details and are about 500% more willing to deal and lower their prices to be competitive against the online transfer sale.

 

[Blue Duck357]

If it doesn't sell, its overpriced

And if you make the post and step out the door to get the mail and feed the dogs to return to 6 "I'll take it" E-mails you've just underpriced. I've done both here