Gun show prices ,back to pre-election levels?

PBR Streetgang, I like your screen name and I like the Apocalypse Now reference.

Haven't been to a gun show recently to see if that is holding true in the DFW area. But, I don't know if my experiences would be all that relevant to your question since I observed the same exact sellers at gunshows in the DFW area having higher prices on the same items than they did at shows in Greenville, Commerce, Paris, or Texarkana, Texas or Pine Bluff, Arkansas. It seems as if the sellers' prices fluctuate with the wealth of the town in which they are selling.

I go to gun shows in Dallas and Ft. Worth to browse. I go to gun shows in Greenville and Texarkana to buy.

Not that I've seen.
Now, I've not been shopping much ammo, so I've not noticed much change there.
ARs are starting to flatten out, with the bottom being about $400, and the product has to have "reasons" to be priced higher.
6-7 weeks ago (Dallas Market Hall), Keltec RFB were around $1200-1400. Two weeks ago (Will Rogers), $1100-1200. Today in Allen I saw one at $999 that I almost took home.

The Allen show was a bit upscale (goes with its neighborhood). Oddly, there were a lot more trinkets and food vendors than over in Fort Worth.

Glock prices were about the same in Allen as in dallas (and maybe 2% higher than in Fort Worth). SIG prices were really nice today, and that even with the SIG rebate.

I have generally found good to excellent pricing on new stuff since the election, and more overall availability. That being said, people do seem to be holding on to their used guns. My local dealer said the same just today.

I am always on the lookout for guns to buy. Some to keep, some to use as tradebait.
I don't want to pay retail in either case. The used market is thinner than it was 20 years ago, but if one waits and watches, eventually a deal comes along.
As in searching for almost anything, you must be prepared to pass if the deal isn't right.

I haven't seen prices come down much at shows, but I rarely buy there. I buy from the guy that needs to make rent. Or the guy that just got the back child-support notice from the court.

tubeshooter writes:

That being said, people do seem to be holding on to their used guns.

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Yep. Not a good time to sell them, especially if they were bought new. I had a few in mind I had been considering selling or trading off, but that's off the table for the foreseeable future.

Considering some of the prices I've seen for new guns...name brand pistols for under $200, name brand ARs for under $400...gun shows are a terrible place to hunt for deals anymore.

I rarely go to gun shows. It's very rare to see good deals and if I do, it's the occasional guy walking around with a gun on his shoulder trying to do a FTF sale. I can almost always buy a new gun on the internet cheaper than both the new and the used guns on tables at the local gun show. Their target market seems to be the new gun owner that doesn't know what they are buying.

Prices on used guns at gun shows continue to be laughable. The old farts behind the tables seem to think that if it shoots, slap the manufacturer's MSRP on it, no matter how common or worn it might be. And then they sit around grousing about how they're not selling anything.

I am taking a break from gun shows. The last few I went to I was just nosy, no intention of buying anything. The only firearm I might be interested in is a good used coach gun just because I don't have one. Prices on those are outrageous these days, I'm in no hurry.

A lot of us do better buying from a few select dealers who's inventory of pawned or LEO trade ins are better deals.

Having been to gun shows since the 1970's I can't say they have ever been a hot bed of cheap deals with vendors giving away the store. The description of old farts charging MSRP on abused guns dragged thru the wilderness has been the norm. They aren't waiting for you or me to come along and snipe a great deal, they are looking for cash flush and ignorant shoppers with no clue. Most tables are now retailers moving their slow stuff which the locals won't touch. Those guys are willing to move old S&W 3Gens for decent pricing as the younger crowd is fingering all the black plastic glocktastics.

It's the same pricing as a movie ticket and takes just as long to go thru, in entertainment value a show is still fun.

I have not been to a gun show in several years, the last few were always very crowded and movement was horribly slow.
I don't enjoy crowds and snail pace, so I quit going.
My time + gas + crowd + admission + sloth speed = not worth it.

Looking at Armslist, I think what I see is the emotional value lagging the drop in market value. Let me explain:

Joe Schmoe, along with half the population, was worried that he wouldn't be able to buy an AR/.357/Tactical Tupperware/1911/LoudenBoomer after Hillary won, so he paid 30-50% more than the same item was worth pre-Obama. Now that Hillary's history, no one is worried about that, so demand has dropped by 50%. Joe wants a 4-wheeler so he decides to sell the gun. Unfortunately for Joe, he still remembers what he paid for it and it feels awful to consider that he won't be able to get the money back!

So Joe lists the gun on Armslist (or at the Gunshow) for $50 more than it costs new at Academy on sale this week, because he 'feels' that it should be worth what he payed for it.

I figure in a couple years, after everyone forgets (or gains some emotional distance from) what they paid for their impulse buys during the banic, used market prices will drop to 10-25% below new prices and it will once again be worth buying used.

I have not been to a gun show in years.
The only reason I ever went was to buy parts for old military guns & rifles. When those dried up I quit going.

Gun shows for me are a Saturday form of entertainment. See a couple of people I know, laugh at the sticker prices, occasionally find something worth a second look and possibly purchase.

I have not been to a Gun Show in ten years or so. I don't believe I've missed much.

On some items the prices are less than "pre-election" levels. When is the last time you have seen a name brand AR selling for less than $500? Look at what S&W pistols like the shield are going for, Remington 1911's, etc.

Tirod wrote:
A lot of us do better buying from a few select dealers who's inventory of pawned or LEO trade ins are better deals.

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At least in the Metrocrest suburbs, the pawn shops seem to count on generalized ignorance of what guns are worth and price (high) accordingly. I've done okay with pawn shops when I have been willing to negotiate VERY hard and walk away as soon as we started to hit an impasse. Quite often, a visit to the same shop a week or two later revealed that the gun was still there and the owner a lot more willing to resume negotiation.

Tirod wrote:
Most tables are now retailers moving their slow stuff which the locals won't touch.

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Yeah!

Since my taste in guns runs somewhere between "eclectic" and "bizarre", the tables with the "slow moving" stuff are often tailor made for me.

I go to shows to handle interesting guns without taking up a salesman's time in a store. When it comes time to buy, I go to local stores so that I have someone to go back to if I encounter a problem. The one exception, on which I passed because I didn't trust my judgement on condition or price, was a 50 year old Browning Hi Power. It had adjustable sights and a very nice trigger. The latter made me suspect it no longer contained the magazine disconnect.

hdwhit said:

Since my taste in guns runs somewhere between "eclectic" and "bizarre", the tables with the "slow moving" stuff are often tailor made for me.

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You and me both, brother.

I do often buy ammo at 'em, though. Typically, for what I buy, the prices are around what I'd pay online with shipping. It's good for the more obscure stuff that the local Bass Pro doesn't stock, such as 7.65mm Browning (the hotter .32ACP), Tok, or Mak handgun ammo.

I'm with Kendahl. I've not bought a gun at a show in years, but I do go occasionally to examine some of the new stuff that's out. More for information and entertainment than anything else. Except for the Ruger GP100 in .44 Spl that I bought when they came out (a long-awaited item ... thank you, Ruger), I've not bought a NEW gun in years, either. And the prices on used guns at the shows here in central Texas are just stupid.