Cabela's: Good or bad?

Status
Not open for further replies.
MosinT53Hunter

MosinT53Hunter

Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2016
Messages
1,042
Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone has dealt with Cabelas when selling a firearm. Did you get what you were asking for, or did they low ball you? I had some recent dealings with the local one, and it wasn't very good. Customer service was good, but what they quoted me wasn't, and I left with my guns. What has been your experience with them?
 
If you want to get a good price, list your guns on Gunbroker. A 3 or 5 day auction will tell you what they are worth.

Otherwise, expect to get ripped off.

You might also find an LGS that will sell on consignment and THEY list the guns on gunbroker. I have one near me and they sell lots of guns for people and they handle the auction and shipping the gun.
 
Tommygunn said:
You're probably never going to be able to sell your guns through a store at a good price to you because they have to sell them at a profit, and will not like going over what some "blue book" says a gun is worth.
Just a fact of capitalistic reality.
Click to expand...

Yes, I learned a harsh lesson for sure, hopefully I will be wiser in the future. My LGS gave me a better deal vs. Cabelas, so I went with them instead. Not a great deal, but far better then what I was offered at Cabelas.
 
MosinT53Hunter

I have always had the best success selling my guns on consignment. One place I used would take 10% of the selling price if it sold in store. If you wanted to see what it might do with an online auction then it was 15% of the selling price. They handled the whole transaction and cut you a check when it sold. If it didn't sell you were out nothing but you would have to fill out a form 4473 to reacquire your gun.
 
I've had a couple of good experiences. 1st time I sold them a Ruger Alaskan for $650. I bought it months earlier for $600 at another store. They sold me a Red Hawk for $700 and gave me a veterans discount. The total cost to me was about $45 when we settled up. I sold Cabela's a Uberti 45 for $300 that I paid $300 for. Cabela's has made offers on a few guns that I thought was way low so I kept them. Cabela's said they pay about 70% of what they sell them for.
 
bannockburn said:
MosinT53Hunter

I have always had the best success selling my guns on consignment. One place I used would take 10% of the selling price if it sold in store. If you wanted to see what it might do with an online auction then it was 15% of the selling price. They handled the whole transaction and cut you a check when it sold. If it didn't sell you were out nothing but you would have to fill out a form 4473 to reacquire your gun.
Click to expand...

Good to know for the future, thank you. That's why I come here, to get sound advice. :)
 
NorthBorder said:
I've had a couple of good experiences. 1st time I sold them a Ruger Alaskan for $650. I bought it months earlier for $600 at another store. They sold me a Red Hawk for $700 and gave me a veterans discount. The total cost to me was about $45 when we settled up. I sold Cabela's a Uberti 45 for $300 that I paid $300 for. Cabela's has made offers on a few guns that I thought was way low so I kept them. Cabela's said they pay about 70% of what they sell them for.
Click to expand...

I wish I could believe that from the one in Yakima. Gave me an offer of a $100 each for my guns, one was a Bulgarian Makarov with holster, two mags, spare set of grips, cleaning rod and booklet of service from Bulgaria, and one tiger stripped 1895 Chilean Mauser long rifle....I turned down the offer.
 
Cabelas is in the business to make money, they will offer you about 30-35% less than they think they can sell it for. Nothing wrong with a business trying to be profitable. I found them to be pretty accurate about the value of a gun I thought about selling them. They were honest and treated me fairly. But ultimately I decided not to sell to them.

I ended up selling myself, but had to sell for a little less than I wanted to, and since I had to pay shipping I ended up with less than $100 more than Cabelas would have given me. In my case I came out ahead, but not by a huge amount.

I think it depends on the individual gun. Mine was in the $1000 range and 35% was $350. On a $300 gun 35% isn't nearly as much less in your pocket.
 
I've had the best luck with smaller LGS. The few I've sold I probably got $40-50 less than what I could have gotten private.

I'm not a fan of private sales personally so it's worth it not to have to deal with the possible problems.
 
I found that I get much better value for guns by trading them at a LGS. Especially handguns. In PA, we have to have an FFL transfer for a handgun (not long gun though), so that's normally $30-50 off of an asking price. At that rate, normally it's cheaper to just buy new online or from a LGS instead of used.

So I always trade in handguns for the "wholesale" price if I get lucky on a trade.
 
To look at it from the other side, I have seen some good deals on Cabela's site, including one that looked so good I thought something had to be wrong, but Gunbroker seems to have a lower percentage of realistic offerings. I know a lot of buyers knock it for that reason.

I remember some pretty nutty listings during the Obama panic.
 
I talked to them once about trading a gun in. They were up front with the fact that they'd offer my 60% of it's value. I've done much better listing them on Armslist.
 
RalphS said:
If you want to get a good price, list your guns on Gunbroker. A 3 or 5 day auction will tell you what they are worth.

Otherwise, expect to get ripped off.

You might also find an LGS that will sell on consignment and THEY list the guns on gunbroker. I have one near me and they sell lots of guns for people and they handle the auction and shipping the gun.
Click to expand...

Ripped off? Are you serious?

Any gun shop, large or small, exists by turning over inventory quickly. You can't expect them to pay you retail and they turn around and try to sell it and make a -GASP- profit....They are going to pay you wholesale so they can sell it retail. Don't like that? Sell it yourself. Depending on the gun, you might be waiting a while; so it comes down to this - how fast do you need the cash?
 
If they offered 75% of fair market value your doing good at any shop unless it’s something north of 1000 where a lower percentage margain is significant.

Keep in mind a trade in doesnt count towards sales tax so you can add back in 8% ish
 
MosinT53Hunter said:
Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone has dealt with Cabelas when selling a firearm. Did you get what you were asking for, or did they low ball you? I had some recent dealings with the local one, and it wasn't very good. Customer service was good, but what they quoted me wasn't, and I left with my guns. What has been your experience with them?
Click to expand...
Cabela's and about any gun shop buys a gun for a single reason and that being to turn it, make a profit and move along. That is how I explained it when I owned a gun shop. I had people come in and tell me several guns were worth $4,000 and I would tell them that yes, that is about right and offer about $3,000 or less depending on if I thought they would move. Cabela's typically will offer about 66% of estimated value figuring on a 33% or so profit margin once they sell it. Your choice so you can sell to someone planning on resale or just do a private transaction with someone who wants the gun.

SamT1 said:
If they offered 75% of fair market value your doing good at any shop unless it’s something north of 1000 where a lower percentage margain is significant.
Click to expand...

That's what it comes down to and believe me 75% is doing real good. When buying guns for resale who in their right mind would pay market value? This is how business works. I made that clear when buying guns for resale. The merit was for a seller I handed them cash and they left.

Ron
 
Last edited:
figuring on a 33% or so profit margin
Click to expand...
Margin maybe; not profit. In that 33% is advertising costs, IT costs, labor, time value of money, carrying costs, taxes, insurance, utilities, etc., etc......actual PROFIT is closer to 5-10%
 
George P said:
Margin maybe; not profit. In that 33% is advertising costs, IT costs, labor, time value of money, carrying costs, taxes, insurance, utilities, etc., etc......actual PROFIT is closer to 5-10%
Click to expand...
Absolutely it's not like pure profit margin. Carrying cost is a big factor when you shell out money. A gun sitting on a shelf is not paying the utilities, insurance, rent or anything else. My focus was on guns I knew (or really prayed) I could move quickly.

Ron
 
I spent 3.5 years behind the new gun counter at Cabelas and about 6 months in the library. The library deal is to offer 70-75% of the blue book value for any firearm brought in. This goes down if there is a surplus of one type on the counter. When I was there Polymer 40's were all over the place and we rarely offered more than 60% and often less than 50%, because we couldn't sell them. Trouble happens when emotional attachments to the firearm are present. Cabelas ( or any other retailer) does not care if the Remington 870 brought in belonged to your grandfather, it is worth no more or no less than any other 870. If you have an oddball caliber firearm, it does not matter how well it shoots, if there is less of a demand for it, you will get less. The fact of the matter is that Cabelas is in business to make money and they cannot do that by offering full blue book value on used firearms. Sell or trade if you want to, but go in with the realization that you will not get blue book value on your firearm.
 
Mosbyranger said:
I spent 3.5 years behind the new gun counter at Cabelas and about 6 months in the library. The library deal is to offer 70-75% of the blue book value for any firearm brought in. This goes down if there is a surplus of one type on the counter. When I was there Polymer 40's were all over the place and we rarely offered more than 60% and often less than 50%, because we couldn't sell them. Trouble happens when emotional attachments to the firearm are present. Cabelas ( or any other retailer) does not care if the Remington 870 brought in belonged to your grandfather, it is worth no more or no less than any other 870. If you have an oddball caliber firearm, it does not matter how well it shoots, if there is less of a demand for it, you will get less. The fact of the matter is that Cabelas is in business to make money and they cannot do that by offering full blue book value on used firearms. Sell or trade if you want to, but go in with the realization that you will not get blue book value on your firearm.
Click to expand...

Yup, Expecting anything else from Cabelas (or any other retailers) is folly. I don't have a problem with Cabelas and have sold them a number of firearms over the years. One thing you can count on is that they will offer you "something". Been to many local gunshops where all they do is turn up their nose at what you've brought in and say no thanks.
 
RalphS said:
If you want to get a good price, list your guns on Gunbroker. A 3 or 5 day auction will tell you what they are worth.

Otherwise, expect to get ripped off.

You might also find an LGS that will sell on consignment and THEY list the guns on gunbroker. I have one near me and they sell lots of guns for people and they handle the auction and shipping the gun.
Click to expand...


You will lose about 30% on consignment. Lots of people do it because they don't want the hassle of trying to figure out how to list on the internet and how to ship. Lots of rules that have to be followed. If it's a pistol the shipping becomes a bigger problem without an FFL. It might be pretty overwhelming for some people. Personally, I don't use GB, I use another listing site that seems to work pretty well.
 
Reloadron said:
Absolutely it's not like pure profit margin. Carrying cost is a big factor when you shell out money. A gun sitting on a shelf is not paying the utilities, insurance, rent or anything else. My focus was on guns I knew (or really prayed) I could move quickly.

Ron
Click to expand...


My LGS moves his used firearms pretty fast. They have never turned me down with a reasonable offer. The owner once told me "we aren't in the gun storage business". The used stuff doesn't stay there very long. If I happen to see something I like I won't leave without it.
 
CoalTrain49 said:
My LGS moves his used firearms pretty fast. They have never turned me down with a reasonable offer. The owner once told me "we aren't in the gun storage business". The used stuff doesn't stay there very long. If I happen to see something I like I won't leave without it.
Click to expand...

Yes, my LGS offer was low, but not nearly as bad as Cabelas was. They usually treat me well, so I went with them after having time to think it over with myself.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Dave Markowitz
  • Locked
Cabela's Commercial Reloads?
Replies
3
Views
1K
Blackcloud6
Blackcloud6
F
  • Locked
Cabelas CS
Replies
19
Views
2K
Sniper66
S
G
  • Locked
Cabelas Used Guns
2
Replies
29
Views
4K
no.5enfield
N
Swifty Morgan
  • Locked
Problems With Cabela's Gun Library
Replies
21
Views
3K
alsaqr
alsaqr
N
  • Locked
buying bulk ammo through the mail?
2
Replies
29
Views
2K
augustino
A
Back
Top