What do you typically value used optics at compared to the retail price?

Depends on the brand, reputation of the specific scope, if it's still in production, etc.. When I've listed scopes, I've generally asked for around 20% off lowest current retail, figuring I'd get somewhere between 20-30% off retail when all was said and done. That being said, I generally use cheaper optics than the one you're talking about so that may affect what you could get for it.

Some vintage or even recently discontinued optics sell over or considerably over original price so you probably have to value on specific item

Due to Leopold's warranty, they don't really lose much value when resold. Even real old, beat on Leopolds sell for decent money, because at worst, they'll send you a brand new, comparable model no questions asked, even if you're not the original owner.

You might be able to haggle the price down because "I want the rifle, and the scope is nice, but not what I really want for this rifle"

Scopes with real, no-BS warranties (Leupold, Vortex) are often worth >50% of retail.

Scopes without such a warranty are a crapshoot, and I don't pay for them, retail or otherwise.

Depends on demand and usefulness of the scope to the area or games it will be played with.
Some scopes are only worth value to a collector but worthless to a hunter. My 2x weaver on a 1946 Savage 99 comes to mind.

Lightly used top tier scopes like S&B, Nightforce, Kahles, March, etc., usually lose around 1/3 of the new retail value when sold used. Lower quality scopes usually sell for 40-50% of their new price.

Leupold is a top tier brand with a long history so it's likely to not lose too much value, esp if it's not beat up. If they won't bargain and you really, really want that rifle, you could sell the scope after you buy the combo.

greyling22 said:

$1180 for the gun and scope, otd.

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The scope retails for $1k? If you decide to flip it, you can pretty likely get at least $750 for it seeing how used Leopold's sell.

With quality guns or optics I normally set the asking price for a used one at 50-75% of what the same, or comparable model is currently selling for new. With optics I also consider age. No matter how good it was when new, or how well it has been cared for rubber seals fail in optics after they get old. I wouldn't trust a 30 year old scope no matter how much it cost new unless it had been refurbished.

How close to 50% or 75% depends mostly on if I'm selling or buying. But condition matters too.

greyling22 said:

$1180 for the gun and scope, otd.

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That's a steel, it's like buying a 1000.00 scope and getting a rifle for free.

Best optic I've had was a vx3l 3.5-10, it retailed for 984, but had been discontinued I paid 500.00 compared to my ff2 the Leupold was better but it should have been.

I'm not a hunting person, but the rifle underneath the Browning is calling out to me. I think you got a great deal on the rifle you did buy.

I’ve got a synthetic stocked X-Bolt and it’s a really nice rifle. You done good.

When I worked at the LGS, probably 1/3rd of the trade ins were either unfired or had less than a box of ammo through them

For what you paid for that combo, I'd say you made a killing. Even if you were to get 50% of the scopes value, you still come out way ahead.

The value of a used scope, assuming value is determined by what someone else would pay for it (say, on E-bay), varies widely depending upon the scope in question. In the past couple of years I've sold two discontinued Leupolds for almost 200% of their original MSRP. I currently have several Weavers that I could sell for around 175% of what I paid for them new in 2018 and 2019. Likewise with a couple of Burris Timberlines. Then I have a few that I'd be lucky to get much more than half their original price.

greyling22 said:

well...... I just spend an hour comparing a burris ff2 4-14x, and the leupold 2-10x, both set on 8x as the light faded. Honestly, I preferred the image of the burris every time I looked through it. liked the burris better than the 4-16x grand slam too. I don't know if that speaks to my eyes (which are not good) or if that's a yay burris or a boo leupold, but I'm not going to lie, it was not what I expected.

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Not surprising at all. As I've written about my scope comparisons quite a few times here and there, I have/have had a bunch of scopes (well over 50) and have compared almost all of them carefully using an optical resolution target, and graded them on a chart that I made. These range from about $550 street price down to about $50. The group includes multiple models of Leupold, Sightron, Weaver, Burris, and Bushnell, and individual examples from Nitrex, Clearidge, Redfield, Japan Tasco, and perhaps some I'm forgetting. The average "street price" (what you could buy one for) was $373 according to my worksheet. Some cost more, some less.

Some findings from my years of testing:
1. If you have several scopes and you do this comparison, you will most likely be surprised at which of your scopes are actually better than some of the others.
2. If your test includes some of the Philippine-built Burris Fullfield scopes, they are likely to out perform some scopes that cost 2x - 3x as much as the Burris. The Timberline is also very good for a compact scope. (These are the only two Burris lines I've tested.)
3. Beyond the clarity and resolution thing, some scopes are just more pleasant to sight through than others, just seem to allow the eye to relax.

I set up like this:


Here's the type of optical resolution target that I use (photo is a bit blurry). I also study/compare the tree bark, colors, or other things, but the main clarity/resolution score is based upon the target.


Here's a clearer image of the target. What you do is determine the smallest set of 3 bars that you can clearly distinguish as being 3 bars. With the two scopes in the photo above set at the same magnification level, the Burris Timberline 4.5.14x32 allowed me to distinguish two sizes smaller bars than the Leupold 3-9x33 EFR.

Here’s something else to think about when shopping for used optics.

Retailers will often run demo / open box sales. For all intents and purposes these are new scopes at used prices.

Check out this current sale at Sport Optics. There’s some good deals on high end glass. I had to get out before I did something stupid.

https://www.sportoptics.com/open-bo...191345642&mc_cid=da3d73d03c&mc_eid=b12b06fdfa

I really don’t consider Leupold an upper tier scope or a good value vs the competition beyond a certain level. I’d say it’s worth 60-70% of original street price, even less if you’re ready to sell it to me.

I have spent some time with a 5HD, it is a rather decent scope insofar as clarity, not to mention other features like build quality that may be overlooked. Sell it if you don’t care for it or keep it and see if it grows on you.