Are there still deals to be had at gun shows?

I believe so I think it’s more of a case of right place right time anymore!

Best deals are not at the tables. Never have been. The best table deal I have seen in a long time was a guy selling out before his kids inherited. He had TC stuff out the wazoo and a lot of nice milsurp stuff too. I tried to buy out his whole TC case for 2 grand and was close but we never got close enough. I should have just paid up to the 2500 he was stuck at. It was a half dozen barrels, several stocks and grips, a couple frames, obscure factory ammo, collectible TC trinkets…

Try any of the Two Guys Shows if they hold one near you. They cultivate private sellers and collectibles and their venues are medium/large sized. The scene isnt as fruitful as it was 15-20 years ago, but their shows are still much better than Suncoast/ Florida Shows- those are the big, flashy guys who book the really big halls but mostly what you'll see there are dealers selling new guns at normal new gun prices.

USA Gunshows are ok too, but usually pretty small. Worth going to if close, but wouldnt drive far for one.

Two Guys Sarasota is next weekend, and I often score there, or at least see cool stuff.

The one I attended last week had some reasonably priced items along with all the overpriced stuff.
I passed on some because I had special goals in mind. I came close to buying a Nylon 10c for $350 and a Sentinel 22lr long barrel for about the same. I probably could have bartered either down to $300 if I had tried.
I also passed on a Weatherby Back Country 6.5x300 for $750 that I probably should have bought.

I don’t go to gun shows like I used to but do on occasion. About 90% of the time I buy nothing.
The bargains are usually from the small private sellers with a table or from the guys walking around.
I get lucky on rare occasions.

Someone said they're best for beef jerky and fake nazi memorabilia. Sounds about right.
I've never been to one that had good deals on items that were in high-demand. The shows are likely to add overhead to people who have inventory at their shops or on gunbroker or whatever.
The last show I went to a few months ago had outrageous prices on powders -- like $80 for a pound of 4831. They were still trying to gouge even though powder is widely available.
The thing I've seen at shows that has been somewhat attractive to me are the tables full of old hunting rifles. 95% of them are just junk. Occasionally there will be a good one or two. People know when they have a real gem, so the price will be high. But I've seen things like a pre-war Model 70. It was in 300 Win Mag. so obviously a re-barrel. But the stock was beautiful. They weren't giving it away, but it could have made a nice hunting rifle for no more than the price of a new Ruger Hawkeye. I saw an older Weatherby Mark V in 257 Wby. selling for less than a new Vanguard. Another time I saw a pre-64 70 in 260 AI. Like most people at the show, I didn't need it. There are good alternatives -- we're in no shortage of fine-shooting bolt-action hunting rifles. That's why there are sometimes good ones that might capture my imagination and fancy without being too costly.

Unfortunately at the gun shows I have gone to in the recent past is that the vendors set up before the doors open and they circulate to find the 'deals'.

The Internet has killed gun shows. It used to be, that as a (nondealer) seller, setting up a table at a gun show gave your stuff a wider exposure (among actual buyers) than running a classified ad, or putting it on consignment at a gun shop. Plus, the overhead cost was relatively low. Now, you can put your stuff on Gunbroker for about the same overhead cost, and get nationwide exposure.

The gun show promoters haven't helped themselves by raising table rents, parking fees, etc., to prohibitive levels, while at the same time watering down their product by allowing overwhelming amounts of non-gun-related stuff.

Attending a gun show these days is a pointless hassle. Lots of effort and expense, and little reward. And that applies to both buyers and sellers.

Depends.
Your location matters.
The available show promoters matter.
The available vendors the promoters attracts/does deals with/has good relations with matters, too.
Size of the venue matters too.

Which assembles as complicated matrix math.

Small venue, but with great vendors run by a sharp promoter with excellent exploitation will beat a large venue of rando vendors run by sketchy promoter. The mix of how that works is poly dimensional.

The ideal is a promoter that good vendors want to show up for, at a venue that's worth the drive for the sales traffic.

I've never scored a great deal on price at a gun show. What I have done is score guns I had never found in stores, at a price I was willing to pay. I don't buy and sell guns to make money, so I go by the old saying, "Quality of the purchase is remembered long after the price is forgotten." I have passed up things I wanted because the asking price was nuts.

Factor in your time and entry fee you will not generally find a good deal at a gun show. Most prices are the same or higher than the local gun/pawn shop.

I've only been 3x to a smaller show in my county. I'd say the best deal was a guy selling Wolf steel case 9mm Makarov ammo for $10 a box. I so regret not buying the entire case or at least half

There are deals to be had if you know what you are looking for. If you are just a runway shopper with money burning a hole in your pocket then expect to get fleeced aka robbed without the gun. Pun intended. I watched 2 guys get taken to the bank today to the tune of 70% over MSRP because they fell into the sky is falling SBR trap.
I swear I damn near peed myself laughing at those 2 idiots. They couldn't afford to buy any ammo afterwards. The moral is don't be one of those guys. Know what you want and set a speed limit for yourself.
Location is helpful too.

I go in with an older gentleman friend and split the cost of a table. That way everyone who attends passes by and I get to maybe make a deal. I’ve done this now for years and it’s the best strategy I have come across for “modern” gun shows.

Plus we set up Thursday and Friday so I get to see what the other guys have before the crowd stampede on Saturday morning. YMMV, of course.

It’s hit and miss but still almost always worth the effort to me. Not too long ago I attended white would appear to be the worst possible show in history. I’ll bet there weren’t 40 tables and a whole bunch of empty space. I was almost going to ask for my money back, but decided I would at least walk the isles first. Somewhere along the way, I stumbled upon a table with an old guy who had a bunch of Lyman and Ideal cast iron bullet molds for $5 each. In one brief moment that went from being one of the worst shows I’ve ever attended to one of the best.

Same with another dinky little show I attended right before Covid. It was held in a glorified livestock barn and didn’t appear to be worth the admission price either. But I walked out of there with a Marlin 1895 rifle with a Leupold 1-4X scope and 12 boxes of factory 45-70 ammo for $600.

I'll agree that there are few table deals and that the best deals come from other dudes walking around with private sales.

The guys who know what they are doing walk around with a piece of paper or cardboard strapped to their chest or back (like on a string around their neck or something) with a list of what they are selling and what they are asking. Unfortunately, most guys just walk around with the gun dangling from their finger or maybe in an open box. With so many black polymer guns, it's hard to know at a glance what everybody is selling and what they are asking as well as how many mags it comes with, what caliber it is, and so on.

I sure wish everybody would put use a piece of paper or cardboard to display what they are selling and the price. As you walk up and down the aisles, it just gets tedious to try and stop every dude carrying something around and ask about it.

Here's an idea for gun show promoters: have computers set up near the entrances with a database of items for sale at the show, and a search function. That way, an attendee looking for something specific can see immediately if it's there, and where it's located. That would cut down on one of the most tiring aspects of the show, which is wandering up and down the aisles, possibly for hours, searching for something that turns out not to be there at all.

AlexanderA said:

Here's an idea for gun show promoters: have computers set up near the entrances with a database of items for sale at the show, and a search function. That way, an attendee looking for something specific can see immediately if it's there, and where it's located. That would cut down on one of the most tiring aspects of the show, which is wandering up and down the aisles, possibly for hours, searching for something that turns out not to be there at all.

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Thanks. I just spit my drink through my nose reading your post. While well-intended, there’s no way most folks who attend gun shows even today want their stuff listed in a database - even assuming there are no identification links to their identity. Just rent a table and enjoy the people watching.

AlexanderA said:

Here's an idea for gun show promoters: have computers set up near the entrances with a database of items for sale at the show, and a search function. That way, an attendee looking for something specific can see immediately if it's there, and where it's located. That would cut down on one of the most tiring aspects of the show, which is wandering up and down the aisles, possibly for hours, searching for something that turns out not to be there at all.

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As long as you do it by table number and not the seller’s name you might get some people to participate. It’s a very practical idea but you will rarely find a more paranoid crowd that gun show sellers.

Elkins45 said:

As long as you do it by table number and not the seller’s name you might get some people to participate. It’s a very practical idea but you will rarely find a more paranoid crowd that gun show sellers.

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The buyer doesn't care what the seller's name is, only where the item is located. So yes, your idea of listing only the table number is a good one. Now, regarding the "paranoid gun sellers," if they want to actually sell the guns that they brought to the show, such a computerized listing would be a competitive advantage (and of course it would be voluntary on their part). I realize that there are "sellers" that don't want to actually sell their guns. They are "making the effort" to assuage their wives, but pricing the guns so high that they assure themselves that they will never sell. (And if lightning strikes with a naive buyer, they will reluctantly part with them.) Don't laugh; strange things like this happen.

FUN gunshows are a different animal.

Regardless of private or semi pro or professional sitting behind the table, multiple factors are at work. ALL need to cover costs. At the beginning of the show or at the end of the show, is normally when "deals" can be made.

There is also the person behind the table that has no clue or care what the current "market value" of any particular item is worth. Sometimes they price for the moon and sometimes not.

Have never walked away from a gunshow without a good or great deal. At our local show, I look for items that I can SELL at the local show for profit. Last show, picked up a Rem XP100 stamped action with trigger/etc assembly, but no bolt. No bolt. $25. Turned an hour later for a bit more.

Lt Shaffer said:

I'll agree that there are few table deals and that the best deals come from other dudes walking around with private sales.

The guys who know what they are doing walk around with a piece of paper or cardboard strapped to their chest or back (like on a string around their neck or something) with a list of what they are selling and what they are asking. Unfortunately, most guys just walk around with the gun dangling from their finger or maybe in an open box. With so many black polymer guns, it's hard to know at a glance what everybody is selling and what they are asking as well as how many mags it comes with, what caliber it is, and so on.

I sure wish everybody would put use a piece of paper or cardboard to display what they are selling and the price. As you walk up and down the aisles, it just gets tedious to try and stop every dude carrying something around and ask about it.

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Ill sling a long gun over my shoulder (even if Im not actually selling that one), attach a list of items for sale to a dowel rod, and put it down the bore like a flag. Gets attention and visibility above the crowd.