Are people in private sales losing their minds?

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Tortuga

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I've always cruised the classifieds for cheap used guns. I've sold quite a few out of my collection but, during this pandemic / election season, I've seen some pretty stupid stuff. It's reaching the point where I don't even want to use these services anymore. Over the last week I've had:

  • Someone try to trade my Ruger Mini 14 (which I later sold for over $1000) for a an electric guitar and amp ("IT'S A REALLY FAIR TRADE!"). When I said no, guy was a complete jerk about it and cursed me out.
  • Someone Trying to sell a Riley Defense AK for $1300 because "you can't find these anywhere." When I told him I might take it off his hands and sent him a lists links that had brand new AKs (including the same Riley Defense AK model he was selling for $700), he just kept insisting the ads were fake and it's impossible to find these anywhere for under $1300 - followed by a stream of curses.
  • A case of 800 second-hand 7.62x39 rounds selling for $1,000 because ("You can't find this ammo anywhere!").
  • A Mosin-Nagant selling for (I kid you not) $900.
  • A ruger 10/22 selling for $400 bucks because "These are super rare!"
I know people often times over-value stuff they're trying to sell, but feel like it's gotten worse than normal on these gun classifieds anymore.
 
I have seen a lot of over the top spending right now by otherwise sane people. There are a few guys I know who recently dropped 900 bucks on the same rifles that were 450 six months ago. And I kept telling them "get what you need now, they aren't getting any cheaper". Oh well I guess. There are a lot of people trying to really fleece the panic stricken right now though...
 
I’ve seen guys buying SRM primers. $545 for 5000 ea. On gunbroker. The big businesses seem to be holding it down though. No scalping there! But they are running out of stock. I did buy a Noe mold on gunbroker for the usual price, but Noe is out of them.
 
I don't think the $400 10/22 is terribly out of line in today's market. Depending on the exact version $275-$300 would have been a fair price a few months ago. But if someone can't get one anywhere $400 isn't highway robbery if it is in good shape.

I placed an ad for a 16 year old G21 with dead nite sites recently at $700. Of course I did have several mags for it. Ended up taking $600. That gun would have brought no more than $400 a year ago.
 
I get what you guys are saying but $900 for a mosin? $1300 for a Riley Defense AK? $1000 for 7.62x39 ammo?

I get "panic buying" and happen to agree some semi-auto rifles are going to be more expensive in the long run but you'd have to be smoking crack to pay for any of the aforementioned.
 
My LGS sold my Gen 3 G-19 for over $600 a few weeks ago, with one mag. He found a sweet spot and a buyer who wanted it. Considering he is in a VERY small town and only open on the weekends half days, it sold rather quickly in 3 weeks time.
 
Tortuga said:
I get what you guys are saying but $900 for a mosin? $1300 for a Riley Defense AK? $1000 for 7.62x39 ammo?

I get "panic buying" and happen to agree some semi-auto rifles are going to be more expensive in the long run but you'd have to be smoking crack to pay for any of the aforementioned.
Click to expand...
I worked with a bunch of crackheads, none of them would pay that.....

But there's someone out there that will....just gotta wait for the right suck.....uh....buyer.
 
Lemme ‘splain a bit about capitalism to you. Items are worth what people are willing to buy them for and the idea is to make AS MUCH profit as you possibly can, profit being the entire point of the system. These are the basic principles of the system. Sellers who aren’t desperate to sell can ask whatever price they want and sit on an item however long they want; because eventually someone will come along who is either dumb, desperate or rich enough to pay that price.

That’s really all there is to it. It sucks to be a buyer in that situation but it’s the system we have.

If you want, we could try to bring in an outside entity to control pricing and manufacturing regardless of supply in order to increase access......
 
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jmr40 said:
I don't think the $400 10/22 is terribly out of line in today's market. Depending on the exact version $275-$300 would have been a fair price a few months ago. But if someone can't get one anywhere $400 isn't highway robbery if it is in good shape.
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Maybe. Guess it's all about location. I've seen them in stock at Wal-Mart this weekend for $229. Checking brickseek see 4 stores within a short drive with inventory for the basic birch model. The synthetic and walnut appear to be more sparse, but those were part of the big clearance that just finished.
 
Classic firearms has Mosins for $250

Of course shipping and transfer fees apply but still.

They were $230 last Friday.
 
Some folks list at local sale to test the price. If no response, likely means the price is high, low demand and walk down the price. Some people do that on Gunbroker as well. I'm one of them but I started 10-15% lower than "market price" after checking some online stores. One thing I found interesting is several times little interest when posted on local Armslist or forums, but sold quick at Gunbroker at even higher prices. I guess folks like Gunbroker!
 
HankC said:
Some folks list at local sale to test the price. If no response, likely means the price is high, low demand and walk down the price. Some people do that on Gunbroker as well. I'm one of them but I started 10-15% lower than "market price" after checking some online stores. One thing I found interesting is several times little interest when posted on local Armslist or forums, but sold quick at Gunbroker at even higher prices. I guess folks like Gunbroker!
Click to expand...
I think folks have a better trust for GB than they do for Armslist - way too many stories of scams, etc., associated with AL.
 
Anybody that has been through a couple of elections knows that supplies are going to get hard to find. If you didn't have everything to see you through, then shame on you. I had enough ammo and reloading supplies that I actually sold some primers, a couple pounds of powder, and 22 ammo to some of my friends who haven't learned yet. And no, I didn't gouge.
 
Yeah I think a lot of people throw the word "panic buy" around a lot.

If you have a million guns and you rush out to buy more because you think they'll go away for ever, that sounds like "panic buying." But if you don't have anything to protect yourself and your family with, I don't think it's "panic buying" so much as paying the "stupid tax" because this stuff was very available for years.
 
Im in buy mode, well excluding the money part of it LOL
Somebody needs to trade me a Merkel Helix Explorer in .243 for an 870 HD rig ;)
 
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