Good Deals & Blue Book

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XxWINxX94

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Hello everyone,
Just picked up the latest blue book of gun values 31st Edition. Essentially, the gun manifesto. I will be bringing it to upcoming gun shows.

My question is: What is the definition of a good deal, in terms of using the blue book?

-Would it be a good deal to buy a gun AT blue book price & matching condition (90% Condition, 90% condition price)?

-Is the blue book a good source to go by when pricing firearms in order for purchase/sale or to possibly 'get a good deal' on something? Or is a site like gunbroker a more accurate source for pricing?

-What is your overall opinion/view towards the blue book and what it provides for guns & gun owners?

Would like to see some opinions, so I don't go out and buy something thats $20 less than blue book price, then find out I got ripped off.

Thanks,
Al
 
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Hi. The Blue Book is out of date when it gets shipped. Takes roughly 2 years to put a book together. It reflects average prices from all over the States with no regard for local supply and demand.
The auction sites are flawed too, but will give you a better idea of values. Even though a lot of 'em are inflated and a lot are dealers.
 
The Blue Book of Gun Values (BB) is an excellent reference on gun values. It is the best of all the ones that are available. I use the BB in many ways as it is a very good source of information. It lacks in pricing of odd variations (usually low production varients) of guns. It is the first information source I check when considering what something is worth or about what the pricing should be on a firearm. Insurance companies will use it to estimate values for stolen or fire damaged items. It is a GUIDE.

Some will say that the pricing is already outdated by the time it is published in February/March of each year. I am not one of them. Dealers use it as their standard reference. They also have their ear to the market and in particular regional markets. The most up to date information can be gained by viewing closed auction prices on GunBroker and Auction Arms.

In general, if I am interested in a gun, I check what the BB says is the value and compare that to my knowledge of the market for that particular gun. If I am really interested, I check auctions, but I am seldom that interested except on higher grade collector stuff.

Most will tell you that things are undervalued in the BB especially on hot items that the values are changing rapidly. So if you use it as a guide, it gives you a fair estimate of price. You might pay more or a little less depending on market demand.

It is impossible for most people to know the value of all guns. Even if you are in the business, you will likely have your special interest areas where you are pretty up to date on values. But there will be many guns that the only reference you have is the BB without spending a lot of time with closed auctions.

I think you have an excellent resource in hand that you can carry to gun shows. I usually do not carry them inside however. Dealers don't like you whipping out your BB. There are always reasons to ask more or less for a particular gun. I keep my copy outside in the car and consult it as needed. Usually it is not a long walk to the parking lot except for the largest shows. Then, I might carry the BB in a back pack but not visible to the dealers. All I seek is a fair price on things.
 
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I used to think the Blue Book was the gospel until one day I was trying to do some trading with a local gun dealer with whom I was friendly.
I didn't feel that he offered enough on my trade and I started out "The Blue Book says........" He cut me off and said "That's just somebody writing a book. He's not out here trading guns everyday."
I now go by completed auctions on Gunbroker. That's where somebody actually pulled out their wallet and not just giving lip service.
 
I think you have an excellent resource in hand that you can carry to gun shows. I usually do not carry them inside however. Dealers don't like you whipping out your BB. There are always reasons to ask more or less for a particular gun. I keep my copy outside in the car and consult it as needed
Click to expand...

I can understand that, I think I'm only going to look for good deals/prices with mine, and of course not in front of the dealer/guy at table.
 
The gun shows I go to, the guys behind the table may (or may not) use the Blue Book to determine their offers to buy. They sure don't use it to set their selling prices...
 
I use finished GunBroker auctions for used gun prices. For new gun prices, Google is your best friend. Type in the brand, model name/number and caliber of the firearm you want into Google, then click the "Shopping" link at the top, and it will give you prices for the firearm collected from the cheap internet retailers like Bud's, Impact Guns, TDS Guns, AIM Surplus, etc. Usually, these guys are all on a par anyway, but sometimes one will have much lower prices than others. For example, I was recently looking up prices on new Glocks this way. The head and shoulders cheapest prices were at GlockWorld.com. I don't know what the deal is, but everyone else seemed to have prices $50-60 higher.

Just sharing what works for me :)
 
I usually find Blue Book values to be on the high side. But they are still a good reference, and have a lot of good info.

Another book to get is the Standard Catalog of Firearms. It has some pictures and what I consider more reasonable values. It also has some info the Blue Book doesn't have, and the BBk has some info the SCF doesn't have.

I usually buy the BB and SCF on alternating years. And my opinion on prices is just that, an opinion.
 
I use the Blue Book when I'm away from an internet connection. It's not totally up to date as others have pointed out, but it does give me a starting point. I rarely have gone wrong with it. It is not as instantaneous as the internet, but it's a pretty good rough idea.

Having said that; The issue with the internet is that it doesn't factor in shipping and transfer fee costs all the time so you may wind up paying more than the internet price and still getting a good deal if the shipping and transfer fee are higher than you factored in. But, if you have all the numbers the internet is usually more up to date.
 
I usually use the blue book for pricing with the exception of items we all know that go higher.
When buying 80% of the time you know off the top of your head if its a good deal or not and the rest of the time the book really will help you out.

I find usually the higher the price the harder it is to realize a sale from the prices in the book.
 
imho, the book is irrelevant since its not selling or buying the guns.
it may be close on stuff that around 80% or better condition but anything under that its usually way off.

if i'm trying to sell a particular gun and someone looks it up in the book and tries to lowball me on book value i ask them ask their book if it has one for sale.
 
The value of an item (gun or otherwise) is very much directly related to the location and supply & demand.

I personally see a HUGE difference in firearm prices from going just a couple hours north of my location. So when I drive up north to see family, that's when I do my buying unless I get a good private deal down here because of some personal financial situation of the seller.
 
BB is trash in my opinion. I think auction sites are far more valuable tool than the book. FFL's will tend to disagree, but they have an agenda.
 
FFL's have an "agenda"? Would you care to elaborate?

You mean the one where they want to make a living so they can stay in business?
 
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It all depends. There's the blue book value and the market value. Take bb as a starting point that's all. Now you wanna factor what people will pay for it.
 
Tam once put it that
The going price for a firearm is
What someone is willing to pay for it crossed with
What someone is willing to sell it for.
The book is a nice reference, but doesn't necessarily match up to the above.
 
The BB as well as standard catalog are valuable resources, but as many have already said here, it's just a starting point. Sometimes it's difficult to research a gun not knowing what to look for. The Blue Book and Standard Catalog can provide a lot more than value, such as the variations and models produced, production quantities, serial number ranges and dates of production. They can allow you to compare what you have to the descriptions and pictures. But it's hit and miss, they have a lot of information on some gun and omit a lot on others.

Armed with that info you can study further. You might miss locating these elsewhere, such as online auctions, until you can specify exactly what you are looking for. Then there is the major difference between ordinary used guns and collectibles. On the former it's quite simple to get a accurate value estimate, but on the latter the ultimate value is what others are willing to fork over, and that can depend hugely upon the area, market breadth and even the weather.

Should some be dissatisfied with the value provided, it may be more their failing than the book's. Also Blue Book provides their reference via the Internet, as well as an inventory database service. Use all the resources, use your judgment, and do your homework. No one source is going to hand it all to you on a silver platter.
 
so where does everyone here who does not use the bkue book get their prices. What I mean is when I go to a show or someone is offering me something its really hard for me to say hey just hold onto it for me for a few hours, days or weeks for me to decide what I should really pay for it.
action sites like gun broker or do you use guns america or do you go to places like proxibid to find out what folks actually paid for it at a true aucton.

I look for hours on those sites and hardly ever find a smoking deal under what the blue book says its worth. then on a auction site or in person auctions you always get that pesky 10 to 20% mark up plus taxes plus shipping if not in person.
then on places like gun broker you get shipping plus transfer fees.
I would like to stay with a gun show dealer who goes by the blue book or fair current market value for the area.

Where do the folks here on the for sale area get their prices as most of them are above book price for condition? so does that mean the blue book is under valuing prices as this site goes across the country and is not regional?

just trying to figure how you folks that do not use the book get your deals and how do you know they are deals if you do not use the book?
 
mgkdrgn said:
FFL's have an "agenda"? Would you care to elaborate?

You mean the one where they want to make a living so they can stay in business?
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I mean. It's like the guys that try to charge $50 + for a transfer and $5 for a free call to NCIS. Some FFL's don't want you getting a good deal off the internet, they want you to buy their over priced inventory. You mean the one where they want to make a living so they can stay in business? I say lower your overhead don't try to make me feel guilty. Every one has to make a living, FFL's don't deserve that right any more than the next guy. Im not trying to make all FFL's out to be the bad guy because they're not. I am just elaborating on my comment.
 
easy do not shop there. just hunt for the lowest price transfers in your area as with the invention of the internet its easy. most of the intenet auction sites and even places on the net selling firearms will have a list of dealers in any given area.
around here in co with have the cbi and it is done on the internet unless it has to be called in and that only applies basicly to someone purchasing a HANDGUN with a out of state ID with a few other exception. most of the call ins take 45 minutes or so on the phone here and folks should feel they are getting a bargin with only those $20 or $25 fees for a transfer.
Heck I do know a few shops that will not do transfers for anything other than if you are buying from them.

Oh and those internet dealers with those great prices that you get to skip the sales tax on a out of state sale. if the playing field was even maybe the prices would be closer in more shops. How about we all call some of the firearm makers and complain about why their manf. lowest sale prices requirments are being broken everyday on new firearm sales over the internet. Glock has a set min. price and it does not take long to see how often that is broken and I see folks complaining about shops following the rules some makers have in place.

A great ideal maybe is to have everybody stop doing ffl trnsfers and then where would we be so everyone please remember its like buying a car if you do not like the prices shop elsewhere as I do.
 
It is very hard to "search for deals". People advertising prices on the internet all have the BB available to them and their pricing reflects how much they want to sell a particular firearm and how quickly.

It's kind of like selling a house.... you ask a price, some one immediately offers you a lesser price but not an extreme lowball price either... your choice is sit and wait for the "right" buyer to come along and sell at a higher price even though it might be 6 months from now or sell immediately and get most of your asking price.

If I have a real nice Colt Diamondback 22 or a Python for sale and I ask a price that is maybe $300 under market, I pretty much expect to sell it the same day. Used to love to "play the game" and you end up making $50 on a gun after keeping it for months for sale and you have to tolerate all the low ball offers and people asking for more information or photos. I tire easily these days.
 
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