gun price haggles

[EatBugs]

So.... I inherited my first gun and bought my second from a pawn shop. I paid the price asked. I read on other posts that kinda hinted at haggling gun prices. Should I have countered the price of my gun at the pawn shop? Are you supposed to haggle and counter offer for guns at gun shops like you do for cars and houses? I definatly plan on buying more guns and am thinking about selling or trading in my 12 gauge Mossberg. When planning my first used gun purchase I was more focused on buying a functioning product with no obviouse defects or misstreatment than what I should pay for it. Geeeze, I always make sure I bring a man along for car purchases(2) and for mechanics to make sure I don't get taken advantage of, maybe I should do the same for gun purchases too. Although I wonder who would get tired of shopping and sit in nearest chair first.

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

Yeah, you can haggle, as long as the gun isn't something that everybody's trying to buy. It's like a car. If it's red hot, so's the price.

Re guns, go to these sites:

http://gunbroker.com/
http://auctionarms.com/
http://gunsamerica.com/
http://www.collectorsfirearms.com/
http://www.gunlist.net/

Find the gun/guns you want. Note the prices being paid. Get an overall feel for that gun.

Then you can offer what you think is fair and not get burned. Most gun dealers expect to come down a little, maybe. If the gun is a slow mover, then they will come down more.

Personally, most of what I buy are older guns no longer in circulation, so I pretty much have to pay whatever they're asking.

 

[History Prof]

Well, let's just say that it never hurts. If in the end they won't budge on the price they sure aren't gonna refuse to sell it to you at their listed price just because you haggled a little. In my experience, gun shops are just a bit more likely to negotiate than pawn shops.

 

[loki.fish]

I don't try to haggle usually. Like Pinned said, I always check various sites to see what the pricing for whatever gun I'm looking for is. I get an idea on the shipping, add the $20 FFL transfer fee and start looking locally. If I end up paying $10-$20 more, I don't mind because it helps the local guys. If I think the price is high, I make an offer on what I think is reasonable and if they don't like it, I just turn around and leave. Pawn shops are, from what I've heard, harder to haggle with.

 

[TimboKhan]

I live for haggling over gun prices and finding the sweet deals, so yes, I would have haggled. Even if it is a good deal to begin with, if they can shave more off it, so much the better. Remember, the worst they can say is no. Also, if the gun really is overpriced and the store doesn't want to come down on it, just walk away. The store always feels that it is negotiating from a position of power, and if you are patient and not in a hurry to buy unless it is at a fair price, you take that power away from them. I have seen more people get nailed paying too much simply because they wanted the gun right now, even though they don't need it right that second. A good example is that of one of my PT-99's. The pawn shop wanted $250, I said $165. The guy behind the counter knows me very, very well (in fact, I used to work for him!), and he knows that it is the end of the month and that he needs sales. He also knows that if he says no, I will say "OK Man", and walk away. So, rather than counter back with, say, $200.00 (which I likely would have paid), he says yes. See how I was in control of the situation and took away the power of the store to dictate price to me?

Now, to be fair, as I said I know the guy very well. I had a relationship with him from working with him, but I also had a relationship with him because I remained friendly and didn't burn bridges. Trust me, it's not hard to make a friend at a pawn shop, and once you do, it get's much easier to play the game with them. Remember, it's easier to catch flies with honey, and if you keep it friendly, that is all stored away in that clerks mind. Speaking from the perspective of the guy that used to be behind the counter, there were some guys that came in that were jerks, and they got no deals. None. The guys that were friendly and always said hi, even if they were just looking? They got deals.

 

[Standing Wolf]

According to my old pal Jim, gone now this decade and longer: "You don't always get what you ask for, but you never get what you don't ask for."

 

[XavierBreath]

Xavier's Pawn Shopping Secrets

Like TimboKhan, I shop pawn shops a lot, and enjoy the art of dealing. Also, like TimboKhan, I am a known quantity. If I make an offer, they know there is a high chance I will hand the gun back if refused. They also know I make fair offers, even if we do not agree. Frequently, if I feel the price on the tag is fair, I pay it with no negotiation.

It's not about getting the lowest possible price, but rather about arriving at a price that both parties can afford.

 

[Finch]

Here is my trick I use at gun shows. It works best when they are wrapping up.

I'll shop around until I see something I like, then ask a few questions about the product. The most recent was a complete DPMS lower receiver. They were asking $199 which was pretty good from the start, but I like a bargin. So I handle it for a little bit, analyze the weight and other BS. Then I say something like "nice piece" or "it looks good to me" and I reach for my wallet.

But what they don't know is that I have put in my wallet exactly how much money I want to pay for said product. In this case $160. I'll take my wallet out and pull out all of the pre-staged cash and count it out. This is where the acting comes into play

"Oh, it seems I only have $160, think you could take that?" Now in this case, he said that was a little lower than he is trying to get for it. This is where I pull out the magic. I also stuff a crinkly $10 bill in my pocket for occasions when my plan hits a wall. Dig around in your pockets and pull out the "last bit of cash you have left" and offer him $10 more. In this case $170.

They usually cave. Got me a complete DPMS lower for $170.

 

[22-rimfire]

Finch; I routinely carry multiple wallets to gun shows to partition funds. It is as much for my own budgeting as an effort to affect a price. Sometimes it helps. That crinkley $10 or $20 bill is a great idea. In effect, I have done this but it was not planned. I'm not a good actor.

 

[dfaugh]

Finch that's and old car dealers (buyers tactic) that worked well for me in the car business (more on that later*).

Seems to me that most gunshops (and pawnshops) will haggle at least a little bit, depends alot on the gun and how must the "think" its worth (moreso on used guns). Most gunshops will have more reasonable prices, pawnshops, not knowing the business as well more often overprice their guns. As mentioned check the web for a good idea of a fair price (realizing you'd have to pay shipping and transfer fees). then work from there. DON'T insult the guy by offering 1/2 the asking price (even if that's what it's really worth, walk away instead. I've had people do this to me with cars, antiques etc. I KNOW what its worth, so offering me a fraction of the asking price is just insulting, and I won't sell you ANYTHING, if I feel insulted. But even if the giys an idiot and doean't know what its worth, he may still be insulted)

*When I was in the car business, I used to walk around with $10-15K on me....Never know when a good deal would come up. If I found a car I wanted, I'd put the amount I wanted to pay in one pcoket, usually behind my wallet. Sometimes, I'd just whip out all those $100 bills, and most people would go "OK", no hassles with checks, no deposit, paid in full right there. If that didn't work, and they hemmed and hawed I'd have a few hundreds in another pocket (or 2), and give them a song and dance while whining about that being all my "extra" money for the month. This would usually close the deal.
If they still really didn't wanna deal (happened rarely, and at that point I was usually near the max I'd pay for the car)I 'd often start walking away...Sometimes theyd call me back. If I still thought there was some profit left, if I could buy it for another coupla hundred dollars, I'd then whip out my wallet and this would have 5s, 10s and 20s in it, usually 100-200 dollars, and say "well, this is supposed to go to my wifes birthdays present, and it's all I have on me(even though I might still have a few hundred or a few thousand in another pocket)....If that didn't work, well I just walked away. Never lost money on any car I bought. Even walked away from a deal once over $50...he wanted $50 more than I was willing to pay, wouldn't budge, so I split.

 

[Old Fuff]

As seen from the other side of the counter...

Gun dealers are businessmen - or at least they are if they stay in business, and therefore they need to make a profit so they can pay the bills and make a living. Buyers sometimes forget this aspect.

To do all of this the seller has to keep selling product, so that he/she can "turn their money," in other words sell something, get their money out of it, and then use some of that money to buy more product. What ever money they make above their cost is the profit that pays for overhead and makes them a living.

So from the dealers' point of view thay look at what the gun cost them, and how long have they've had it in stock.

If the gun is one that's in demand and likely to move quickly, they will be less inclined to dicker. Put bluntly, they don't need to sell it to you because it's likely another hot-to-trot buyer will be in shortly with money in his pocket.

On the other hand, if this gun is not particularly popular, has been sitting around for a long time, and isn't likely to sell quickly, the dealer will be motivated to move it at his cost or even lower to get his money out of it and go on to something else.

With shotguns and rifles there is a seasonable factor. Hunting season comes in the Fall and then is followed by Christmas. After that sales may be slow until the following Fall comes. The dealer would likely like to move that stock to get his money out of it, and therefore be more likely to accept an offer. This of course does not necessarily apply to "tactical" long arms which are not subject to a season.

Speaking for himself, the Old Fuff often passes on Glocks, SIG's, Beretta's, etc and looks for older revolvers - sometimes with longer barrels. These represent a class of firearms that most buyers aren't particularly interested in, and dealers that are stuck with them are more likely to accept a reasonable offer.

But be sure the offer is reasonable. Dealers have to eat too...