How do you price and gut check a new gun purchase?

[Ru4real]

What do you do to make sure you are not paying to much?

What do you do to make sure you really want the gun to own, more than the superficial dopamine rush of buying?

I though I’d share what I do, maybe it will work for others. I’m looking to spend as much as $1200 on a used revolver. What other gun could I buy with that $1200? What guns are other people buying for $1200?

To try and answer those questions, I use sites like Gunbroker to look at some data and guns to satisfy price, gut and sanity checks. In my case there are 6803 guns for sale right now on Gunbroker for prices between $1100 and $1300. About 200 “Featured” guns have more than 5 bids. About 100 non-featured guns have more than 5 bids. The vast majority of those 6803 guns in my search are overpriced and nobody seems to want.

In my case, scrolling down the results grid and seeing the guns and prices for my select 300 guns gives me a good sense of what I want and what other people are willing to pay for what they want. I know listed prices for non-finished auctions are not sale prices. However, this process satisfies my price, gut and sanity checks. Either I’m not insane, or lots of people are insane.

 

[wiscoaster]

I watch the bids list. If I see bid actions indicating one of the following bidders, I stand aside:
1) the guy who wants the gun no matter how much he has to spend and keeps bumping up the winning bid with his new high bid
2) the guy who remains the high bidder with his first one bid
3) the new guy who jumps in with the high bid with under a minute to go.
In each case, when the bid exceeds the maximum I've elected to spend on this auction, I just let it go. There's always going to be another and I can wait for one where I don't have to compete with someone else who's able and willing to spend more than me. There's no telling how high some of these auctions can go when you get some buyer who just won't give up, and I'm not going to be that buyer or compete against that buyer.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Heres my process-

"Ooooh, shiny!"

Check wallet.

"Gimme! Gimme!"

Come back in 3 days.

"Shiny, you come with me now, okeeday?"

 

[gunlaw]

Heres my process-

"Ooooh, shiny!"

Check wallet.

"Gimme! Gimme!"

Come back in 3 days.

"Shiny, you come with me now, okeeday?"

Same here except in Missouri no 3 day wait. Also I check reviews a compare prices when I get it home.

 

[cslinger]

I have no impulse control and the financial sense of PAC Man Jones in a strip club.

That’s pretty much my go to system.

 

[Trashyshoots]

I dont check. If I get what I want and find it elsewhere cheaper I dont care. It's only money.

 

[jmorris]

There is lots of stuff I would have if they didn’t cost so much. When they come my way, at a price I will pay, they leave with me.

I do the same thing at auctions, I set my max bit at my max price and forget about it. If I win, I got a great deal. If I don’t, it doesn’t matter, I had already forgotten about it anyway.

 

[Iggy]

Strike while the iron's hot!

 

[bannockburn]

I do my fair share of looking around both locally and online. When I find what I want and it's a decent price I get it. Don't really have the time or to make the effort of doing all that much ground work.

Find it, buy it, enjoy it

 

[rust collector]

I make it mine. Then I go on the internet and ask if I got a deal. Then I become angry, sullen, morose and looking at the gun makes me sad that I was taken to the cleaners. So I sell the gun and let others know who are inviting input on their deals that they have been foolish. That makes me feel better, so I go looking for a new gun.

 

[wiscoaster]

I make it mine. Then I go on the internet and ask if I got a deal. Then I become angry, sullen, morose and looking at the gun makes me sad that I was taken to the cleaners. So I sell the gun and let others know who are inviting input on their deals that they have been foolish. That makes me feel better, so I go looking for a new gun.

This is so damn funny it just made my day.

 

[Whizzbang]

Generally, when I get home and the old lady Hollars at me I know I paid to much.

 

[crestoncowboy]

Depends on the gun. My last gun was a 6 inch 617. So I looked around online for a few days. No rush. they make new ones just like it every day. No reason to over pay for anything current or recent production. On that particular gun I kept bidding a bit under what I could buy the gun for on new auctions. Eventually I won one.
The one before that was another 1898 marlin. They do not make them everyday. probably shouldn't have made them on any day....Luckily nobody wants them either so I made a low offer and bought it to hang on my wall. It does shoot great patterns though. Tightest I've ever patterned with cheap bird shot. Used guns i generally have to roll the dice more and just try to not let a quick want emotion cause me to overpay. Most of the best deals I've made were impulsive buys on used guns. A couple of the worst deals I've made were too. I also bought two new Mopar in one day.....so I've suffered much bigger one day financial goofs than any gun can offer.
I generally do look at the completed auctions on gunbroker and get an idea. On a sub 750-1000 dollar gun i know im not going to over pay by a hugely sickening amount at least. Looking back at what I've spent on cars and even TVs qmd PCs in the past......guns weren't my dumbest moves.

 

[LoonWulf]

My normal purchase thought process goes something like this.....
How much is it, how bad do I want it, can I afford to pay for it.

Research is done on completed auctions, msrp, and street price, to decide on yes/no price ranges. If it's in the no range i walk away, if it's in the yes range I walk away with it.
This is assuming I know what I'm buying, otherwise I need to do more research

......... or I really need to like something about that particular gun.......in which case I'm buying it anyway, so might as well just do it.

 

[Hangingrock]

I'm old in my 7th decade, thus I have more self-control, AKA experience. I went thru I got to have it phase decades in the past. There are items that set in the safe that haven't seen the light of day in a long-long time. Finances no problem. The last vehicle acquired a Toyota Highlander SE-AWD, we paid cash for it. No mortgage payments either. What I've written is no brag nor is it intended to be, its just how it is at this point in my life. If someone were to ask me what I could get by with now, the reply would be (2) handguns, (1) rifle and (1) Shotgun.

 

[Old Dog]

At this point in my life, I (uh, well, "we" -- the wife buys shoes or art, I buy the guns) have a lot of discretionary income, so if I really, really decide that I need (well, I don't need more guns, I just want them) something, I may (if it's a used item) browse through my latest Blue Book of Gun Values or look at internet prices, but my "gut check" is primarily how bad I want it. Also at this point, I don't buy cheap; I'm long past the day when I would buy a $300 gun just because that's all I could afford. I have a pretty good sense of the used firearms market, and tend to go with my gut.

There's a guy in my area who's been trying to sell a mint S&W revolver for about $600 - 700 more than it would typically go for around here; he's had it listed for two years and apparently is still trying to sell it, which indicates to me that he's over-valued it, and the S&W collectors (of which there are too many around here, doggone it) have been pretty restrained (as have I, even though it would fill a niche in my collection). So I guess we all have a "no go" point when something is ridiculously priced.

While I know I've overpaid, for example, for a nice old S&W revolver or West German SIG pistol, the value always seems to come up enough that I could make a tidy profit selling them off later. A few times, I've knowingly paid a hundred or a hundred and fifty over what I know something should be ticketed at, but time has proven it to be a reasonable investment.

So I guess in the end, my research process comes down to something like NIGHTLORD40K's ... I've lost out on some would-be great scores by deciding that I had to go home and sleep on a potential purchase. No more, unless the price is too far into the realm of fantasy.

Oh, and as far as the auction sites: I've never used them as a gauge. Used gun prices vary so widely by region and there's too many loonies out there with too much money, for someone to be able to truly get a good sense of a gun's worth by what it's sold for on the auction sites.

 

[JERRY]

go to gunbroker and see what they are selling for. not what they are listing for but what they actually sell for. many times the over priced guns with a reserve will sit without bids. watch the guns with no reserve and what the market will bare.

 

[SharpDog]

In my case, scrolling down the results grid and seeing the guns and prices for my select 300 guns gives me a good sense of what I want and what other people are willing to pay for what they want. I know listed prices for non-finished auctions are not sale prices. However, this process satisfies my price, gut and sanity checks. Either I’m not insane, or lots of people are insane. I can detail specific Gunbroker steps if there are people interested.

LOL If I kept a list of 300 guns I wanted on GB then I would have 300 more guns and need to put more on my list ...

Self-control re: buying guns .... never heard of it.

What I do is treat GB like a stripper bar and stay away (unless I have extra cash)



https://www.gunbroker.com/item/880358370

 

[crestoncowboy]

There were a few I missed back before we had the internet in our pocket though.
Auctions are what really get me. You have 20 seconds to glance at a gun. if there are a bunch you are interested in at the same bench you may even have less time. Many times the action is zip tied or otherwise off limits. Sometimes all you can do is look dont touch. Forget about removing a grip or anything to look for anything in particular. On a 2-300 dollar gun...oh well. No problem. But on a multi thousand dollar gun. Lol. It can be pretty intense. You want it. If it checks out it well worth it. If a part is broke it may cost more than the gun to get someone qualified to fix it. .......plenty often I'm usually the one who is there with his friends to keep them from getting burned. Adds a whole other dynamic. Luckily both are single and there is no misses to answer to and none of us will be going without food over a gun or ten.

A few times a gun has went for 2, 3 or 10x what it should and I'm thinking "did I miss something or are they just in a bidding war?"

One time I bid on a lot number that was a 44 Desert Eagle up to 800 or so. It sold for 900 which was almost a new price at the time. Not bad but not great. They brought the guy his new gun. Then they brought him the BOX of magazines for it that was also in the lot. It wasn't a small box full of mags either. Lol. Still regret that one.

 

[Ignition Override]

Actual prices which lead to a transaction (deal)---
--After the guns sell.

Gunbroker: on the main page (first page) click "Advanced", which gives you a single page where you select "Completed Items", and select "Guns", along with the type.

Folks, many people out there haven't been told to click the word Advanced, and it might not be intuitive.
Why make them try to figure it out on their own?

 

[Riomouse911]

There is absolutely no "need" for me gun-wise anymore, I have more than enough in number and variety to keep me well entertained until at least four years after I die.

That being said, I still read about, look, talk about, want, drool over, bid and occasionally take home another one (or two, or three or five) every year. This entirely depends on the prices I'm paying and the subsequent screech volume of the spouse when she opens the credit card statements (We buy almost everything with them, then completely pay off monthly. We then use the miles/points for our family vacations.) When the crystal glassware starts cracking, I tone it down for a while until I'm back in good-gun-graces again.

I always have a max price in my head for any gun I want...some are higher than others but none are over the top. If I bid and I win, I win. If I'm outbid, I keep looking. Just avoid getting caught up in a last minute bidding frenzy; those rarely work out for the ultimate auction winner in the end.

Stay safe.

 

[crestoncowboy]

Folks, many people out there haven't been told to click the word Advanced, and it might not be intuitive.

Good advice.
Ill also add that if I'm not mistaken you have to make an account first to see completed auctions.

Well worth it in my opinion.

 

[guyfromohio]

I make it mine. Then I go on the internet and ask if I got a deal. Then I become angry, sullen, morose and looking at the gun makes me sad that I was taken to the cleaners. So I sell the gun and let others know who are inviting input on their deals that they have been foolish. That makes me feel better, so I go looking for a new gun.

Alas....so true.

 

[Virginia Jim]

I figure, it’s only money, you can’t take it with you and your heirs will surely blow it.

 

[Ru4real]

D*mn, some great posts on what others do! Thank you for the laughs and great perspectives!