How much does a terrible paint job hurt value?

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Pizzapinochle

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I'm looking at a 20 gauge Remington 870. It will be a rough use gun, so not super concerned about appearance, which is a good thing b/c it has a terrible spray painted attempt at a camo job.

First question: how much does such a bad paint job hurt the value? I'll be trying to talk the lgs to a cheap price. Gun retails under 300.

Second question: any special spray paint i need to use to just cover up the old paint? I was just going to make it matte black, still low quality, but not as ugly.

Thanks.
 
IMO: It would cut the value by 1/3 to 1/2 in my book.
As you are assuming all the risk.

Look at it this way.
You have no way of knowing what is under the bad paint until you buy it and clean it all off.

It could be badly rusted & pitted under the bad paint job.
And had the pits filled with auto-body Bondo sanded smooth.
Or not.

But there is no way to know.

A can of Duplica-Color flat black touch-up paint from the auto parts store will look good to cover it up.

Rc
 
Hard to say. As much off as they'll give you? :) I'd propose $150 and see if they take it. It's really unlikely they have more than that in it, themselves.

I think Krylon or Rustoleum flat black would be just fine to go over the existing paint if it is adhering well. You'll want to degrease well and maybe rough up the existing finish a little just to give it more "tooth." You could spend a lot more, but something you can touch up cheaply and easily makes sense.
 
Sorry, wasn't clear.

The paint job is just the wood stock and forend. Aside from catching a bit of overspray, the Barrel, reciever, and action all seem fine.

I'll definitely be trying to talk them into the 150-180 range.
 
Well, that's different.

Most rattle-can paint can be removed from Remington's wood stock finish with paint thinner or solvent without harming the 'bowling pin' finish.

If it's a black synthetic stock the same is probably true.
Still, you have to put sweat equity into it to get it back to a top dollar gun again.
And the price needs to make up for that.

rc
 
That is good to know RC. I'd probably try to remove as you suggested and if i don't get a good result re-rattle can it in matte black.

I think i'll use the phrase sweat equity too.

I am actually bad at negotiating. Good at finding good deals, but not at making them better.
 
Pawn shops around here are full of pristine 12 and 20 gauge 870's in the $150-$170 range. I'd look around some more in your area before I'd go over $100 for one with a "bubba-ed" up paint job.
 
45_auto said:
Pawn shops around here are full of pristine 12 and 20 gauge 870's in the $150-$170 range. I'd look around some more in your area before I'd go over $100 for one with a "bubba-ed" up paint job.
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Really? I don't doubt you at all, but your area must have a very different economy than mine. But, i'll definitely do my hwrk before i buy.
 
The paint job is just the wood stock and forend. Aside from catching a bit of overspray, the Barrel, reciever, and action all seem fine
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So the doob that painted it didn't even dismount the wood to do so?
Knock off half the price and insist on an inspection of the internals, that gun comes from a bad home.
 
Personally, I wouldn't pay more than $100-$150 for a Bubba'd 870, no matter the condition. As an earlier poster has already said, it's going to take a lot of sweat equity to fix.

Pawn shops can yield some great deals on used 870s. Keep in mind that 10 million+ have already been made, not counting new production. If you're lucky, you can find a clean vintage Wingmaster that has snuck into the racks.

At the very least, I would expect the seller to discount off of the retail price to come close to the cost of replacing the stocks with used wood from eBay or similar. A cursory search yields prices from $40 to $100 to replace the wood.

As a general rule, any sort of customization lowers retail value. People often think that the more they customize, the more valuable it becomes. It's often the opposite. Accessories do increase the possibility of closing the sale, but not the price. Customization means that someone else has to work to bring it back to spec.
 
it's going to take a lot of sweat equity to fix.
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Why "fix" it. Nothing is broke, it just has a little paint on it. I assume it is an Express. If a Wingmaster I can understand, but a little rattle can paint job isn't going to hurt an Express. If I were thinking about buying it I'd just repaint and do a better job. If I didn't want the paint I'd pass.
 
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