Trade Only People?

[Jackal]

All the people that want to trade around here, always want to trade their $450 Glock for your $700 AR. They are ALWAYS trying to rip you, it got so bad that I no longer bother with "trade guys" and deal with cash only sales.

 

[ATLDave]

I always figure its either guys who have discovered that the cash value of what they're looking to unload isn't very high OR are guys who are worried/paranoid about being "in the business of selling guns" for money. Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised when the kerfuffle over the "new" DOJ guidance on who is/isn't a dealer didn't immediately result in most online private sale offers becoming "trade only."

 

[WardenWolf]

Depends on mindset and, as ApacheCoTodd said, money in hand. For example, my father picked up a very nice Springfield 1903 for $350 at auction a few months back. He didn't particularly want a 1903, but he got it for about half of its normal going rate. What he really wanted was a Winchester 94. My father was not willing to shell out the cash to get a 94 outright, but instead he used the 1903 to trade straight across for the gun he really wanted (and still came out ahead).

People have their reasons. If they're either unable or unwilling to spend the money, a trade may make sense. Buying something based on the knowledge that you'll be able to sell something else to more than cover it is effectively buying on credit, so it's financially a better move to either sell the unwanted item first or use it in trade. Also, money in pocket has a tendency to get spoken for or burned very easily, often before you're able to use it for what you want.

 

[slicksleeve]

Not to hijack the thread, but what confuses the heck out of me is the way people will price a gun for say, $500, then say trade value $600. What is the point in that? I see this especially on facebook gun trading groups.

 

[bainter1212]

Trading one unusual or hard to find firearm for another unusual firearm is WAY easier than selling and then hunting for the gun you want with cash.
This is especially true if neither party has any cash to throw around.
Two broke guys can trade with each other, get the gun they want without paying sales tax or FFL fees.

 

[larryh1108]

I think it has to do with not wanting to sell a gun and get wholesale and then buy a gun for retail. If you go to a LGS and trade in a gun you paid $500 for and want a gun that sells for $500, they'll want your gun and $200 which does not seem like a deal to the buyer. A trade only means he gets dollar for dollar which is a better deal.

 

[carbine85]

I've made several transactions both ways that are trade only. I typically come out ahead or at least get what I wanted on an even trade. Sometimes it just saves the hassle of selling and then buying.

 

[Elkins45]

I think there's a psychology of trading that isn't there with cash. If I sell a gun for cash then I know exactly what I got out of it. If I trade it then the final value depends on what someone wold give me for the thing I traded for--and that unknown seem to make some people happy.

My only problem with the trade-only listings I see on Armslist is that they never want to trade for something I have, or that I want to give up.

 

[herrwalther]

I have made posts like these before. One of them was just today. If the gun I want is hard to find but YOU want to get rid of it, you can have X in trade. If the gun I want is hard to find, the $500 you give me for a gun won't help me if I want something else.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

I don't see what the problem is. I much prefer to trade over a cash sale. I'm much more likely to get what I want in a trade rather than selling something to buy something else. If a trade only post is not to someone's liking just keep moving. An unknown (or known) trade is the price the owner has put on his firearm. If one doesn't have an acceptable trade one can't meet the price.

 

[pdsmith505]

Let's say Gun A that you have cost $400 new when you bought it. Now you want Gun B that also costs $400 new.

Think you are going to get $400 for used Gun A to go out and buy Gun B? Odds are better you'll find someone with Gun B willing to trade.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I don't understand the OP criticism of "trade only" transactions.

I see advantages to even trades/swaps. But that's not the point. I believe in most transactions the seller/trader sets the terms and conditions, and the buyer/trader can accept, negotiate, or walk away.

No one is obligated to accept an unfair or uneven trade or swap and those who want to buy for cash or sell for cash will find like-minded people.

Why diss the trade-only folks? They are not the only ones in the marketplace.

 

[MIL-DOT]

I don't know why it matters, if a guy doesn't like the way the deal is presented just move on.

Yeah, kinda like you should've done with this thread ??
I agree with the OP, it's weird and it's annoying. There seems to be no real upside to limiting your options by refusing to deal with cash buyers.
The cynic in me always kinda suspects the guy that will only trade, might not be able to go out and legally purchase a firearm himself.
There was a sweet 4" S&W 686 on the Outdoorstrader around Atlanta recently, that was up for trade only, but he finally came back and added a cash price, and I believe it got scarfed up shortly afterward.

 

[rduchateau2954]

It's crazy, but I have gotten good deals from those folks. I traded a Ruger charger for a franchi 20ga once. Should have kept the franchi.

I just traded an SKS for an Enfield, that was a trade only deal. I'm thinking he wanted a SKS and didn't want to deal with the B.S.

Sent from my AS985 using Tapatalk

 

[guyfromohio]

I see the wisdom in putting "$500 or $600 trade value". If you're pricing your gun fairly, it helps with the guy who wants to trade you for something that MSRP is where your low sale price is. Example.... I'm selling a Glock 19 at $450. Fair price, IMO... A guy sees $450 and thinks "wow! I just paid $450 for my Shield....I will trade". A new price for that G4 Glock is likely $540 and a new price for that shield is likely $389 in most places. By giving a trade price, you are equalizing things. What I do is put in my ad (as infrequent as it might be) "trade differentials will be calculated at MSRP vs MSRP or Bud's to Bud's" so that there is a known price comparison. It doesn't mean money will exchange hands at all.....just means we both know what we're doing. Non-current manufacture guns or hard-to-get guns are harder and depend more heavily on the "want" factor.

 

[DeepSouth]

I

With no money in hand, there's no money going out requiring justification or explanation to say, a spouse.

Winner!

I know a couple guys who are trade only, both have wives who don't care if they trade guns on a regular basis since "that doesn't cost anything." But if they sell, then here comes the wife wanting their half.

One of those guys even told a mutual friend if they'd go buy a XDm then he would trade his gun for the NIB XD. The mutual friend didn't do it because he was afraid it wouldn't have been legal. I think it's kind of silly, but I guess my wife is more reasonable (or something) than his.