Well Keltecs sure don't hold their value!

I never owned a PF-9. I did have a Kel-Tec P-11. It was a neat little carry gun. I made a couple of minor changes to it that made it better for me. It did have a long heavy catchy trigger but once you learned the trigger it was accurate. I liked it okay but after a couple of years I got a different carry gun I lliked better. Sometime later a friend let me know he was interested in carrying a gun. I took him out to shoot with every handgun I owned to let him try them. He stunk with everything he touched until I handed him the little P-11. When I handed it to him he tore the center out of the target with it without even trying. It was a bit mind blowing as I had to work at it to become proficient with that little heavy triggered pistol. He offered to buy it on the spot. I didn't sell. A while later I just gave it to him for his birthday. It seemed like the thing to do & it wasn't worth much anyway.

 

Bought a kel tec 32 as a backup gun back about 2002. It was lighter than my smith 36 that I had been carrying since 1981 and it rode well in my boot and later under my vest. It was dirt cheap but I would guess most of y it s in our department (250 plus) seemed to have them and qualified with them 4 times a year. Mine looks like hell, been pretty much replaced with a 380 bodyguard but I would never even think of selling.

 

Well let's show you how much money you didn't make.

As someone else said. Guns are really not good investments. Sans a few.

 

...

 

If I spent all of my money on wine, women, and song, my family would have nothing but my pension after I croaked.

If I spend a few hundred here and there on decent handguns instead, my wife/kids can at least sell most of them on consignment at the LGS after my demise.

That would be some thousands of dollars, anyway, as opposed to nothing.

 

I always appreciated that when my buddy ran a shop, he'd rather tell someone he wasn't interested in buying than to make an offensive offer.

A lot of people seem to be ok, and even expect, that dealers selling used guns are needing to try to double their money on everything. I won't do business with any of those types when I can do business with guys that don't need to squeeze every nickel out of a deal to stay in business.

So your $200 Kel-Tec didn't appreciate in value the way an SKS bought in the early 90's has. I doubt it's worth less than a Hi-Point, even now...and they're constantly bringing $150+. Sell it face to face, on here, or keep it.

 

Gunbroker completed auctions. $145-$225. And, a weird outlier that went for $349….

Shipping. Gunbroker fees. Taxes.

if somebody offers $90, I’d take it.

 

I took a Bersa Thunder in to an lgs last week looking to trade it on something else. He offered me about half of what I paid for it, which is about what I expected.
Now in this case the gun I wanted was priced lower than any of his competitors, so add that difference to his trade offer and I won't come out too bad. Or at least I won't feel like I did.
As others have said, the dealer has to clean it, do paperwork twice (hopefully), pay staff, and pay bills, and hopefully make 5% which ain't much on a $200.00 gun.

 

This is one reason I dont buy cheap guns on GB unless they're more for a collection. There's no reason for me to go out of my way and buy a used PF9 from GB and end up paying an extra 50 or 75 bucks on top of the sale price when I could get a Taurus GX4 brand new for 250 with free shipping and no tax.

 

This always amazes me, but it’s so true… someone will pay near secondhand-retail on a Phoenix 25, or a Jennings, or a Davis derringer, or a Hi Point. I think they get caught up in the auction and forget about the shipping, transfer fee, and sales tax.

 

Not for a dealer.

It was a $200 gun new and they would be lucky to sell it for $150. When they figure in overhead costs/payroll/etc., they are going to be in the hole if they offer you much more than that.

 

It depends. I think I paid close to 150 on an early Raven .25 because it was in good condition and I wanted the original American .25 Saturday Night Special.

Even now I find myself looking at .32 Mag Davis/Cobra derringers on GB because I just want one and I'll never find one for sale locally.

 

My experience:
I have owned four KTs.
One P32 that worked... ahhh, mostly. Learned how to F&B, no change, sold cheap with full disclosure.
Two P3ATs, one 1st gen, one 2nd gen. Neither was reliable enough to carry. F&B, free parts from KT...can't knock their support, but at the end of the day, they were both POSs. Sold both very cheap, with full disclosure.
Should have learned my lesson at that point, but ended up buying a P11. Same deal, F&B, no help, free parts/support from KT, but never got to the point where I would carry it. Sold it, again, at a loss with full disclosure.
Full marks to KT for their support, but you can only polish a turd so far. And you can only learn the same lesson so may times.
Four strikes, yeah, we're done. It was real, it was fun, but it wasn't real fun. Good luck, KT.

 

God I hated Toughskins, you could be dragged for a mile behind a truck down a gravel road and nothing would be left but the knees in those jeans.....they would not bend.

 

TTv2 writes:

I wanted a Davis, too, to round out my "western-knockoffs" set. I kept watching GB, preferring one in either .22LR or .38 Special, and in chrome/nickel. I was surprised what the few I saw ended up going for, and what the ones that never sold were seeking. Seems a lot were made in .22WMR, too. There was one on GB in a store about an hour from me in .32 Magnum. That one would have been cool because I have some .32SWL ammo, but it got priced away from me.

Popped in a local GS a few weeks ago and they had what appears to be an unfired pre-owned Davis in chrome and .32ACP. Not my preferred round, but I do have ammo (though I really don't see shooting it much, if more than two rounds at all.) Took it for $170, but no shipping or transfer fees. Was nice to find it locally.

I still don't have a Raven. Maybe one day.

 

It doesn't matter if you have a high priced gun or a low priced gun (when you bought it) A dealer or pawn shop is not gonna give you what you think it's worth or what you may sell if for face to face. A gun shop has to pay for their location, insurance, salaries, utilities, sit on it until the right buyer comes along etc etc


No different then a car or a boat,

 

Keep in mind supply is starting to catch up with demand, and the overall economic picture -- loss of value in retirement accounts, inflation, etc. -- has made gun prices a softer recently.

But LGS offers tend to be low, as others have noted.

I've sold a number of pistols on one of the main auction sites. The fee was 6.0% of the first $250 ($15.00), plus 3.5% of the remaining value, plus tax of course, and a shipping fee from my FFL. I've received a fair price for the pistols, and since it is FFL to FFL, I am totally legal and feel pretty good about the buyer being legal too. If you put your minimally acceptable price as the starting value, and list the pistol for a week or two, it should rise to the fair-market value at this point in time.

 

I see a lot more of the .32 ACP Derringers than I do .32 Mag. .32 ACP is definitely not better balistically than a .32 Long Wadcutter or .32 Mag.

 

And this is how I figured out not to buy from such places because when I saw a used .40 Hi Point with a $200 price tag on it that sat in the case for years when new online would have cost less, I realized most gun stores were just waiting for that one low information buyer who was likely desperate and buy it.

 

What price could they put on a Keltec and have it sell reasonably quick?

I know I wouldn't pay more than $125 to $150 for a used one in pristine condition, so their offer seems fair.

 

I've sold guns on GB before, but its been awhile; when I did I specifically said I do not do FTF sales, would ship to FFL only (If it cost me $$$ - oh well).
Few months ago I wanted to trade a Kahr P9 for a Glock 17 gen 5 - 1st store offered $125 for the Kahr, 2nd store offered $200 (Glock was same price).
I took the $200 and so I suppose the take away is Kahr does not hold its value well.
Prior to that I had traded a 1st generation Shield 40 and a 1st gen Springfield XDs 45 acp - neither of those held their value well either.

 

He lost money.

 

Good luck selling a MkII for 670 bucks.