I never made a case for recovering money that went to customizing a firearm. A used 1911 that has been tuned so well it almost shoots itself is worth the price of a box stock used 1911...unless you get lucky and find a guy who wants those exact accurizing changes you paid for and is willing to pay for them. I never even tried to sell a customized firearm. I would never get back what I put in to it. That's just the way it goes. I was referring to factory original, barely used safe-queen rated gear, that folks on here are not willing to pay 75% or even 70% of the price I bought it for. I got tired of giving my gear away. So, I pretty much stopped selling anything and if I need to fund a new toy, I just take a little longer and build my slush fund back up until I can pay cash and not have to sell any of my other gear.
One thing that needs to be considered is that people also factor risk into shopping online. In the 24hourcampfire (and most places), the buyer has to send money to the seller while the seller gets to sit and wait. Eventually, the seller has the product and the money. Then the seller has to package the item. Is some instances its pretty clear that the seller was happy he got the money and did a crap job of packaging, and the item shows up damages. Then some sellers want to say it was fine when I shipped it... no responsibility to the buyer.
To summarize, the buyer takes the risk of fraud (theft), poor packaging damages during shipping, and the long wait for the product. If there is not a good discount, why would anyone not just go buy it at the store. It takes more than 20% to get me to take the risks.
