Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters How Long on the Classifieds

Curious how long do you think you should post your ad in the Classified Section on 24 HCF before dropping your price or pulling it.

It seems like new posts receive a lot of attention when they are 1st posted but soon most lose interest.

Then you see the seller continue to repost the ad (TTT). It is not uncommon to see some sellers post 20+ TTT and/or drop their price up to 20% or more

When would you pull your WTS post ?

How much would you drop your price before finally pulling it?

I’ve found that if it doesn’t sell in the first 2 days, you either need to pull it or drop the price to your bottom dollar.

For a quick sale, list it at your bottom dollar price. If it doesn’t sell in a day, go to Plan B (stick it back in safe).

That guy is never going to sell that Ruger No. 1 is he?

As the answer to most questions it depends. If you're trying to sell 348 Win brass it take weeks before someone needing it finds your ad. If your 223 brass isn't generating interest in a few days It's time to reconsider.

Free country, their choice. What does it matter?
You can't pull your post, it just fades away unless you refresh it.

I do my adds on AR as there is a class for firearms and another for accessories.....also they stay on page 1 for a much longer time.....and I have good results selling items there because of that. I gave up on the 24 hour classifieds a long time ago.....seems they just move from the front page too quick.

If it doesn’t sell for your bottom dollar, relist it later.

Same here.

ttt

Some people run them forever. A week is long enough.

Everyone is looking for a bargen...most stuff is to high...most members have plenty of guns and scopes and such..needs to be a steel mostly to sell very fast...but it need time to find the right buyer...not everyone surfs the classified everyday...I do a times when I'm looking for something specifict..I have found some great values in the classified and sold some stuff reasonable enough it didn't need a price drop...I advertised some 284 brass in factory boxes...sold in 3 minutes..

It’s a great place to sell things. I’ve sold a lot of stuff that I would never have sold anywhere else. My junk has value to others apparently. I’ve bought some good things too, never been ripped off.

I laugh at the guy selling the Mountain Lion mount every time he bumps it up... I can't see ANYONE to pay big bucks for an old mount that they did not even shoot...

I got away from the 24 Campfire classifieds because by the time I had dropped an item low enough that someone took it, that's just what they did...TOOK it. In my experience I had to either start with the equivalent of a "low-ball" offer or drop my asking price several times to the point I was asking for 60 cents on the dollar for "like new" scopes or guns. One handgun I tried to sell, a Gary Reeder travesty, didn't attract any buyers, and rightfully so. THAT was an expensive lesson for me. But other quality items I've placed in the classifieds in the past I either withdrew them and sold them elsewhere, or I dropped the price until I was selling my gear for 60 cents on the dollar. I'd rather jam it in the dirt in my wife's flower garden as an ornament than give a piece of gear away. We have the greatest and largest collection of sportsmen/hunters/shooters on the 24 Hour Campfire, much better than any other site on the Internet, and they are all (with a couple of exceptions) very knowledgeable, extremely helpful, patient and friendly when asked for advice. However, most squeeze their pennies until they scream.

Yup! What he said.

Stuff that is priced competitively usually sells quite quickly.
Everything else sits.


Capitalism is a simple and efficient system. Enjoy it.

Competitively being 50 to 60 cents on the dollar. I have had the same experiences - custom rifles don’t sell quickly anymore.

Is that because cheaper rifles now offer similar accuracy at a fraction of the price?





P

I see some really nice rifles on here. BUT, what floats your boat in a custom, may not float mine. That is the difficulty with customs. Why pay $2500 for a custom rifle when you could build one yourself, to suit your tastes and desires, and possibly build it for less money.


Just like building a hot rod car. You buy a donor Corvette for $10k. Do a frame of restoration for $40k, Then a $20k paint job, another $10k for the interior. $3k for the stereo.. Oh, and then there is the $25k for the engine, and $8k for the transmission. And then tires, wheels, exhaust...

By the time you're done you've dropped $100k into the car. and what's it worth ? $60k.

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.

These cowboys have no skin in the game, it's a business to them and matters not how long it stays on the list.

And it looks like dogshiit to top it off.... donate it to the local gunshop and move on....

one day max

That is the right way to do it

So you are complaining because you get 70% (or 65% or even less) for your used guns and gear than what you paid for them?

Guess what? That's what they're worth. The market sets the price. Correctly. Guns are a commodity nowadays. They are a dime a dozen. The only reason they seemed to be worth a lot over the past decade was due to the Obama Scare. That was an artificial inflation due to fear, which will not be replicated again and wasn't rational when in effect. The "soft" market is the reality market. And it will get softer and softer as Americans age, companies flood with new products, yet the audience is saturated to the max.

I listed 10 guns for sale last weekend in the classifieds and added one as the weekend went along,for a total of 11. 8 sold, 3 remain. I made them attractive price wise, not like the inflated Democrat years. Quality pieces will have people willing to pay for them IMO.

For NOW.
Complaining? No. EXplaining. Also EXplaining what I do now. What guns bring here is lower than what guns will bring on the auction sites. And if you think the obama years were the last of the gun-scare prices you are sadly mistaken. If Trump were to flip, and there really is a Blue Wave in November, and the Executive branch decides we don't need ARs to hunt deer, watch the price of ARs increase 50% overnight.

It will only take one liberal POTUS willing to sign anti-gun bills if they get to his/her desk, or abuse Executive Orders like obama did. I was buying guns when Carter was President. Then the Reagan years, then Klinton, Bush and obama and now Trump. Talk about a see-saw gun economy. When Reagan passed the Firearm Owner's Protection Act of 1986 full auto weapons immediately tripled in price, and headed even further up to the point a stamped metal M-16 is now worth $20K.

This...and a number of the build descriptions for a custom gun aren't well documented., or documented at all.

Or the smith is local to the seller, and half country from the buyer - never heard of the gunsmith.

lol

For rifles and based on personal experience, if it's not a 700 or clone, I try to sell elsewhere first. Don't sell many, but the last three that were not push feeds that I really wanted to move, I put on the classifieds, dropped the price after a couple of days to my bottom dollar and got low-balled. Listed them on an auction site (starting bid was what I offered them for here and added a shipping cost to the auction to cover the auction fees). All 3 sold, 2 for substantially more than what I would have accepted from a campfire member.

Scopes are tough and keep dropping, I see people's preferences changing quickly and few selling for what I thought they would.

Overall, I agree with the above, 1 to 2 days of TTT, drop price to bottom dollar, TTT for one or two more days (make sure you hit a weekend), then back in the safe or sell elsewhere.

Personal opinion, worth what you paid.

That's been my experience as well.

Gunbroker, or is there another site you're talking of?

Priced low?
Defiance Rebel sheep hunter action $1100
McMillan Hunter Edge stock $600
Rock Creek 5R barrel $300
Sunny Hill aluminum BDL bottom metal $200
Timney trigger $100
Wyatt’s box $50?
Talley LW 30mm $50

Total is $2400 in parts

I couldn’t even get an offer for $2500. So FWIW, I agree that the market is soft and you’re lucky to get 60% of what you paid.

BTDT GTTS

TTT....means I priced the item too high to begin with...but refuse to acknowledge it.

Buyer sets value.

The fair market value is the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or to sell and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts.

Good stuff sells itself...

up


Mike (not)

Rocket science...

What if it's a bright yellow Chevy Avalanche?

I guess that holds true if the seller feels an urgent need (for whatever reason) to sell the item. I believe items that sell quickly to the very first person who sees the ad are priced too low, and could have gotten a higher price after a day or two; thus the beauty of the auction. In an auction you can get a good feel for what your item is worth...at that particular date and time. For example, the obscene prices people were paying for .22 LR ammunition, and the subterfuge used by some to secure entire shipments right off of the truck, before the rest of us simple fools waited for a dribble of .22 to hit the shelves and be rationed out. Folks who paid a premium price for .22 LR and amassed 500K to 1 Million rounds can't afford to shoot it or sell it until another event causes a perceived shortage and another run on the retailers occurs.

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.

I never start at 80% of what I can determine is current market value. I almost always start at 65% and hope someone will bid it up to 70%. I have solid feedback on Gunbroker and eBay as a fast shipper and a super packer. Thankfully, nothing I have sold and shipped has ever been damaged. However, I have received very expensive scopes packed loose in a damned box. VERY fortunately they were not damaged.

It’s hard to get money out of USPS if you have damage.

It's hard to get money out of any of the carriers even if the item was insured. I had a shotgun delivered some years back that I purchased off of Gunbroker. The box was dented and had a hole in the middle of the dent. Obviously something hard and pointed had hit the box my shotgun came in. The stock was broken at the wrist of the butt stock. I filed a claim but never received any compensation.

I think I’m fixing to post a bunch of rifles at the magic 60% and see if they sell. If not I’ll take them to Whittakers and just take what Darrik gives me. Which might be the 60%...

Run/bump breakfast lunch and dinner forever. but dont list it "Like New" close to new" New in box lightly fired proper break in " As New Light rust " Was new 1000 rounds ago No [bleep] lol and so on.

If you price it right, it won’t be on there long!

I disagree. If the price is a steal, it won't be there long. If the price is reasonable, it may go right away, or could take awhile depending. As others have said, the classifieds is very active and threads bury quickly. It could take a month for the right buyer to see the item. Also, the longer an item is listed, or the more bumps, the more buyers may anticipate a drop in price. If the price is reasonable (subjective to a degree, but not really hard to determine), there is no reason to lower the price other than impatience or necessity. Of course, every case is unique.

Here's an example of a rifle I sold: FS: Browning 71 Carbine .348 Winchester

Pics are gone, but suffice it to say the rifle was in fine condition with minor scuffs here and there.

Indeed, the fact that the classifieds are so active means a lot of eyes "can" see the item, but requires more bumps if the right eyes don't see it sooner rather than later.



The rifle listed on 9/22/16, sold on 10/10/16

A comment following the sale:

I have two stainless Tikkas I’m going to put up for sale (270 Superlite and 25-06 lite), but in watching the classifieds over the last couple of weeks, most of the Tikkas priced reasonably have just not sold, even with the announced MAP price enforcement/higher prices.

It gets to the point where people feel they are just giving them away, and most chose to just keep them and remove them from sale, so I’ve been holding off from listing them.

Though the gun market overall is terribly soft, great rifles like these which are now selling for over $700 new, should be gone quickly for the $500-600 asking price I’ve seen them in the classifieds for recently. Not exactly sure why.

Craig

That's what I do...or go to Gunbroker. I have sold quite a few rifles and handguns on Gunbroker that didn't even get any comments or questions on classifieds here. If I can't sell it for a reasonable price I keep it.

Gun Broker Is weak, outrageous seller fees ,also its turned into ebay most are buy it now, and if its a new gun can get it at local shop cheaper with no wait or damaged from piss poor packaging

When I advertise I don't use a buy-it-now. There are no hidden fees. The buyer pays the auction price and the actual shipping fees. They pay their own FFL fees as do I. I over pack, often spending enough on packing materials (bubble wrap, new box, packing tape, etc...) that it eats a little bit of the purchase price up. I don't charge the buyers for my time or for the packing material, only what the USPS will ship it for insured (mandatory - stated in the auction). I'm not there to compete with pawn shops and other large volume dealers. I can and do charge less than they do for a comparable firearm. I have 100% feed back, and that does help. I check feedback before I consider buying from someone and I check feedback on each bidder if I'm selling.