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Why is the market so soft on guns lately? I've tried to sell as few to make room is the safe and can't give them away. With the way prices the way they are I've actual added to the number I have because I found deals I thought were cheap ,and now looking for another safe. I'm seeing really nice stuff here on the Fire and in the back of my mind I think I'd better jump on them before they are gone, and two weeks later they are still listed.. Same on GB. I sold a 99 here and now regretting the sale due to the cheap price I got.. Won't be long until the price are down to what I told my wife I paid. Sorry to say,but I guess hunter numbers are on the decline and us old guys have more than we ever will use.

There might be something to that and the cheap gun market has diluted the expensive one . The stuff I watch on Gunbroker is very slow. I was contemplating selling a few rifles but think I might as well just hold on to them.

There are entirely too many people who want to get every penny they paid out of their gun they are selling.

That's why they sit on here for a long time. this is OK if the right buyer is out there somewhere.

If you want to price your gun to the market look on Gunbroker for the same with at least 2 bids on it.

HM

It's been tough even finding a rifle with one bid on it , you are right though , your price will be compared to one on GB.

There are going to be LOTS of 'classics' going cheap as the boomers keep getting older and older and they realize the younger guys don't want their 'old' sheit.

In a way, the collectors caused it. It will be funny seeing lots of old rifles going for pennies on the dollar in the coming years.

completed auctions with bids is most reflective of current market

The impetus to buy guns "since the government will try to ban them" has fallen out from under the market the day Trump was elected, or took office, whichever one prefers.

We all remember the shortages on .22 ammo and loading components and the huge price rise on anything AR related under Obama. That general sense of panic permeated the whole market, including bolt action rifles and antiques. Or what I think was that sellers took advantage of that panic mode to push prices on everything into the stratosphere, and as long as folks would pay them, why not do so? Raw capitalism setting prices at whatever the market would bear. Now that the immediate danger seems to be gone under the Trump administration those bubble prices have burst.

Three years ago you could get upwards of $1400 for most any LH Model 70 and even going up over $2000, especially if it was stainless. Some limited run Marlins with the safety were priced well over $1000 (I sold a 16" .45 1894 for $1200). Now that same LH Model 70 would be lucky to fetch $1100 or so and a lot of them in the lesser desired chamberings are going for only a bit more than a new right hand model might sell for.

Same same all over the market - with the threat gone from short term memory buyers aren't so anxious to get something at any price. The AR's started the trend of dropping demand/dropping prices and the rest of the market is following. I see a lot of sellers still haven't gotten that word, or just as likely got into something at the peak and are now trying to recoup their money when the market is in the valley.


I'm in the same boat as you. Would really like to thin the herd and have a few rare or otherwise desirable rifles, such as a pair of Kimber of OR rifles with matching serial numbers and a LH Winchester Custom Shop M70, but am not about to put those into a depressed market like this. Then run of the mill things like a stock Tikka or Ruger American - hell, may as well donate them somewhere and claim a big tax deduction for all the money you'd get trying to sell them.

The good news is that it doesn't cost anything to hang onto them. Their value will at least roughly match inflation and if/when some Democrat starts making serious gun control noises again we'll probably see another round of panic buying with price levels rising to match.

Obviously the overall market is a lot softer with Trump in office but there are still certain firearms that are rapidly appreciating - stuff that's out of production and relatively rare like HK P7, Smith 52-2, BL-17, etc.

IMHO you can't price a firearm for sale on any forum at GB pricing, you'll never sell it. GB is a much larger audience and those members have clear feedback so you have a pretty good idea who you are dealing with. You also have the dick measuring effect with any auction, you won't get that here. You want to sell something here it's going to have to be priced pretty aggressively...

I think the gun market is exactly where it needs to be. Gun shops, collectors and sellers have been price gouging us for years. Also a good thing is competition between the makers. More of the gun manufacturers guarantee MOA right out of the box and come with nice triggers. As someone said earlier, the gun market has done it to themselves. What comes around will eventually go around and it's been long overdue. Rifles that cost $800 to a $1000 dollars 5 or 10 years ago, you will be lucky to get $500 bucks for and why buy your old stuff when I can buy a brand new Tikka or other nice rifles in the $500ish range and it's guaranteed MOA or even sub MOA.

Prices will rebound some shortly. This is a market correction just like stocks. Prices go up until they free fall a
bit.

I think there's another factor in play, too. Lots of new cartridges (the Creedmoors, .224 Valkyrie, etc.) and platforms to shoot them make "classic" cartridges less desirable, especially to new shooters. If I were starting over today, I'd probably be on the 6mm and 6.5mm Creedmoor bandwagon. As an "old guy," I'm having too much fun with my .308s, .260 Remingtons, and .243 Ackleys. But I have no delusion as to what those guns would sell for if I needed to part with them. Same thing with scopes. Better glass with laser-etched reticles has reached a lower price point, making the aftermarket for used scopes soft, too. So new technology is also in play.

Wrong, This gun market downturn will last several years, the up and down cycles are always several years in duration.

The milsurp market sure as hell ain't soft! It's gone crazy

Tikkas and Ruger Americans, ect. shoot amazingly well. I have owned a Tikka but just did't float my boat. Never could warm up to the toy like feel, I tried after all the praising and bragging about the Tikkas here on the Fire so finally bought one, but never warmed up to it, so it went down the.road. Probably still shooting those tiny groups with the new owner. Don't want to argue or ruffle and feathers, to each his own. I'm not a snob as I own a Marlin X7 223and a Remington Express shot gun for truck guns. Tried to sell the Express a couple of months ago here on the Fire for $189.00 and didn't get one reply or offer., my Ruger Hawkeye 6.5 Creedmor @ $450.00 was the same result. Not exactly looking for wind fall profits here.

Switch I totally understand, to each his own. I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers either.

Also, if anyone is waiting for the Democrats and the tree huggers to make a splash in the pond so you can make a few dollars on your guns it makes me wonder who's side your on anyway???

As the age of buyers change, so does their interests. Few of us have a gun that is so rare and desirable as in one that hundreds of thousands were not made... so the price needs to be reasonable with the supply to get yours sold. All the new wiz bang calibers get the attention and old standbys get few looks. Who wants a pre 64 Winchester that weights 12 pounds when you can get a synthetic stock stainless whatever at half the weight and cost. Gunbroker sold is where I do my price shopping. Gunbroker asking prices mean nothing.

I have recently sold a dozen or so "vintage" rifles mostly pre64 M70's but there was a M94 38-55 and a M71 in the mix. I got my price out of all of them.

I think it all depends on what you are selling. Old Smiths pre 64 Winchester’s are still expensive. AR’s seem to rise and fall depending on the democrats latest call for gun control.
I consider guns to be investments that I shoot. Hasbeen

Enjoy it, its a buyers market. Get em while you can!

Probably will get chastised for saying this but, I believe to continue seeing the pre 64 Winchesters, Sako's,etc,etc appreciate, they'll need to be put in a video game! There are less young people hunting,fishing every year, while a whole lot more are sitting in front of TV's playing games. Eventually the bottom is going to fall out of that market.