Home Forums Gear Free Classifieds Why are quality items so hard to sell?

Soft market and sometimes enough is enough...

Vanilla guns in vanilla calibers are not great investments.

First of all, the t1x you mention is new in box. 2nd, where I live at bass pro I would pay 469 plus 9.75% tax plus 10.00 background Ck. Total 520.00 or so. I could buy warpigs nib for 460, add 25 transfer, 10 background for total of 495. I personally would rather save 25 n trade on fire. To each his own. Perhaps it's not warpigs you are speaking of. One more thing, the 25 transfer fee helps a small gun shop.

Exactly. I seen a couple of 20 year old Leupold 3-9's on here yesterday and they was wanting right at $300 each for them. I would have thought hard about giving them $150 each. I can buy a brand new Leupold VX3i for just a few dollars difference.

Certain older scopes are worth a considerable amount of money. Certain rifles I know will drag a premium and I get that. I have a few rifles on here now that are listed for an elderly friend. He’s priced them pretty darn close to where they should be. One I told him will never sell or be very hard. The two others are great rifles and are within $100 dollars of selling immediately. I’m confused as to why no one will even make an offer? I feel people want something for well under value so they may be able to sell and not lose either......who knows🤷🏻‍♂️

Sir I agree with your statement as well but today's generation don't don't appreciate the walnut and blue of yesteryear like some of us do and they can buy a Ruger American for $300 and it shoot just as good or better than premium rifles in the $1200 to whatever price range. I'm not a collector but if you are today, sadly I'm afraid your investments are not going to hold up.

I agree. I’m a collector of sorts. I know I don’t need all the hunting rifles that I own, but I sure like them. I’ve worked hard to build a stable of high quality rifles that I’ll have a hard time letting any of them go. I have one cheap rifle and the rest are quite nice. I’m likely done building rifles. Someone earlier eluded to the fact you can buy factory rifles with high quality components that they shoot lights out, plus have amazing fit and finish. I have a few factory configs that are truly amazing in every way. KS rifles and a Fieldcraft that is nothing short of amazing. I wouldn’t dump that rifle for what it’s “worth”....

Bad example. I’ve seen 3 of these listed in the last week or 2. They all were listed in the $250-300 range and all sold in less than 24hrs. One of them was mine.

No not a bad example. I didn't say who owned what and don't even remember. I didn't make the statement that they would not sell. I said what I would do. Me myself would put a few dollars with that price and buy a newer up to date scope. I'm glad someone bought your scope.

Whinner.

Quality stuff is a limited market.

Everyone needs a knife. Most will do with $20 Walmart’s special. Not a $300 custom.

Sa,e with guns. Optics. Etc..

If you are selling a nightforce scope. There’s only a few ppl looking to buy one.

I have sold a couple of high dollar pieces on Guns International pretty easily at solid prices. The latest, a fine custom rifle I listed for $6k and sold for $5.7k. The buyer was pleased and I was pleased. The 'fire is not the place to try and sell such stuff.

"Quality stuff is a limited market" ..........very true indeed, and many of us selling to that market unfortunately can be a bit thin skinned at times and can't understand why someone else wouldn't jump all over our "deal" for this amazing piece of the day.

Custom, and even semi custom guns for the most part fail miserably at holding value unless you find your clone that happens to have the cash and want for what you have, simple fact. Not always easy to swallow, but it is a proven fact here and on any other of the dozens of boards I've perused and purchased from. That and the afore-mentioned reality of not holding it in your hands before deciding, how many "safe dings" or other cosmetic flaws "easily buffed out, etc", how true "never shot, just mounted a scope and looked through it" really is, and you all know this list goes on and on. Just no substitute for seeing something firsthand and holding/testing it before buying, and that is ESPECIALLY true for higher priced items. That has to figure into the price, just like shipping, insurance, dealer fee, etc etc.

At the end of the day, used is still used, and it all comes down to how long you may be willing to wait for the sale.

There are several variables that cause this. It is definitely a “soft” market right now but it seems to have been that way for a little while now. But more importantly most people buying on the fire are either looking for a “steal” of a deal or a very specific item. If your item doesn’t fit either of those 2 descriptions you would be better off listing it on an auction site or local sportsman’s website.

Also, end of model year/discontinued/clearance sale items killed the used market. This has happened with several higher end scope lines in the last few years. And even the Leupold Freedom line scopes recently.

Another thing is some people walk into their local gun shop or sporting goods store and pay retail prices for things and then want to sell the used item online for 10-20% less than what he paid for it new. Well the problem with that is the same item can usually be purchased brand new online for a very similar price to what he is wanting for his used item. With that being said I’d spend a little extra $ to buy a new item from a store/dealer versus an individual who’s selling the same item listed as lightly used or even LNIB.

I would like to say items that are fairly priced on the fire they will sell but I have seen many items that were priced “right” recently that just sit there and sit there.

I think it not being close to hunting season hurts pricing and sales a little bit too

Part of what makes the classifieds here good, is also bad. It's active and ads can get buried fairly quickly. It all depends on the right buyer(s) seeing the ad when they happen to be looking.

National politics may be a factor also. With Trump and the republicans in control the urgency is not there like it was with Obama.

I've always thought of the "Campfire Classifieds" as a good place to find a bargain.

Yes, I've sold plenty here in the past....most often at bargain prices....and usually, in order to scrounge up enough funds to purchase something else at a bargain price.

I don't smoke or drink or gamble...so, I have a little extra fun money to spend here. If I lose a few dollars on a sell...no biggie. I figure I'll gain that few extra bucks back when I find something else I want at a great price here in the future.

For the most part, buying here is entertainment to me...YMMV.


Leftybolt

I like the guys who apparently don't know that gap sells LRHSi scopes for a good price....and then ask $80 bux over a new one.

I'm sitting on a sako custom in a mcmillan that I'd love to sell, but if it's not worth selling.....I'll burn powder!

I haven’t seen these “give-away prices” you speak of very often. I did pick up a like new Uberti Schofield 45 Colt 7.5 for $700 shipped.

with lower-end rifles commonly shooting moa or better there is little reason to pay more for a "quality" rifle that may or may not shoot well. same for scopes. a $200.00 (or less) scope will meet every need of the newer hunters. we older folks know and appreciate "quality" guns, but odds are we already own what we want, thus the soft market. just one mans opinion.