Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Difference between used gun prices wholesale vs. retail ???

Is there a rule-of-thumb percentage difference between the wholesale and retail price of used firearms? For instance, if one was buying a multi-gun estate I would expect to pay a fair percentage less than the aggregate retail price of the guns. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks, RS

I was told by the manager at a lgs that buys used guns they pay 20-30% below retail price for used guns.

No simple answer - many, many of the used guns I see are better than - worth more - than many new models.

The two guys I know that buy such amounts from an estate or from a person getting rid of a collection have stored a lot of value knowledge in their heads. They have a way of arriving at a solid estimate of what the whole kaboodle is worth and offering cash at about 50% of what they think they can get in return. They can go upward with the offer if necessary and they feel it is worthwhile, but their willingness to buy everything - down to the last sling or gun bag - makes their approach more attractive to the seller.

My experience with selling used guns is that dealers will offer no more than 60% of what they expect to sell the gun for and will try to buy it for less. That's why most people selling through a dealer go to a consignment model rather than a straight sale.

Private buyers may pay more, but I'd expect a private buyer making a bulk buy to discount the package significantly from retail unless there is something really special in the stuff for sale.

Depends on if it is a proven rifle or not. "Yes, but it's a proven rifle!" was the answer a friend got when he asked a guy at a gun show why his used rifle was priced like a new one.

A "proven rifle" sounds like a typical gunshow BS reply. How is "proven" defined/determined ?

A seller can claim anything he wishes, and they often do such stuff. The term means nothing to the buyer unless the buyer already has used/shot/closely examined the piece. I may like the way it is made, looks and feels - but buying on that basis it is a crap shoot with regard to performance. Much of the time I can work with one to the point where satisfied with performance. If that fails, they go down the road again.

If I’m buying a collection, it’ll be at 50% of retail. There is a lot of time and leg work involved in turning a collection into cash. For me, that has a monetary value. It also has a monetary value to a person who “just wants it out of here”. I will also make clear the reason for my seemingly lowball offer.

^^^^what Greg said, I am upfront with the heir... M'am, rifleX will bring 600 maybe when I sell it, but I am taking all the risk, doing all the appraisal work, cleaning, transporting and paying for the table at a show or advertising...so I am only going to offer you 66% of what I hope to get on the back end, here is the current book, take a look. If you will go for 66%, I'll take the whole Maryann.
I live in a very thinly populated rural area, word of mouth is EVERYTHING. I only have 2 things to offer, hassle reduction for the heir and honesty.

This jives with what I have seen.

Thanks, RS

We paid 50% of retail new for good used guns and marked them at 75% to 80% of our retail new pricing.

50%-70% of used guns retail value at favorite firearm honey honey hole. Skewed one end or the other depending on demand/likelihood of turning over quickly.

In a quantity buy (5 or more) The price would be lower. It really depends on what it is that they are selling. Really clean old desirable ones? A mix match? When asked this question I have always said put them on consignment at a good LGS. You might pay 20% of the sale price, but you will get what the market will bare. Auctions are a better deal, for the seller, but they have their costs as well.

In the past year I have bought some pretty nice pieces very fairly priced on consignment locally. The LGS's will turn them for their 10 - 15%, not unlike a realtor.