Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What drives used gun sales right now?

The Biden economy.
Lots of people are just putting food on the table and paying other bills. Another gun is a luxury, so they have to pass on that purchase.
The LGS has lots of used guns for sale, the foot traffic in that store is poor. People ain’t shopping for guns, like they use to shop.

Wow. Ammo shelves here are the fullest I've seen since pre Covid. Even Walmart shelves are full of ammo

As someone commented many of us here are older and or retired, what about Classics such as Pre 64 Winchester 70's and older Remington 700's, with all the new fancy rifles on the market will these begin to lose their value?

I have been in the business selling guns and accessories for a couple of years now. Here is what I have noticed. February and March suck for selling anything, unless you have something rare and desirable. You get a bump in sales in April and May which I assume is from tax return money getting to people. June through August are ok, but not great. I think people are on summer vacations, the kids are out of school, etc. September through January is by far the best time to sell a gun. Prices will be the highest and people are willing to pay for whatever reason. Now is a great time to buy and get a good deal. Just my 2 cents.

Just put one on consignment yesterday. No hurry, and that shop gets a fair amount of traffic because of its central location. Counter guy said it might take a while. No problem, they only charge 10% and I can get it back at no charge any time.

Had to move something to make room for new toys.

One thing that drives them where I live is people like to buy from a private sale so the government doesn't have a record. They are willing to pay a little more for one that has no record to them.. I wish I had bought more of mine that way.

Ppl ain’t got the funds FJB is the reason

Same here, and I do that where it’s legal, with proper ID. Lots of people want to skip that on across the border sales, but I’m too old for prison. This area is close to several other states so I get a lot of calls from over the line, and I’ve lost a bunch of sales because people don’t want to pay the fee, or want to remain anonymous, or maybe both.

I think I drive used gun sales in my area. I've been finding some deals lately but I've had to sell some to make room in the safes. Trying to be more disciplined in buying ones I really want instead of just because it's a deal. I've passed on some lately that I'd have normally bought.

Passed on a nice t3x 6.5 Creedmoor the other day for $450. It was blued and I know I prefer stainless when possible and had just ordered a sig cross with the box scope and rangefinder package. The sig cross with the shots how special optics package was too good of deal to pass up. Basically got the box scope and rangefinder free.

I'll probably end up with a seekins element in 28 nosler tomorrow unless someone beats me to it. I don't need it because I have a 7 prc but it's too good of deal to pass if it's still there in the morning.

Bb

This is huge to me, a seriously frugal type.


I used to think of a new cartridge as being a $100 in new stuff.
When bullets and powder were $20, brass $30/100, dies $35.

Someone who hasn't been loading for over 15 years will think I'm lying.

Sadly, most of that stuff is 200% higher now, or worse

Our local shops are busting at the seams with new guns and ammo. Many will not trade for a gun unless it's heavily in their favor. Ammo is high enough most can't afford to shoot up hundreds of dollars in a weekend.

I'm thinning my stuff out and getting down to what I really use.

Nobody wants what boomers are selling off?

The new wiz bang cartridges that do very little (admit it…..) more than a good old round….. just drain dollars from people. It’s all about marketing.

Smart man

You're talking about every Weatherby cartridge aren't you (admit it)

I have an acquaintance that is always getting a new truck, trading the last in on a new one. It's like he has a revolving garage door. Anyhow, he is commonly heard saying, "It was too good of a deal, I couldn't afford not to buy it!". It always makes me grin. I wasn't in line with what he was saying. On the other hand, I'm right in line with you!

Like was mentioned by others, I prefer to buy person to person locally if I can. It's nice not to have taxes, shipping, and the paperwork. I wish I could say those slow me down with online purchases but I can't.

So many of the rifles I buy, I purchase out of curiosity. I like to try different rifles, chamberings, etc. Nothing beats hands on shooting and using one. I could make due with anything from a .223 on up for my hunting and be fine. I just enjoy trying different firearms. That's what generally drives my gun purchases.

I'm pretty bad about not being able to pass up a deal on vehicles too. I've done better than most on vehicles especially the last few years. I bought before I really needed them because I got some incredible deals. My BIL always gave me crap about it.

Then his honda mini van died in the middle of a family vacation about 2 years ago when everything was super expensive. He ended up taking a total loss on his trade in because the engine went out. IIRC they didn't give him anything for and just charged him for the tow. He was far from home and in a bad spot and they new it. Then he paid well over MSRP for a new one and didn't get the features he wanted.

About 8 months before that he gave me crap for trading in our sienna that had about 90,000 miles on it. I got a good trade in on my old one and got the new one for about $13,000 under msrp and then got another $7500 plug in tax credit. I traded early in 2021 before things went crazy.

I knew covid was going to mess up the supply so I bought the pacifica on a deal and ordered an f150 hybrid just how I wanted. I locked in invoice and another $5k or so in rebates and by the time it was built and showed up the dealer was offering me $10k just to let them sell it to someone else. I almost did it but they had just given me $9k cash value more on my 2019 ram than I paid for it new. I also sold my wife's 2019 jeep for thousands more than we paid so I kept the new f150.

Those were some weird times in the auto world and I was lucky I bought when there was good deals instead of waiting until I need one. My BIL ended up about $25k more into his vehicle that stickered for less than mine did because he was trying to be cheap and run his old one until it died. Additionally, he could have got about $10k out of his old one if he hadn't waited until the motor blew. He doesn't bother me about my vehicle purchasing anymore.

I'm going to need to sell a few more guns though after this morning. I got the havak element new in box in 28 nosler for about $1550 after tax and they had a proof elevation 20" 308 marked down to under $2200 so I dropped almost $4k this morning. My 7 prc element shoots so well I couldn't turn down another at that price. And my proof elevation in 6.5 Creedmoor shoots very well so I had to try the 308. The 20" 308 balances much better than my Creedmoor.

I'd been watching the clearance price on the proof and seekins come down over the last few months. When the shop said they were going to have an additional 10% off on clearance guns today I set my alarm and made the morning drive. If you live near a Cal Ranch store today's a good day to look at their clearance guns and ammo.

Bb

Several factors. First, the used gun market seems saturated. Lot of people bought stuff they are finding that they don't need after all. Credit card bills coming due, etc. Second, during COVID, manufacture of new guns was very low creating more demand for used. And third, yep, prices of used guns have not dropped to match the reality of current demand.

In my home state, Oregon, it's worse because in the year+ when Measure 114 had passed but was on hold, people spend a LOT of money, mad money, buying guns while they could. The clerks at Sportsman's Warehouse told me of a number of people buying 20-30 guns at a time. Now that 114 has been deemed unconstitutional, that panic buying has turned into "oops" sales .. or sales attempts.

This is not a good time to buy anything are not absolutely sure you want to keep 'cause likely you're going to be stuck with it for a while. (Voice of experience. :))

Tom

I usually stop by my favorite LGS once a week, just to be sure they haven't got something on the consignment rack that I really, really need. Lately, it seems, there hasn't been much turnover. I have a couple of rifles I'm thinking of sending down the road, but for some reason I just haven't been motivated to do so.

There has been a Weatherby Vanguard compact .243 Win. on the shelf for over a year. It is $615 and has a bit of rust on the bolt. It aint selling and I am not buying it for that price when it has rust on the bolt. Another gun shop said he was not buying any guns till spring... I want to trade in a Savage 12FV in /223 Rem bull barrel for a lighter .223.. It shoots good , but is a bench gun and nothing more.