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LGS buying guns

3K views 30 replies 24 participants last post by  Al the Infidel 
#1 ·
Wanted to ask if anyone knows about how much LGS may offer for used guns versus how much they will sell it for. Is there a percentage or do they offer the least they think a seller will take? My results in the past have been mediocre offerings on what I had to sell.
 
#2 ·
The offers are as varied as the color of hair on a college canpus now.

I had a store offer me $200 for a shotgun. Sold it privately for $800. So they wabt big margins. Two other local stores have told me straight, one store will pay you $100 less than the firearm would sell for on gunbroker. The other will pay $50 less than he thinks he can sell it for.
 
#3 ·
I would say half or less if you are lucky. Gunbroker is the way to go to get market value but then you have to collect FFL info and ship which is not that bad in most states. California has made it a hassle for inbound shipments but doesn't give a rip for out bound.
 
#27 ·
In college I worked in a small gun shop, and our guideline was if you by it for cash, pay as little as possible, but no more than 50% of what it will sell for in 6 months. In trades, we did 50% of value, but if gun being bought was a sleeper, something on the shelf more than a year, it could be as much as 70%, get the old stock out the door!

A business is doing well with pre tax profits at 8 to 10 percent, but there are many things they have to cover other than the cost of the product they sell. A sole proprietorship, will need higher than that, unless they are grossing millions!
 
#7 ·
15-30% for consignment sales with the lgs's around here, about double that if they buy it outright from you. Average is about 20% for consignment sale---remember that they are bringing the serial number into their FFL books, using their retail space, sales staff and time to sell it---none of that is free. That is the price you are paying for the convenience of having them sell it for you or for you to be able to sell it immediately.

Trading it in for another gun at the lgs has always gotten me better deals than just selling it or consigning as it was usually just a 5-10% loss of value. Selling it yourself is the best cash option. Although I remember one S&W revolver, it stung to see them list it for double what they gave me in trade in, but it took them almost a year to sell it to a much larger customer base than what was available to me. I still got what was comparable to full selling price on gunbroker on that trade at the time so I really cant complain.
 
#9 ·
I bought a brand new Remington 11-87 once, from a LGS... never took it out of the box, and went to trade it back to them a week later for a different shotgun, and keep in mind, I just bought this gun from them for $750.00. They offered me $275.00 for it. I never did business with the gun store ever again. They will rob you blind if you let them.
 
#10 ·
A friend in the used musical instrument business told me that his rule of thumb was to buy for 50% of what he thought he could get for it. I would imagine it's similar with firearms, as with most other used items.

As others have said, your best bet is to sell it yourself -- online gives you the best exposure. Second choice is consignment. Third choice is a trade-in. Selling it to a retail outlet is dead last.
 
#11 ·
When I owned a pawnshop/FFL I typically offered about 50-60 percent of what I thought the gun would realistically bring. IMO, that's a reasonable offer from the reseller's perspective. He/she is assuming risk (stolen gun, undisclosed mechanical issues, etc.), plus the FFL has overhead costs and must make the effort to sell the gun. The FFL may see his money sit on the rack for quite a while before he gets a return on his investment.

If the seller wants to receive top dollar, then THEY can do all the work and spend the money to attract retail buyers. When a seller expects close to retail value for a quick TODAY sale, they're being unrealistic. They want top dollar, they can find a buyer and get the thing sold. Advertise it locally and deal with tire kickers, post it on gunbroker, etc. They'll quickly learn there are costs and effort required to sell a gun.

All that said, a seller will do better in a more competitive market. Again, when I had my shop I always knew I was competing against the other FFL buyers in town. If I tried low-balling a seller, they would likely just head down the street and sell elsewhere.

Sellers should shop the gun around. Take it to every pawn and gun shop in town and get an offer from each. Sell where you get the best price . . . or decide to maximize your return by selling it yourself.
 
#12 ·
Resale value................

My LGS will only pay slightly less than what wholesale price would be and that is for a gun in the box with all accessories and paperwork. Rather than selling items outright, I do better to trade on another gun or item. That usually works best for both parties. On the rare occasion that I simply want to get rid of a gun I put it there on consignment. The shop usually gets about 10% of the selling price. In my experience, pawn shops seem to be stingier and will only pay about one fourth of the real value. I was at a local pawn shop one day when a customer walked in with a briefcase full of Colt pistols and revolvers. He pawned the entire lot for $800 and then never came back to get them out of pawn. I bought two of the Colts, a Model 1903 (.32) and an Officers Model revolver (.22) for a total of $900! And the shop still had 4 or 5 other Colts to sell! Such a deal!
 
#14 ·
At our store the policy is that we will try to determine what we can sell the item for, and offer the seller 60% of that amount for a cash out, or 70% for a trade toward a purchase. Sales tax is charged on the difference, so that is an additional 7.25% value to the customer. We explain that to the seller before an offer is made, and I share with them what I believe our retail price will be for the firearm. I don't feel even a little bit bad when they decline to sell a gun to us.
 
#26 ·
This fair and typical. My LGS charges 30%. I've never had any luck selling on consignment, even after lowering the prices at 2 different LGS. Go figure. The best of the two will not trade for a gun they cannot sell. I tried to trade a nearly new R51 Remington. They wouldn't touch it because they had trouble getting rid of new ones at bargain prices. We generally know who tries to low-ball us and who makes decent offers. Just keep in mind that they are trying to make a living and we are just trying to get rid of something we no longer want. I always feel fortunate that I live in a place where I have the freedom to buy and trade guns without anyone's permission.
 
#16 ·
Selling your gun to a gun dealer for cash is like selling your car to a car dealer for cash - you're going to get a rock bottom price, so the convenience had better be worth it to you. Don't do it unless you are desperate for quick cash.

Selling it directly is the best way, consider using an auction site like GunBroker.

Next best is putting it up for consignment. Get the terms of the consignment IN WRITING. When I worked in a gun shop, we loved consignment because it allowed us to have an inventory of used guns to attract customers without having to invest any money.
 
#17 ·
I notice that no one has mentioned RFCs Trading Post. For reasonably priced firearms and other shooting items, the Trading Post has been pretty good for me. No cost to you for listing and/or selling. Lots of members, but not the volume of gunbroker, etc. The last firearm I sold on gunbroker sold for a couple of thousand and I was charged over a hundred to sell it. I tried the trading post, but higher priced firearms may take a lot longer to sell. Plus, my FFL only ships via UPS and that was another $75. Handguns are a pain to ship unless a LGS will do post office shipping. You can ship long guns your self to most places for cheap.

JME, djc
 
#18 ·
I have been selling a few rimfires on consignment at a local shop. I took in 10 last March and the shop sold 6 soon after. 2 more sold over time and one just sits there looking good. I took in 8 more and several sold soon after. I think 6 are just sitting waiting for a buyer. Small shop without a lot of traffic. The shop gets 15% and that has worked out well for me because he is getting higher prices that I would have asked for if I was selling them myself. Also here in Oregon we cant do private party sales without going through an FFL and they generally charge $25+ to do the transfer. I am surprised by what sells and what sits. Only problem I have had is that a front sight turned up missing from a BRNO 1 at the last gun show that the shop owner had a table at.
 
#19 ·
I talked to the fellows at my local Cabelas Gun Library about this. They find book value and then offer 80%. At least that's what they told me.

I've only done this once. I traded a Coope Jackson SR (wood) .17hmr and $12 for a new Kimber Adirondack. I didn't know much about Gun Broker at that time and probably could have done a few hundred better had I sold it there and then bought the Kimber there.

I do love the super light Adirondack though (.308). This was about 4 years ago.
 
#20 ·
A few things:

My local guy charges 10% on consigned guns. Hypothetically, if you want $1000 for something, he'll stick $1100 on it and will any pass any reasonable offers to you. He has 3 different color tags: new, used and consigned

There are always 3 prices on a firearm
1. what the owner thinks it worth
2. what someone will pay for it in a private sale
3. what a dealer will pay you for it to stick it on his rack
Potentially a 4th
4. Lord, after I'm gone, please don't let my wife sell my guns for what she thinks I paid for them

Sales, not listings, on Gunbroker are a good source of value. Amoskeag Auction has a good search tool to find sold for pricing as well

If you do have something of value or historical and take it to be appraised, it is completely unethical for the appraiser to then offer to buy it. Huge red flag
 
#21 ·
One local shop charged me 20% when I put two shotguns on consignment...and I priced them really low to sell quickly. They had 50+ used long guns on the racks but mine weren't (ever) on display when I checked. After a couple weeks I asked where my guns were...their answer was "being cleaned first". 2-3 months later, still not on display.

I finally found out one of their employees was taking my guns to gun shows under a private sale, jacking the price up over and above our agreed selling price and pocketing the difference. When no gun shows were happening they kept my guns (high quality and rare) out of sight. Mine were used as gun show inventory and never displayed for sale in the shop. That was an old established gun shop for decades but folded a short time later. If I ever consign anything again I will be more careful in the details.
 
#25 ·
The shop I have mine consigned at works with me to set prices and they don't drop the prices without consulting with me. I have authorized him to come down up to 10% as needed to make a deal. What I often see is a gun owner that puts to high a price on the consigned gun and it just sits on the shelf forever. The shop I have consigned at does some of the bigger local gun shows and I allow him to take my rifles to the shows. He has sold maybe 6 at the shop and 6 at the shows .They are not private sales they have to do the federal paperwork at Oregon gun shows.
 
#31 ·
And there is that, besides missing a front sight as HUSH discovered.

My Mini-14's new owner only received 4 out of the 5 mags I included with it...seen on the paperwork I got back after the LGS ended up selling it on GB. It wouldn't sell here. I still got what I wanted, err, asked.
 
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