What happened to gun shows?

[jrock]

Gun shows to me are just that, shows. Come look at people's collections and surplus. I went to one with my dad a year ago and he wanted to walk away with something. Had to keep pulling him back as I knew the prices were more than local box stores for something new. I like to look for donor rifles for practice projects and can't find anything <$400. I stopped going unless its a social outing.

 

[PawneeStrider74a]

I think It is all about the money nowadays. Time was that if you bought a rifle and paid $500.00 dollars for it, used it for 10 years and decided to sell it to buy a bigger more powerful rifle/cartridge. you would try to sell it for 3 or $400.00 dollars and consider it a good deal considering you got 10 years of good service out of it and you got to use it for 10 to 15 dollars a year. So if anything it was essentially free.

Now People want to make a profit even if they enjoyed it and want more than the original purchase price. Nothing wrong with making profit, but it does seam like most people want more than they paid for it new.

So a person needs/has to know the original price and the deprecation of the used rifle and its condition before buying.

There are very few good/fair deals to be had any more and you just have to resist paying to much and just keep looking. And if you are looking for something very popular at the moment, you probably wont find any good deals.

J E CUSTOM

Here is a news flash; guns do not deprecate in value, eh? Any desirable gun in good condition cost more today than it did when it was new.

 

[DSheetz]

Very interesting thread !

 

[newmexkid]

About as interesting as watching grass grow!!

 

[Holycity73]

Believe it or not. We have gun shows in CA. They are the same. I looked at a beat to hell rem700 short action for a build. 243 I think it was. Stock was cracked, barrel&action had exterior surface rust, and the bore had not been cleaned in 40 years. Guy wanted $550 for it. Would not budge a penny.

But that there raffle took down a South American local world record pigmy mule elk at 40987 yards in hurricane force winds using nothing but a set of crossed paper straws for a rest.
Look it up.

 

[jrock]

Even pawn shops are the same or worse. I remember 15 years ago when I was looing for my first varmint rig and I went to all the local pawn shops. Everything was about $50 less than a brand new gun. I feel that once someone is educated on barrel life, buying a used gun for anything more than 60% of its new value isn't going to happen.

 

[chickm1]

Firearm violence and Democrats are what happened to gun shows.

 

[Holycity73]

Here is a news flash; guns do not deprecate in value, eh? Any desirable gun in good condition cost more today than it did when it was new.

Maybe for a collector firearm, but I believe the point was being made as a generalization. Used is used. Prices should reflect status compared to new.
Same goes for cars.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

The last couple gun shows I have been to have been a complete disappointment with the one I was at today to be included. Whatever happend to being able to get a used gun for a decent price? I feel like people are way too attached to their stuff. There wasn't a single gun or optic worth buying in the whole place that I could go buy cheaper, and new off the rack at any retail store. Anyways, rant over. Maybe it's just a trend in the the northwest. I have to go to one every couple years to be reminded how disappointing they can be.

I think the big thing is, the post Newtown rush on guns/ammo and subsequent period of scarce availability drove an entire subculture of people who found items on sale and sold them to unwitting buyers at a marked up price. People were buying $400-500 Busmaster AR's for thousands of dollars at that time. Aero Precision lowers were going for hundreds. However, even with all the current media sensation and political pressure, prices and supply have returned to levels approaching pre-Obama presidency levels. Which is a good thing for consumers... but a very bad thing for the gun show vultures.

This whole shift though drove people into the mindset that they can buy a gun at retail and immediately sell it for a profit... it just isn't true right now.

People also seem to think that for whatever reason their generic plastic stocked Remington appreciates in value, or that by somehow adding a $30 weaver base and a cheap walmart scope that they have somehow added value to their gun, but that's an entirely different problem that is neither new, nor will it go away anytime soon.

 

[PawneeStrider74a]

I go to gun shows for the social interaction; I almost always learn something new about guns. I will buy some of the high priced guns if it is something I want. For example Kel-tecs a real dealer can't seem to get them but they show up over priced at a gun show. When Qbuma was in the White House we had a hard time finding certain models: ex. the Ruger 556 but there they were over priced at the gun show. Now you can get them on sale for a couple of $100 less but I wanted it right then? Here in Indiana there are too many gun shows; it is the same dealers with the same guns at every show. Another thing about gun shows is most of the used guns where un-wanted by the previous owner; they have some thing wrong with them. Another caution is some of the sellers who are not FFL holders may have unknowingly put a HOT gun up for sale. When you by in a private sale from a stranger you take your chances. But, enjoy gun shows while you can for for sooner or later the government is going to stop them, eh?

 

[skipglo]

I had the exact same results this weekend in Alberta Canada....so you are not alone! This show and sale two years ago was BIG..( for us at least) over 200 vendors....this year there were about 20.....all junk and as you said...there wasn't a used gun a person couldn't have bought cheaper New.... I guess it's a definite sign of our economic times...! On another note..with a show failing the crowd that did go.. would I chance the 20.00 entrance fee the next time they come back?.... Probably not..so shows like this will dry up and blow away on their own accord .

 

[arch408]

I starting working out of Phoenix in the late 90's so I was spending a lot of time there. I went to gun shows regularly over the ensuring years until I retired and left there. I was able to find bargains (at first). As the years wore on, the bargains diminished. Shows at the Fairgrounds were huge. Parking and entry fees also added to the costs. I went once looking for a specific part. I never found it, but I did find a vender that had it his shop although it was listed on his price sheet. When I inquired about it, he told that he would ship to me for a lower price including shipping. When I asked why, he told me "these are show prices". I went to many shows that I never bought anything.

 

[Black Tail Hunter]

When i was a kid growing up (late 80's early 90's) i loved going to the local gun shows. You could find really fascinating obscure items, like loaded 600 nitro rounds, old original Colt Commando Ar's, or nice bolt rifles and have interesting conversations with guys who spent too much time reading Soldier of Fortune magazine. Now its just table after table of brand new overpriced guns. You have to scour the entire show just to find a table or two of the old guys who have cleaned out the reloading bench or safe of unwanted tools or gadgets. Its too bad they have gone downhill so much.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

Here is a news flash; guns do not deprecate in value, eh? Any desirable gun in good condition cost more today than it did when it was new.

"Desirable" is a very important modifier here. A generic Rem700/Win70,or all the glocks and glock clones out there etc don't increase in value (or even hold their original value) by simple virtue of age or having successfully sent rounds downrange without exploding.

Unless it has historical value, or is rare etc. it's just a tool... using it decreases the remaining useful life and the price decreases accordingly. Simple math.