a little gun value help please

allen levine

Member
Messages
12,340
Location
new york city burbs
I dont do much shooting anymore so I think I want to cash in my handguns.
I have no clue what they are worth, they are all basically in excellent condition,(I was told recently by a gun nut) not used that much, cleaned, kept lubricated.

is there any place online to give me some kind of guide without me having to purchase a book on values?
 
Yes, indeed.
Go to: http://www.auctionarms.com/
or
http://www.gunbroker.com/

Personally, I like Auction Arms best but both are good. AA has an excellent search feature.

And, because Pay Pal does not allow use of it's accounts for transactions relating to firearms a new on-line payment system recently came into being. It is: https://www.gunpal.com/gp

GunPal was set up by people who do not like PP. Reportedly it is a good system. I signed on but have yet used it.

All handguns are good sellers currently, you should be able to get fair prices if they are in good condition.
 
I hate to harass a fellow woodworker and family member but, SELL YOUR GUNS! Unless you're buying new ones...................I just don't know anyone who sells guns just to sell them except some gun shop owners. I guess if you were buying a lathe or some other expensive woodworking equipment. :dunno: :D

Allen, need I remind you (absolutely in a friendly, family, brotherly, jesting kind of way) we the people need to hold fast to our traditions and to the republic for which it stands, (whats left of it) indivisable, with liberty (enforced by private ownership of firearms) and justice for all.

Sorry, I just want to help. :D:D
 
I only have 2 hands, and if I ever need to bear arms to defend myself, my family or my country, Im am keeping the appropiate weapons for that.
Im not selling my norincos, my shotguns, my 9mm handguns.

Last year I decided to trade in a colt mustang .380 I carried for 25 years.
I paid 330 bucks for the gun in the 80s.
I just wanted to get 25 bucks for it, figured its served it duty.
The gun dealer started with well, the barrel isnt this, the whatever, I just said to him, ok, just tell me what youll give me for it, (I purchased a new handgun, I had to get rid of the mustang) He said the best he could do is 250.
What? 250? I owned and shot 1000 rounds through a gun I didnt take the best care of for 25 years and he offered me 70 percent of what I paid?
time to get rid of handguns like national gold cup ss, mk2 bullnose ss, 686 ss 357
I have no use for these handguns and others.
I used to do alot of shooting.
 
so how do these sites give me a free idea of what a handgun is worth?
I like kellys blue book when I type in a car and get the value.

They compare, roughly, to eBay. You can see what people are trying to sell for, what others bid and what they end up selling for. Great resource. Or you can buy books of gun values, which, in my opinion and experience, are only very rough guides. Values of guns varies dramatically with where they are being sold. You can also search the manufacturers sites which often give their reccomended retail selling prices. But those are only guides. Some guns it is hard to get 50% of new even if in good condition. Others will bring nearly 100%, or more in the case of hard to find models.
 
We used to have a book on gun values. It worked real good once you figured it out. If the book said the gun was worth 200 bucks than you could sell it for about 110. Which meant to us that we would only pay 50 ish for it.
We took a bunch of old colts to a colt gun show for a doctor once that had the same book. He priced every thing at the excellent/rare conduction from that book. We walked in and set up his stuff in the show looked around at the other vendors to see what they had just to find that all most every table in the place looked just like ours only with the price tags at just about half what ours where. Called the doc and told him you know this gun you have a price of 2500 on, well there is 25 of them here at the show all priced around 1500. The Doc says the book says it's worth 25 hundred so that's what the price is. My boss at the time told him that when some one jumps out of that book with 2500 and hands it to you than that's what it's worth but here in the real world it's 1500. That whole weekend we had maybe 3 offers all refused by the Doc. On the up side we got an all expanse paid vacation to Vegas.:thumb:
So the short of it is watch the auctions Frank told ya about and you might take 10% off what they are going for at auction to have a real world live person cash deal. And maybe as much as 50% less to a dealer.
 
Here is another option Frank, http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/index.php There is a section where you can ask what it is worth. I don't know if you have to register to ask or not, like here, just to be sure it isn't trolls.
The S&W SS 686, four inch barrel? 357 right? Condition and price? PM me. I carried one on duty for over four years, traded it off for a hunting handgun, regretted it ever since (to the point I don't sell guns). I know it isn't my old duty gun, but would feel better.
 
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