Best way to sell gun?

[GunWhatGun]

I've been thinking about downsizing and selling some pistols and rifles that I haven't shot in awhile. I've bought on Gunbroker before. But is worth it to try to sell on Gunbroker as an individual? Or is it worth it to try selling on the Classified section on the forum?
Obviously, just selling at the local gun store is the easiest. At the LGS, of course, they need to make money on the transaction, so what is a typical percentage of the price you might see on Gunbroker or other sites that you might be offered?
What have been your experience? Just trying to figure out whether it's worth the headaches and fees? Thanks for any info.

[thebearpack]

Short answer is, the more work you put into the sale, the more money you'll make.

You can take them to a dealer and get cash in minutes but it will only be 40% of their value. You can take a couple pictures and list them on this site's classifieds but your audience will be limited to your local area and (in my experience) you'll get a lot of people trying to beat you up on price. Or you can take detailed pictures and create thorough listings for Gunbroker in which case you'll have a national audience and will get the most money, but you will have to ship. Again, more work = bigger payoff.

For what it's worth, I've almost completely given up trying to sell on this forum. Many prospective buyers here seem to think every seller is behind on rent and desperate. Have actually had better results on Armslist. By the way, GB is not that hard to use and once you get the hang of it, you can copy/paste most of the required info.

[Aggies Coach]

Best way to sell a 9mm handgun is to sell it to me at a reasonable price......

[Xringshooter]

The LGS route is the easiest but...If you sell outright to a LGS (not trading in or going to buy something else), you'll probably get 50% or less than it is worth (at book value). Selling in the classifieds here is easy, as is going the GunBroker or other auction site route. Also, check the reputation of all the auction sites, some seem to attract a lot of undesirables. Gunbroker has sections that will explain exactly how everything works and what the charges will be if you sell. Personally, I would not use Craigslist, I've just heard too many bad stories. It may be good for some things, but guns are not one of them, it seems to bring out the worst people. Also, buyers like to see good, sharp pictures of the gun they may be buying and always be completely honest when you describe the gun. If you want to see some gun values (what they are actually selling for) go to GunBroker and do a search for the gun you are selling in the Completed Auctions list and look at the ones that actually sold (typically those will have more than 1 or 2 bids). A 0 bid means it didn't sell at the asking price so don't use it.

And most importantly, beware of scammers. If you want to know more about how they operate, there should be numerous places to read about them (on here and other forums) and how they operate. Just remember, if it sounds too good to be true, even with buyers, it probably isn't. That said, there are scammers out there but there are even more people looking for good guns at good prices and they will, if they want the gun, abide by how YOU want to do the deal. YOU are selling it, YOU dictate the way it will be sold. If a buyers tries to get you to do something (anything) that you are not comfortable with, no sale.

[MovingtoAmerica]

This forum has been the easiest way to sell stuff for me

[300zx_tt]

Toss them in the classifieds with 3-4 pics each and your good, if they don't sell on here then go to gunbroker.

[McSull]

Toss them in the classifieds with 3-4 pics each and your good, if they don't sell on here then go to gunbroker.

This is the way I do it.

[chmcnm]

Toss them in the classifieds with 3-4 pics each and your good, if they don't sell on here then go to gunbroker.

I'll second this. An earlier reply noted that buyers will lowball you. It also goes the other way. Sellers asking retail for used guns. I use Gunbroker to determine a fair market price. I look at guns that actually have bids, not what buyers are asking. If you don't have a buyer put cash in your hand within a week or two you're price is probably too high or there's no market locally for that gun. Use GB at that point to widen your audience. Good luck.

[KCJones]

I'll second this. An earlier reply noted that buyers will lowball you. It also goes the other way. Sellers asking retail for used guns. I use Gunbroker to determine a fair market price. I look at guns that actually have bids, not what buyers are asking. If you don't have a buyer put cash in your hand within a week or two you're price is probably too high or there's no market locally for that gun. Use GB at that point to widen your audience. Good luck.

Yeah. Lowballing happens. On the other hand, the classifieds here are rife with stuff for sale that's been sitting for months being bumped over and over because... it's priced too high. When I've sold here, i've sold at what I think is a 'fair' price and stuff has typically moved quickly.

In terms of pricing, consider these things:

1) The buyer's perspective: Why on earth would anyone buy a used gun for at/near the retail value (by retail value I mean what you can actually buy it for at a good LGS and/or legit online store, not what Cabela's charges). I can go to a store or online, get a brand-new gun, use my credit card, typically get some sort of warranty, etc. For in-store used, in my experience, good condition 'used' guns at LGS go for something like 80% of retail. And don't forget to factor in the FFL transfer fee that you or the buyer is going to have to pay...

2) Your perspective: Why on earth would you hassle with selling a gun privately unless you can get notably more than the 40-50% of retail value you'd get at a gun shop, cash-in-hand, quick and easy.

If those two things make you suspect that I believe something around 70% of retail value is "the zone", you're not wrong. That assumes a gun in good shape, with its original accessories, and not heavily used. If you've got 10,000 rounds through it, no clue where the original box/manual/etc is, it's scratched and rubbed, dirty... Those are all factors.

That's for relatively modern/recent guns that are commonly available retail/used. If you have stuff that's rare or collectible, that's a different story entirely, and far outside my area of knowledge.

[39flathead]

I'll second this. An earlier reply noted that buyers will lowball you. It also goes the other way. Sellers asking retail for used guns. I use Gunbroker to determine a fair market price. I look at guns that actually have bids, not what buyers are asking. If you don't have a buyer put cash in your hand within a week or two you're price is probably too high or there's no market locally for that gun. Use GB at that point to widen your audience. Good luck.

I never get lowballed, well once I did but the guy was a total troll who thought a $1000 discount and me traveling six hours to meet him was a good deal for the both of us.

Guys bitch about lowballing but many don't realize that local prices across the state vary wildly.
A $600 Glock might be a "deal" near Philly (because that's what I see them advertised for), but around here $400 is the going price for a used Glock.
Guys that bitch also may not be describing their item well.
An ad with no pictures selling a "rare" M91-30 Mosin for $600 means shit to guys that cannot see it's an ex-PE sniper in original wood without import marks. So of course the seller will get $150 offers.


Pictures and actual real world pricing sell guns, not wishful thinking.