We had a visit from a couple of ladies, recently, who had no realistic idea of the possibilities in converting material assets into cash. They had an unrealistic idea of the value of the guns they offered, in other words. They probably won’t see this, but it may help someone else, in future, should they need to sell a gun.
I realize that the makes and models are very specific; I’ll try to keep to principles, rather than specific, limited cases.
First gun: Browning .22LR semi-automatic rifle.
This model was first made in Belgium, by Fabrique Nationale, in 1956; production was suspended in 1974. A Grade I (basic, nice gun) with the original box and clutter should be worth upwards of $775 according to the Blue Book of Gun Values: that’s the first point I need to make. A reputable dealer, in front of the prospective seller or not, generally works from the BBoGV - not because it is infallible - but because it is objective - anyone in the country can consult it and come up with the same values.
Now, that $775 figure assumes that the gun is unfired and unblemished. If the original box had been missing, the gun would be worth $50 less. Second point (which will arise again later) is that minor points can change values noticeably.
In 1976, production of the Browning semi-auto resumed at Miroku, in Japan. And a 100%-condition gun from Miroku is only worth - at best - about $445 - $330 less! And all “they” did was to move production to Japan! Well, collectors can be funny guys - and, without a collector raising the bar, your Browning .22 semi-auto is a pretty shooter - value, about $150. A Marlin 60 would be more valuable, since - well, who cares if he nicks the beechwood stock of a Marlin?
That $445 is retail, of course - but anyone trying to sell a used gun to a dealer is in the same position as a distributor of new guns and should only expect the wholesale value - which is roughly 50% of retail. So your Japanese Browning is worth about $200 - $220 to an honest dealer.
Second gun: Remington 870 Express 12 ga. combo.
Still in production - but with a deer barrel equipped with a cantilever scope mount - so, if your gun ain’t got it (it didn’t), its shooter value plummets. 100%-condition value of the combo with the cantilever mount is $465; we’ll scratch our heads and allow a retail value of $375 for an unfired combo, in the original box. Wholesale? $175, most likely.
Third gun: Mossberg 500, .410 bore.
The Blue Book says a .410 500, unfired, in the box, is worth about $250 retail. Had it been the youth (”Bantam”) model, that would drop to $188. Wholesale on a $250 gun, of course, is $125 at most. Without the box…
“Wait a minute,” she says, “a man at another shop I was at earlier said the Mossberg was worth $795 -”
“Why didn’t you sell it to him?”
“Well, he wasn’t offering $795 -”
“Well, talk is cheap, isn’t it? Did he quote an authority? Or did he reminisce about a GunBroker sale?”
Just remember: unless you’re looking at Ended Auctions, the prices on GunBroker are for guns no one has bought yet - and, thus, may be totally unrealistic.
Those are a few things you need to remember when trying to sell a gun to a dealer: get objective quotes, remember the difference between retail and wholesale, discount stories about Internet (and gunshow!) prices unless you know the gun sold at that price.
One more thing: seasons affect prices - and the current state of the economy is even worse on offers: figure any offer is going to be lower than it might have been 5 years ago!
