A friend of mine has a very nice nickle 6" 27-2 he's interested in selling. I figured sure, popular model, should go fast and bring a good price.
However, over the last week or so I've been watching the classifieds here and the auction sites. They don't seem to be selling. Several at what I consider decent prices aren't even being bid on. Is it the nickle plating? A sign of the times? Something else?
I was thinking in the $600 -650 price range. Too much in the current market?
My friend needs the money and now I don't know what to tell him.

I think if it was a 4 inch, it would sell better, I know I am a 4 inch kind a guy

A friend just purchased a LNIB 6" Blue 27-2with 3Ts in a wood box in exc shape for $695 but
that is here in CA where guns like that sell quick because
they can NO longer be brought in from OUTSIDE the state.

Pete

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NRA LIFE 1974

>>I think if it was a 4 inch, it would sell better<<

Ditto the above. The trend nowadays is in favor of shorter vs. longer guns.

The sales of all handguns has slowed down from the peak after the election. This incudes pretty much all handguns except maybe rare collectible models of which the 27-2 doesn't fit. The prices has softened also and I see guns on the auction sites and even here on our forum that would have been snapped up months ago just sitting there even after several price reductions.

You should list it here.

One of the fallacies that seems to drive prices in some areas is "what the auctions list for". There are scads of guns listed on the auctions that never get any bids; just because their price range for a particular model may be uniform, doesn't mean anybody is buying.

If you look at the ones that are selling, they are usually collectible specimens, or of a barrel length/configuration that are harder to come by.

You can lament that the market is somewhat inflated and you'd probably be correct, but what the market will bear is the market price. I used to get frustrated when someone insisted that their gun was worth $100 more than I considered it to be because "that's what they list for on Gunbroker" or "that's what the book says !". Oh well, . . .

I just pass and wait for someone with a little more realistic expectations or decide if I want it bad enough to pay a premium. Depends on the particular model. Everyone remembers and still sees reverberations from the "Dirty Harry" model 29 shortages of the 70's and 80's - it was one of the "must have" guns, and I knew guys who paid triple what they were worth and put them up unfired just knowing it would make them rich some day. Oh well, . . . .

The age old seller/buyer conundrum - selling -how bad do you want/need to sell it ? Buying - how bad do you want/need one to consider paying what you feel to be an inflated value ?

I sometimes (rarely anymore) find bargains but usually pay toward the top end of the current curve for nice specimens. They don't necessarily lose value, but as I suspect the frenzy bubble is shrinking at the moment, the sellers market is abating. Hang on to them long enough and they'll eventually be worth more. Read the wrong headline in the paper in the morning and it's a panic market again favoring the seller.

The real trick is to be the guy who likes and buys the weird stuff that nobody else wants, causing the model to be discontinued after a short period so your collection of all the different finishes and barrel lengths are worth mega bucks 10 years down the road when they suddenly become "collectible 'cause they only made (?) of them".

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Qui plantavit curabit

Collectible and shootable revolvers are not and have not been part of the "frenzy" that seems to now be ending. Also many of us more "seasoned" shooters, that have some disposable income ,already have the more common examples of many of the older revolvers. Friends that set up at shows have the thought that people have used their available money on guns and ammo that they thought was "endangered" and both they and a large distributor friend of mine have told me that the business on the wholesale side is slowing down fast.

NframeFred's well written post is a good answer, the one I always give here, when someone asks "what is this worth?".

Check the COMPLETED AUCTIONS not current ones. When someone lists a gun for sale with a reserve it's a fishing trip for a high price.

And only auctions with NO RESERVE are true auctions. Our own Noconetrader lists his guns for sale to the highest bidder. Those guns sell for what the current market will bear, a true representation of worth.

Buy what you want, but wait for a good price. There are more good guns for sale than you and I can buy. ( I do try though!)
And only sell if you have to. I'd rather hang on to a good condition gun than regret letting it go for a few dollars profit.

What's SaxonPigs tag line... " I spend more time lamenting guns I didn't buy than those I did."
Lord knows we've all been there.

Gf

I wish someone would have told me, I just bought 4 of them this past month. Recently a nice 3 1/2 inch blued sold for a $750.00 buy it now on GB. So usually the guns put out with a penny auction for 13 day's do pretty well, with no reserve. Nobody will let it go cheap is what I have observed.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one . . . in a lot of places I've seen, ANYTHING of any quality ( and lot of junk also) was selling at a brisk pace - no matter even if it wasn't adorned with black plastic and huge magazines. I think the "frenzy" mentioned saw rises in gun sales of all kinds; admittedly, some more than others. One only need look at what was selling and for how much 18 to 20 months ago here in the classifieds verses since the election.

I'll admit to (having lived through the Clinton siege) going ahead and picking up a piece or two that I might otherwise have waited on in a 'normal' market.

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Qui plantavit curabit

I agree except that I have seen 29-2's,27-2's and 25-2's selling for less in the past month in great condition and the ones at the old prices just sit up there at the auction houses and even on the forum. I bought lots of S&W revolvers during the frenzy and most of them I got at decent prices and I think I won't be hurt to bad. This is especially true on the ones I plan on keeping for a long time.

It was a sellers market during the frenzy and because of the prices being realized caused a lot of guns that weren't on the market before to enter the market which gave some collectors a chance to pick up some great guns that weren't available earlier.

Sporting guns are in declining demand right now. Lots of unemployment or reducing spending due to fear of job loss. Those who are buying are grabbing ARs and AKs along with cases and cases of ammo and every box of primers to be found in preparation for civil war or legislative action from our Marxist president and only slightly less Communist Democrat Congress.

Also, there are the usual variables. In this case the 6" barrel is most common and least sought after. The 3.5, 4, and 5" guns tend to sell much faster. People on this forum love N frame 357s but the rest of world wants (shudder) plastic bottom-feeders.

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No life story has happy end.

I agree, purchases are limited by disposable income. Example, my wife went with the army reserve for annual training. She was shopping and bought a diamond ring. The ring cost was equal to what she earned those two weeks!! She mentioned buying a "sparkly", all I asked is what kind of shape it was cut in. It was her effort that paid for it. When I see a firearm I want I buy it.

SaxonPig stated what I was referring to above about the slower sale of more common quality guns . The feverish demand was for more modern "combat" type guns ,both long and short. How many of you rushed to buy nickeled 6in. N-frames. I am not saying I/we would not, just at more lower type pricing. As has been said , many of the forum members have been at this a long time and did not see the need to gun-up or ammo-up . We have gone through life preparing and are not subject to "market" pressures.

Thanks for the insight. It just sorta took me by surprise as usually 27-2s sell very well. I guess gun buying is shifting from frenzy to lack of money. A sign of the times I suppose.
I'm also very aware of auction prices and how that works. The ones I've been watching all seemed to be reasonably priced to me. Yet no bidders.
I'd buy it myself, but I just spent my gun budget on something else. Besides, I already have a blue 6".
He's been out of town and I'll see him again on Thursday. I'll talk it over with him and see what he wants to do. If he decides he still wants to sell I'll list it here in the classifieds.

I would add to the above to look at the ones sold and check those prices. When looking at completed auctions, I notice lots that did not sell. Even more info on what people are actually paying for guns.

Just my .02 worth...

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Barry, youngest son of Claud

The 3 1/2" guns in particular have gone crazy. I think all of the -2 N frames went a bit beyound reality over the past couple of years and now with jobs getting tight and people puckering up a bit the frenzy seems to be dying off. There's a shop here that has had a 3 1/2" blue gun for months. Started at $1200, because that's what they are selling for on Gunbroker .... now he's down to $850, and still not moving of course. Lot's of people asking big bucks but I really don't see them selling these days.

Thanks for clearing that up. I meant SOLD guns in the completed auctions as they are really the only ones that count.

Antique and Collectible guns started moving up in value at the beginning of 1998. They have never looked back. The beginning of this upward trend was when JC Devine Auctions sold a 410 Woodward SXS that was built for the President of Standard Oil in 1940. Michael Zomber paid $220K for that shotgun and had it sold within a month. What made the market for guns start northwards afterwards was the WSJ article that described the Woodward sale and the comment that Antique guns were undervalued and were as good of an investment as art.

I have been looking for weakness in the gun market for the past 3 years. Guns sold at regional and major gun auctions have yet to show much weakness. However I do think this summer there might be some softness in the market. Summertime is traditionally a very slow time in any collectable market. From the day the kids get out of school in June to Labor day, summertime sales doldrums seem to set in. So this year we will have to wait and see if things pick up again in September.

GB, GA, AA and GI are all a different breed of animal in the gun sales market as they don't truly represent a true auction in the traditional sense. These auction sites represent the gun store or even gun show of the future, instead of waiting for someone to walk into your store or past your table they walk into your internet site. These paricular sites represent the platform of your store or show. The great advantage to thes sites is the worldwide marketing ability of your merchandise. The downside is that the buyer does not get to fondle the merch and fall in love with it. This leads one to conclude that prices paid on thes sites will not be as great as with the more traditional gun auctions where the buyer get to fondle the merch and willbe willing to pay that higher price.

I follow the auctions on Gunbroker closely, occasionally bid, and rarely buy. I've noticed that there are an awful lot of guns that are passing through without being bid on and 27-2s are a great example of that. My sense is that the handgun market (well, perhaps, the revolver market) is going through a phase currently that's not too unlike the residential real estate market in the months before the bottom dropped out. Sellers became star-struck at the stories of people getting absurdly high prices for their homes so they listed theirs at equally absurdly high prices. When the boom ended, a lot of homes just sat there, unsold, at very high listing prices. Then, after a while, as sellers became increasingly desperate, prices dropped, slowly at first and then, precipitously. My guess is that in a few months, if the current trend continues, a lot of those 27-2s that are listed at opening prices of $700 or more will be listed at $500 or less.

I see prices definitely softening here in the Northwest. The last show here in Portland found the area's largest dealer using half as many tables as he did 3 months ago. I saw a sign in one dealer case that said, "offers entertained". There are about twice as many knife sellers, however.

Jerry

I watched 3 Smiths last week by the same seller. Penny auctions all. 19-2 4"Bl TG TH TT $605. 19-3 4" Ni TG BOX Papers $450. 27-2 6" NI TG All 3 were 99%. All had been owned by a Deceased Alabama State Trooper. I would have thought the blued would have sold for the least. Instead it went for the most

Why would the blued gun sell for less? There are certainly far fewer 19-2s floating around out there for sale than there are 19-3 and 27-2s.

The 19-3 and the 27-2 are variants that were made for years in untold numbers. Yes, they are less common in nickel than blued but the comparison is actually an apples and oranges thing. Now if the 19-2 had been a nickled gun in similar condition I would expect it to sell for more than a blued 19-2.

As for the original question, it's is a fair price. It is in fact probably a bit lower than the average ASKING price. Eventually it'll sell at that price. The problem, if you are the seller and NEED to turn it is that, it isn't a bargain.

The 27-2 has some issues if you are selling. They just aren't rare.
I actually think the 5" and 3 1/2" guns are over priced given the numbers produced but then I don't NEED them.

As pointed out by others this Forum is populated by S&W freaks. Looking at the age grouping here and it shows old farts, me and those like me and younger guys just getting started. Us old timers that have been at it for years, bought our 27s years ago. The new guys may or may not be N frame guys. The AVERAGE buyer in the open market isn't an "N" frame 357 freak.

The down side to having a market that will be youger guys is as a general rule they have less disposable income. It's just earlier in their careers and they still have kids at home. Add to that the soft economy and I think it's slowed way down recently.

Guys like me will spend money but it's either for the rare stuff we haven't found in the last 40 years or stuff we already have but find another at a bargain so good I can rationalize/justify spending money on a gun that I already own several of, but like well enough to buy another.

I listed 3 here a while back and priced them at what I felt were slightly below the average fair price. I didn't give them away but I did price them to move. They were also uncommon. Two sold the first day. The 696 never did. I'd have been able to sell it by reducing the price and could have and still made money. I finally just pulled it, I didn't NEED to sell it for the money it would have brought.

On the other hand guns are essentually my long term invested money. If it were reduce prices till they sold versus foreclosure on the house or the car payment or food for the kids (none of which I have any more) then the price would have gone down till they sold. MOST of us don't own guns that can't be replaced when and if times get better.

There are LOTS of $650 - $750 27-2s out there for sale. There are also a whole bunch at $750 - $950 that NEVER move. I certainly can't think of a 27-2 that I'd give $950 for. Then I wouldn't give $650 even though it's a fair price.

If he NEEDS to sell it he'll need to go into the $500 - $600 range.

My pennys worth.

+1. Seeing some great deals out there. I'm still on "No More Guns" probation for 10 months. Wife will not budge this time. The investment speel has no effect at all!

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V/R
Roger / SG

AA Auction 9219752 (Ended 07/25/2009, 14:20:15 PST) Smith & Wesson Mod. 19-2 .357 Mag.

Wicka- I shoulda bought this one I guess. I questioned him about the grips being the wrong size. He said they were correct for the gun. After that I steered clear. As an afterthought I could have probably found grips easy enough

I don't look at guns as investments. I usually sell them for more than I pay for them but by the time you factor the other expenses of aquiring them (gas, travel, shipping, etc.) there is little profit. I enjoy the socialization that I do at shows a great deal though. I also place a value on the pleasure that I get in owing and shooting a new gun. I also like project guns that I can work on. Lately I just look for bargains and buy when I find one. It has been more amd more infrequently lately though.

SW282: I actually thought about bidding on that one. It's a pretty good 19-2. The pictures were bad enough I asked the second set of questions regarding the barrel length and the placement of the lettering on the barrel. Before the guy answered I finally decided it was simply the sadows that were tricking my tired eyes.

This is the oranges example. That was actually a decent price for a 19-2. The "N" frame grips didn't bother me. Heck they are worth more than the "K" frame grips and I have lots of "K" grips on hand.

Nope, I'd have bid except this is one of those I already have and need more of like a hole in the head.

In fact I have all 3 barrel lengths of 19-2s in blue and 2 in nickel. So, I was a good boy and didn't bid. :-(

the best

I've noticed the trend too. I have a 6" nickel for sale on here and have only had 2 inquires on it. Weird in my opinion.

I'm going to try the auction sites next as they aren't selling on this site.

What about the Model 28s. I see those with prices as much as 27s. $700 for a 28? Not here. Model 13s seling for more than 19s? Not me. With prices now, I'm like Bob Barker. Come on down! Any of y'all want to get rid of one of those worthless, obsolete, no demand for, Model 27s, shoot me email. I'll give you a couple of hundred for it. Maybe even if it has them screws all over it.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed