Why I work part time at a gun shop

[jeed]

The 686 came in yesterday, he wanted money for a Glock. He took $300.00 in trade value.

The other group was from last week, it was to help pay for a Sig, I got all three for $450.00. I added the T Grip.

And I WILL sleep fine, dummy's don't keep me up at night.

 

[luvsmiths]

For the heck of it, I'm curious about the types of people that unloaded them.

Young? Old? Dads guns? etc.....

 

[Glenn54]

Congrats! That would be a cool job. The nearest gun shop to me is nearly an hour away, so that leave me out.

 

[Laketime]

This is exactly why people sell on GB rather then trade or sell to Their LGS.

 

[jeed]

For the heck of it, I'm curious about the types of people that unloaded them.

Young? Old? Dads guns? etc.....

All of the above but most of the time they are the original owners and they don't want to go to the trouble of trying to sell them on their own. We get out the good ole blue book of gun values and offer the 60% value unless they are really 60%, then it's less.

Today We took in a like new Glock 48 in the box with everything and 3 mags for 180.00. He bought a Shield 2.0. The Glock will go in the used case for around 250.00. It will probably be bought by another employee or sold the same day to a customer. If it stays in the case for two weeks employees get 35% off, that rarely happens anymore.

Needless to say I've paid my employer much more than they've paid me but I've gotten some incredible deals!

 

[crstrode]

For the heck of it, I'm curious about the types of people that unloaded them.

Young? Old? Dads guns? etc.....

Burglars . . .

 

[jeed]

Burglars . . .

That could be a good guess too. Any gun taken in has to go through a gun check at TICS. Of course if it was never reported as stolen……

 

[NYlakesider]

One of my acquaintances works at a good sized LGS. He has a very impressive accumulation of guns. He has told me every gun he has was a good condition used one that came into the shop. He has not purchased a new one in over 20 years!

 

[ladder13]

Maybe they just have so much money and don't care.

 

[Laketime]

Is that a pawn shop that sells guns you work at. I find it hard to believe any reputable gun shop would take advantage of their customers like that, at least I hope not.

 

[steelslaver]

It gets me that people get on the it must be stolen bandwagon.
Lots of people pay good money for stuff they have to have and then later sell it for way less than they paid to get whatever model or thing that rings their bell that they want NOW.

Before the price of used cars jumped lots of people would buy brand new cars, drive them 2-3 years and then trade them in for less than half what they paid for them and pay out a bunch more money for another brand new car, spending 10s of thousands of dollars doing so.

Ya, a thief might bring a gun in to a gunshop or pawn shop. but, the majority of the dim bulbs thieves who pawn stuff know better. I bet most stolen guns get sold to other thieves or traded for drug.

Another thing is. NOBODY is forcing these people to make these deals. Why is it that if someone offers to sell me say a model 28-2 with cokes for a low price, why I am obligated to tell them the grips alone are worth $600 bucks? Would I take advantage of a widow or freind? No, but it is not my fault when someone fails to use due diligence and are in a hurry to trade or get cash for what ever reason.

A couple years back I am at the local street fair and see a guy has a Ruger Bearcat on his table. I remarked hey, a Ruger Bearcat He says ya, I just bought it for $230. I pipe up I'll give you $240 for it. He says OK. I paid the guy his money. Are we both jerks for "taking advantage"?

 

[IamCaleb]

You got one hell of a deal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CH4]

And I WILL sleep fine, dummy's don't keep me up at night.

Great score!

We have a pot/kettle situation here.

Dummies not dummy's

 

[03hemi]

There's just something not right about someone so happy about exploiting someone for personal gain?

 

[Old Corp]

My first two 'retirement jobs' were at a couple of busy LGS's.
Most of my 'good quality' hardware and S&W's came from that. One of the shops handled a LOT of estates, and I was fortunate to get some great deals from that.

BUT - eventually suffered 'retail burnout'. Working through some of the many 'panic-buying' sessions was anything but fun.....phones that never stopped ringing, many, many people readily spending thousands on an high-end AR who'd never even held one, the endless stocking of shelves, long hours, concrete floors, low pay, no benefits and the most significant issue - working for a FAMILY business (no, not mine).

You could give and give, exceed every expectation and you were still just a means for them to make $$, all while drawing your $10/hr.

So, nope - enjoyed a few other 'retirement jobs' since then, but won't do that again.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

As far as current prices go.......The "blue book" is useless as soon as it's printed.....Wouldn't make a decent door stop.

 

[jtcarm]

Is that a pawn shop that sells guns you work at. I find it hard to believe any reputable gun shop would take advantage of their customers like that, at least I hope not.

Nobody's coercing the customer into taking the trade.

I had an FFL back in the 80s and would setup at gun shows. People would sometimes show up at my table with a gun and ask what I'd give for it. I'd throw out a lowball number and 9 times out of 10 they took it. The 10th one might ask $10 more and I'd usually pay it.

In retrospect, I should've asked where they got it, but I never bought from anyone who looked seedy or suspicious. I think most just had a gun they'd found in grandpas closet and wanted to turn it into cash. I never poached any valuable collector pieces, just run of the mill sporting guns, mostly pump shotguns.

While I flipped those guns for a decent profit, I was also tying up precious capital for an indeterminate period, so the pay out had to be worthwhile.

Gun shops, especially smaller ones,have become a threatened species, so I won't begrudge them a profit.

While browsing one of my favorite family shops back in the day, a customer was complaining to the owner about the price of something and said "This is my hobby, I'm not gonna pay that much". The owner responded by saying "Well, it's my living, and I'm not gonna give it away."

 

[Laketime]

Nobody's coercing the customer into taking the trade.

I had an FFL back in the 80s and would setup at gun shows. People would sometimes show up at my table with a gun and ask what I'd give for it. I'd throw out a lowball number and 9 times out of 10 they took it. The 10th one might ask $10 more and I'd usually pay it.

In retrospect, I should've asked where they got it, but I never bought from anyone who looked seedy or suspicious. I think most just had a gun they'd found in grandpas closet and wanted to turn it into cash. I never poached any valuable collector pieces, just run of the mill sporting guns, mostly pump shotguns.

While I flipped those guns for a decent profit, I was also tying up precious capital for an indeterminate period, so the pay out had to be worthwhile.

Gun shops, especially smaller ones,have become a threatened species, so I won't begrudge them a profit.

While browsing one of my favorite family shops back in the day, a customer was complaining to the owner about the price of something and said "This is my hobby, I'm not gonna pay that much". The owner responded by saying "Well, it's my living, and I'm not gonna give it away."

Re looking at the picture from the Op's original post. Not so much they were taking advantage of a customer but out of touch of gun values in general. To have that gun with a selling price of only $450. is a head scratcher anywhere in the country. I have to assume he was only asking $150 for the model 60.To quote the OP, why cant I live close to a Dummy gun shop like this.

 

[GSP Fan]

Is that a pawn shop that sells guns you work at. I find it hard to believe any reputable gun shop would take advantage of their customers like that, at least I hope not.

You haven't dealt with Cabela's??

 

[H Richard]

I'm afraid it would have cost me way more than I made if I worked in a gun shop.