Before the interweb, "blue books" were the only authoritive sources for establishing gun values. Now with the auction sites you can research what a particular model has actually sold for in the real world. It's hard to argue with the validity of that data.

I know that with the S&W series I have a sweet spot for, retail prices in the book are very low. So low as to render them irrelative in my mind.

I suppose the economics of the situation is that the largest buyers of the guides are retail shops who's livelihood depends on buy low and sell high. I get it, no dishonor in any of that.
My question is, when the books are as far off from the real world as they are in my limited experience, are they really providing a worthy service to anyone? I've taken advantage of several deals offered by retailers who didn't recognize what they had because they relied on the blue book. They left money on the table without realizing it. Is that an anomaly and the law of averages balances that out?

I also realize that collectors and retailers (and manufacturers for that matter) view values from very different perspectives.

Looking forward to learning from the distinguished members here your thoughts on "Blue Books" for guns in the modern world.

Are they obsolete?

God yes. They make as much sense as Kelly Blue Books.

They do have a certain value as a reference source for information about various guns - when they are not flat wrong. But the internet is usually better for research. Regarding pricing, largely worthless. I always thought many of the values shown in the Blue Book and similar "price guides" were mainly guesswork.

Prices have changed so rapidly that the guides are outdated by the time they are printed...

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"Shall not be infringed"

I buy the old ones for 1/2 price when the new ones come out. Good reference tools but usually behind real world prices although I think the pendulum has hit the high point in price and is now going the other way.

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God spelled backwards is dog.

The Blue Book, and others like it, contain lots of historical info beyond value, such as feature changes, that get lost in the modern shuffle. The actual value they place on a particular gun is just a benchmark that doesn't account for local variations and instant news . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

The Blue Book is a bit out of date for actual prices, however it does give a pretty good idea of relative value of two guns when a trade is being considered.

I agree. They are a valuable reference source. But the values are out of date as soon as they are printed.

One of my mentors was a trader and he always laughed at people that looked in books to get the value. He always said the books are not buying or selling so the price in the book doesn't mean anything. I agree with him. Buyers and sellers are the real price setters. Larry

Before the internet, I always wondered where these publishers got their information from. One would have to be engaged in the bidness of buying and selling in order to gauge what the market would bear. But, one dealer would have to sell a tremendous amount of guns in order to fill a catalog of used gun prices. Then, some interpolation method would have to be used to differentiate between years, dash models etc. Or one could depend on a network of dealers to furnish the required data. Then, of course, the accuracy of such data comes into question. Gawd knows a gun dealer wouldn't lie about such things. I even believe these things come into play in used car prices.

I never found used prices for anything listed in a book to be to my advantage. The only true judge of an items true value to be "what the market will bear". Auctions (internet or otherwise) can be an indicator, but also must be taken with a grain of salt.

Actually, one of the better places to judge "what the market will bear" is right here, on this forum. Prices usually start high then gradually are reduced until someone is willing to pay, or the item is withdrawn or sold elsewhere. But, the necessary elements come together. Product knowledgeable folks selling guns to other product knowledgeable folks. Unfortunately, there's not a wide selection of Smiths available at any given moment. I've yet to see a pristine M10 with box and papers selling for $400 or less, on this forum, as advised in another thread.

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NRA Benefactor

Auction prices includes factors that often inflate their prices. They aren't definitive.
Books are useful, if not just for the compilation of general information on the contents. The internet, while a vast supply of information at the swipe of a smart phone, is also chock full of MISinformation, as well.

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War Eagle! '10 BCS & '13 SEC

Great responses. Keep 'em coming. Thanks for participating in the poll.

For the last bunch of years it seems to me that the ones using the book prices use it because it is in their favor. They open the book and let you look and it says that gun you want to buy from them in that condition is worth this much. If their buying and the book say its worth more, they say the book is mistaken. People use it to their advantage, the more YOU know the better you are in figuring prices.

The Gun Blue Book is basically used the same way as the books used by used car dealers. If it’s in their favor it’s treated as gospel. You bring in the book or look it up on computer and they do not like the numbers they will tell you it’s wrong, out of date, or mistaken. Funny about that, their numbers are "ALWAYS ACCURATE") while most times yours are wrong!

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

Auction prices can be misleading. Last weekend there was an item I was bidding on. The expected sale price was estimated to be between $1000 and $1500. I really wanted that item. So did someone else. My last bid was $3200, and the other guy got it for $3300 plus 20%. The item was not worth anything near that much, but it sold for a record price because two idiots really wanted it.

Walking a gun show with a gun to sell, the Blue Book comes out to justify low-baller's offers. When asking for a price, according to the Blue Book the seller hides his copy or tap dances about how the book is outdated and his offering is more valuable than that danged book anyway.

Since the advent of The Internet printed material is outdated before the ink is dry.

It's what I can buy/sell it for right now and that info is done via The Internet searches and a statewide guntrader site where purchases and sales are done in FTF meetings.

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NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

They're a valuable reference if you're a buyer.

Gun value books are used by dealers at gun shows to rip-off the ignorant.

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That's gonna leave a mark.

One of the most respected of these was the "F" one. It printed for 3 years in a row that Colt made no more than 13 .45 caliber, 4 inch, Anacondas. My Partner in B&M Rifles went on the hunt and within 3 months he had bought 13. We know where there are 3 more and they show up from time to time on GB. These tomes get it wrong many of the times in descriptions.

I'll bring this to the front one more time and see if anybody else has some thoughts on the subject. Once again, thanks for contributing to the thread and the poll. I think it has been an interesting read.
Cheers!

Pretty much obsolete except maybe for real old antique or very rare guns - at least it's sort of a guide-line. The prices for more common guns are climbing so fast and so high, that by the time a book is published much of the pricing info is already out dated. Many use the auction sites and LGS to determine pricing - and since firearms do tend to vary a little by area, that is not a bad thing.

I have found many bargains in LGS's especially on Revolvers. As far as SOME of the LGS's are concerned, the Revolver is obsolete and they just want to get them out the door so they have more room for the plastic guns. Works for me!

Good for reference and a general guideline. I use Gunbroker for pricing.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

I consider them slightly better than guessing, but not much.

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John 3:16 .

The old maxim of "the value of a thing is what it will bring" is still holding up after centuries of use. As value exists only in the mind of the beholder a value book is nebulous at best.

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Stay safe people!

Sometimes the internet experts give crazy advice also. I wonder if some of the guys are old and they remember gun pricing they thought was a few months ago and it was actually 15 years ago. For an example, I like side by side shotguns and there is always a guy who says "no need to pay $850 for that new SXS gun, just go out and buy a used mint condition AYA or SKB for the same money. Yeah right!

Not only obsolete, but completely worthless.