a little upset.

[MR. IHC]

i took a gun to gander mtn. last week to see what they would give me tward a trade in. i did not tell the guy that i bought it there 9 mos. ago so i could see what he would give me. let me give you some background here, i traded in a h&r single shot shotgun with a heavy rifled barrel in 20 guage with a cheap scope on it. the guy told me it was only worth 90 dollars so after himming and hawing i gave in.( oh' i forgot to tell you what i bought it was a m&p .38 with a "4 inch barrel , dated to 1946 with a s- prefix. ) so they dropped the price of the smith from 400 to 310. they told me that the smith was a .38 special, thats what the s meant. (thanks to several members i now know the s meant safety latch), but anyway the guy offered me 250! i was so aggravated i could hardly keep from exploding. so i told him how i had bought the gun there, and showed him one in his case that was in about 50% condition and a c-prefix he was selling for 600! (mine is in all of 90%) all he had to say was" well you don't have to sell the gun sir". oh and buy the way i found my 20 guage on the rack ( i wrote down the serial #). for $345 after they told me it would never sell for more than$120! sorry if all this is confusing and hard to keep up with i'm just a little upset!

 

[Crazy K38]

and now you have learned a valuable lesson, 150% of the time you will get screwed bigtime at a gunshop selling guns, deal only in person! sorry you had to learn this way but it happens.

 

[GatorFarmer]

Giving you 250 after selling it to you for 310 is actually pretty good. Gun dealers need to make a margin of between 30 percent and 50 percent on used guns. Gander used to have good used gun prices, but these days it is ridiculous. In many places, 90 bucks for that shotgun would be the standard trade in value.

How the margin works is that one has to keep the lights on and the staff paid. To do that, if I can sell a used gun for 100 dollars, I'd start by offering you 50, and probably max out at 70. That's simply how it works to sell or trade a gun to a dealer.

If you want retail, which is what you paid, then you need to sell it to someone yourself who'd be another retail customer.

 

[Evil One]

They were right in what they offered.
It the same thing as trying to sell something to a pawn shop.
They will give you maybe 50% of what they can sell it for.
Having overhead sucks.


Jim

 

[Duke426]

I understand you are upset, but don't take it personally. Anyone who has tried selling a gun to a shop has been through the same experience.

As far as your H&R single shot goes...they can ASK $345 all day long but actually selling it for that price is a long shot. They were right when they told you it will never sell for more than $120.

 

[deadin]

I learned years ago that if you sell or trade-in anything to a shop (My experience is in guns and camera gear), DO NOT EVER go back in and check the asking price. It will do nothing other than get you upset.

 

[The Big D]

If my math is correct, you would have "rented" a gun for 9 months at a cost of $60.00 had the transaction you wished proceeded.

IMHO, no reason whatsoever for you to be "upset."

Have you tried a similar transaction with motor vehicles lately? Then you would be really upset.

Be safe.

 

[JcMack]

A couple shops around here won't even buy guns from private parties any more. There's so many out of work trying to sell. The GM guy has to justify what he pays for your gun to his boss. My beef is paying sales tax on used items, so I don't.

 

[66TAS]

Why would you expect to get back what you paid when they will have to resell it? Of course they marked your trade in up, they need to make a profit to be there the next time you want to buy, sell, trade, or transfer. Its not personal, its just business........

 

[oldman45]

From over 45 yrs experience here, never trade or sell a gun to a gun store.

In this instance, nobody was shorting you but your own self. You can sell the gun to an individual and get way more out of it. The store would sell the gun to an individual and get about the same price you would. They have to make a profit.

As to the shotgun, I think it would be overpriced at $120. I bought a used Remington 1100 in 20 ga with a vented rib in great condition last week for $149 from a gun store and they ate the sales tax.

Stores have to profit just as car dealers. They could run the price up on the gun you want and then give you more for your old gun and that would make you happy but you still lose money.

Sell it to individuals.

 

[Jellybean]

Why do you guys keep calling Gander Mtn a "gun shop"? They're nothing but Wal-Marts sporting goods dept. in an outbuilding. Your first mistake is dealing with them.

 

[Kanewpadle]

I work at a pawn shop every Saturday. We will give you 1/3 of what we think we can sell it for. If we think we can get rid of it quick, we might give a little more.

Overhead is a factor. The gun may sit a while waiting for the right buyer. And Washington state law says that any firearm we buy must sit 30 days before being put out for sale.

You will never get a good deal trading or selling a gun to a dealer. Sell to a private buyer and use the money to buy your next gun.

 

[Kevin G]

As a rule, the local gun store will buy a gun for around 60%, or issue a store credit for 80%.
Kevin

 

[feralmerril]

Rule #1. Never, ever trade guns at a gun shop. No way can you ever come out on top. Now I will and have put high end classic collector guns on consignment at good gun shops on commission. (Usualy 15%).
Lets say its a christmas tree gun. You know, a currently made gun you can buy at walmart or ace hardware. How can you OR the store come out by giveing you almost what they can buy it for wholesale? Even if you never took it out of the box after you bought it new, they have to sell it as used for less than they can buy a new one wholesale for to resell! And that isnt even getting into overhead etc.
For every new gun I have bought in the last 55 years I probley have bought 15 to 20 fine used ones.
Probley the two most aggervateing stores to be a salesman in has got to be gun stores and harley davidson dealerships. EVERY person you deal with thinks they are a expert!

 

[MR. IHC]

i understand some of your replies, but some of you need to check your math. 400 down to 250 is 150. not 60 bucks!(don't forget the 90 for the shotgun). doesn't matter the m&p came back home anyhow. just venting thats all, not expecting everyone to take my side. went back today, and the gun i was looking at was gone anyhow. (i stop in to kill time between jobs a couple times a month)

 

[buser]

and now you have learned a valuable lesson, 150% of the time you will get screwed bigtime at a gunshop selling guns, deal only in person! sorry you had to learn this way but it happens.

How did anyone get screwed here? Two parties agreed on a trade and made the trade. Both parties could have ended it at any time. One party was a business that operates to make profit.