do you shop when broke?

[lagavulin62]

I thought it would be fun to sort of take an informal survey of what you guys do when you are flat tapped out. this being close to Christmas and since many of us have already purchased personal Christmas gifts there just is nothing left for more guns, at least until we can pay down the expenses of the season. but as in most hobbies being a smart buyer/collector means keeping abreast of the market. you can watch items on the internet but locally you still have to make a few shows and certainly frequent the pawn shops and gunstores. as always this is the time you will see that chance of a lifetime, but no money, or worse yet the temptation to "what the hell, charge it". what to do??? is it better to just hang out and watch lousy football until funding improves or do we need to suck it up and work on those delayed gratification techniques, knowing full well we just may be putting ourselves in a non buying situation(a steal but I'm gonna pass) we will regret to eternity. what do yall think?

 

[Allen-frame]

I have not bought socks in at least 2 years. I sometimes have to wear 2 pair to make up the holes in each.
I probably make 1 or 2 deals a month on a Smith revolver.

Broke or not ,the quality of the collection gets improved upon with regularity.

Regardss ,Allen Frame

 

[jspick]

I always shop broke or not. Sometimes i find a screaming deal and find a way to buy it and then resell it to have some cash flow.
I had had sellers regret, but it isn't as bad as buyers regret.
There was this Randall Springfield model 1....................and the Remington 1889 Union Pacific coach gun that was mint.........................................................................

I wish I had bought those two so many times.

Oh well!?
John

 

[29aholic]

I find it doesnt matter how much is in my bank account I always find something that stretches its limits. If I have $200 I find a $300 steal...if I have a $1000...well you get the picture.

 

[fat tom]

I shop every day. Have for years. I see numerous "deals" every day. However,if it's not something I really want,it makes no difference how good of a buy it is. I'm not in the gun "business" and very rarely buy a gun with the thought of making money on it as my objective in obtaining it. Now,don't get me wrong:I LOVE a deal! A "steal" is another matter entirely,IF it is on a gun which is currently in demand and I know I can turn it into something that I WANT via trade or sale in a short amount of time. As to buying when I'm tapped out,it would have to be a deal on something that I've wanted for a very long time. That list is a very short one and deals on them are rarely seen.
f.t.

 

[Mickey D]

My vacations are at the gun shops.

 

[bravastar1]

I'm out of gun funds(at least my wife says I am) but I still shop daily. If I find a deal I somehow find a way to make the deal. Never stop looking...a good one might get away.

 

[s3dcor]

I hit the local shops once a week only. This is the best time of year to find unusual items being sold for Christmas cash. If I want it I will find some way to fund it but I am getting more selective.

 

[JSR III]

When times get lean, my first question to the seller is,
" Will you consider a lay-a-way?" I normally offer 1/3 down, 1/3 in 45 days and the final 1/3 in 90 days. I also suggest a 10% restocking fee if I fail to complete the transaction with the remaider returned to me. No penalty if I pay it off early. I have yet to find a seller unwilling to make a deal. I currently have 2 guns in process this way. Being self employed, my money comes in spurts. Some weeks I am busted and some I am flush. Hence the early pay off clause.

 

[Gun-runner]

Well this is one of the reasons I buy things I don't really need if the price is right. If you know what you are looking at there a times when you can run into a deal and later on double your money. I've done this a few times and the buyer still got a great deal and I get a fast sale so everyone was happy. I've done this to supply my smith addiction for quite a while now.
The problem is picking what I want to get rid of when I need the money for a new Smith. I could be on an episode of Hoarders! LOL

 

[frankynohankypanky]

Never forget.........., "He (or She) who dies with the most toys WINS!!!!"

Speaking as one who has denied myself so much in my nearly 62 years and has been seriously(!!!) broke a couple a couple of times I say that if you really want something, then go for it. A couple of months down the track you won't even miss the money.

I haven't had a wife for some time, but I have three very supportive adult children who encourage me to spend my money on S&W's, vintage motorcycles, old Fords etc. It helps that my two sons have taken over the business I struggled with for so long and have turned it into a real success. The money just seems to keep flowing now.

Frank S. SWCA2052.
_________________________________________________________
We can't stop growing old, but we can choose to remain immature.

 

[S-W4EVER]

Nope, I honestly can say I've never gone shopping when I was broke.

 

[Cruiser RN]

I am very lucky to have finnally gotten to the point of zero debt in my life.I love to shop and see all the nice guns out there but buying is another matter.Mrs CRN has declared " NO MORE GUNS" so Mr CRN has to listen.The one and only exception to her declaration was my instructor's Detective Special which she knew the sentimental value of.....All the best and Merry Christmas.....Mike

 

[TNDave]

It is always nice to look at stuff. Here I can put stuff on layaway at any of the pawnshops for a little of nothing and they don't care when I pay the rest. In fact the less I pay every month the better they like it since it keeps me coming in the door. No sense in letting something really good get away. I have let some heartbreakers go at times, but I sure try not too. I just picked up a crisp like new 2" round butt Model 10 yesterday from one of my pawn shops. I had been paying on it since July.

 

[WVfishguy]

I'm glad I found this thread. It makes me feel better about myself.

I'm about through buying guns (easy to say when you have everything you want) but I still look every week. Pawnshops, gun shops, gun shows and auctions.

Saw a Model 28-2 at a pawnshop yesterday. I have three, but was still tempted.

 

[brucev]

Even when money is low, I look/shop. Why? Because I like to look. And sometimes when I look, I see something I want to hold. And sometimes when I hold something that caught my eye, I end up wanting it enough to try to figure out how I can buy it. Sometimes I finance a new gun purchase by selling a gun that I no longer use or in which I have lost interest. This past year I sold a Remington 700 and a satin nickle finished COLT Ser. 70 .45 ACP pistol. I used the money to buy a new G-22 and a used excellent condition 625-2 and a as new but used Springfield Armory Mil-Spec. 1911-A1. The money remaining is now in the savings account, two firearms that I no longer wanted are gone and I now own a revolver and two pistols which which I am exceedingly pleased. So, when money is low, do I look/shop? Yes. Why? Because... well, we all know where this is going, don' we? Sincerely. brucev.

 

[Munsterf18]

This time of year, when I'm tempted, I go hunting.

I enjoy the woods, and it's a long way from the gunstore!

 

[maglvr]

"I have not bought socks in at least 2 years. I sometimes have to wear 2 pair to make up the holes in each."

Now, that's funny right there! I don't care who you are!

 

[N_itis]

I am always shopping. I am much, much more selective than I used to be. 99% of what I see does not tempt me, but I want to be ready for the 1% price/product combination that does tempt me.

Sometimes my "dedicated funds" run low, but I have always found a way to come up with cash for the right deal. I never use credit (ie. "financial slavery"). If I did, I would dread the prospect of being in the process of paying off one deal when an even better deal came along.

Of course, I also do not advertise my interests to every gun shop/pawn shop I frequent, as that is a good way to go broke and stay broke.

"The hunt" and the occasional "find" are gratifying enough for me.

 

[Iggy]

After 65 years of paying cash for everything I own, I don't owe anybody a dime.

So heck yes I go shopping. Like last week I spotted a Red Ryder BB gun like the one I dreamed of when I was a kid.

My wife looked at me, rolled her eyes, and said "Happy Birthday!"
So I whipped out the $35.00 and I even spent an extra $2.00 for 2400 BB's.

Yesterday morning, I found my wife had retrieved the BB gun from my closet.
She put a big bow on it, and set it next to a birthday card and notification that I would receive my first Social Security check next month on the kitchen table along with a plate full of waffles.

Purty durn good day if I do say so myself.

 

[ARMinSC]

I look at Gunbroker every day several times a day. I check the guns for sale section here every day. I hit the shops whenever I can. I always seem to be working when the gunshows come around lately. I never have money though. I only get to buy one or two a year out of the many I see and would like to buy, unless I come across a deal I can't refuse like the Marlin 1894 .357 I got from a friend of a coworker for $100 sunday.

 

[ditrina]

Iggy..
I picked up one of those Red Ryder BB guns myself.. And it will be under the tree on Christmas Morning......( She made me)
But I sure do wish I had some Homemade Waffles

 

[29aholic]

Iggy..
I picked up one of those Red Ryder BB guns myself.. And it will be under the tree on Christmas Morning......( She made me)
But I sure do wish I had some Homemade Waffles

My wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year, and I told her "A gun of course" she said "I cant afford a gun" I told her that I had always wanted a Red Ryder BB gun, and that's what I got on Christmas morning.

 

[Iggy]

I'm having a ball with the Red Ryder. I can pester the cotton tails that insist on eating holes in my lawn without hurting them.

I built a cardboard box + newspaper backstop and I can shoot it in the garage without disturbing the neighbors or the city Gendarmes.

Then when I get serious, I move up to my Shiloh Sharps .22

Life is good.

 

[Sauron1959]

Well, as Spock said, "Having is not so pleasing as wanting. Illogical, but often true."

Perfect timing for this subject.

On Sunday, I found a S&W Model 520, exc condition, with the original box at Cabella's in Dundee, MI. $700. Love my NYSP Model 28, and always wanted a companion 520.

Didn't want to plunk down the evil credit card, especially at this time of the year. Went home to think about it, check some pricing, ponder a trade-in to cut the cost of the 520.

By 7 AM on Monday, the website showed it being sold.

Call it karma, fate, whatever, it just wasn't meant to be. Life goes on.

Endeavor to Persevere

Dave

 

[srgvaz]

'Window' shopping can be fun to do and when you do find that one you want it's not hard figuring out how to get it once the opportunity is there. Layaway is becoming popular once again this time of season everyone needs money so just ask for a cash discount or try and barter something I'm also a computer guy and I have used this skill before to barter with.

 

[fyimo]

I guess the only way I won't buy a gun I want is to not go anywhere where I might see it because if I do the bank account doesn't matter at that point.

 

[Ed333]

neighbors...???....

I'm having a ball with the Red Ryder. I can pester the cotton tails that insist on eating holes in my lawn without hurting them.

I built a cardboard box + newspaper backstop and I can shoot it in the garage without disturbing the neighbors or the city Gendarmes.....

Iggy, where in the world in Wyoming are you, that you have to worry about neighbors and Gendarmes? When I lived in Wyoming, no such worries...
but I do envy you your cottontails, they are scarcer than hens teeth in Maine, seriously, I think they are on some endangered species list...not sure why. but the red squirrels more than make up for them...I use Colibri primer only .22s in my grandson's single shot youth rifle, neighbors are totally unaware.

PS- sticking to the thread, I try to sell or trade rather than buy when I am broke...doesn't always work out. Have passed on a few pretty pieces that I still think about, but there were generally reasons in addition to finances not to buy...like that beautiful Winchester Model 42 .410 pump that someone had lopped about two inches off the stock, I guess to fit to their kid...it was smart to pass on that....I think....

 

[Iggy]

Iggy, where in the world in Wyoming are you, that you have to worry about neighbors and Gendarmes? When I lived in Wyoming, no such worries...

I moved off the ranch about 10 years ago and turned it over to the younger generations. I now live in the thriving metropolis of Cheyenne.

They got all of the civilized laws that city folks need to protect them from Injuns and igernant cowboys.

I just ain't quite broke to lead yet.

 

[hsguy]

It is the shopping that keeps me broke.