The question of VALUE.

[fighter62]

Many times people ( including myself) raise the question on VALUE of firearm. Questions like " WHAT IS IT WORTH ? " comes up. For me it means replacement. How much money and effort would it cost to replace a gun. Just wondering if others think the same way? For example , I have a 29-2 four inch TOTALY done by Magnaport and almost new since the work was completed. ( Grips to K frame round butt, silver finish, action job, Crown the barrel,porting, combat grips etc). A parter of mine said ITS WORTH 500-600 dollars. ( I am not selling the gun ). When people make statements like that , what does it mean? Worth to whom? To buy or to sell? would liek some opinions.

 

[Fishslayer]

meh... ANYTHING is "worth" what somebody else is willing to pay for it.

Custom goodies? Any car or bike guy will tell you that you NEVER get your money back out of custom stuff.

In the case of a classic S&W... I just bought my first. The thought of altering it from original would never cross my mind. Kind of horrifying, actually... Thinking of stashing the original grips and shooting it with something else I even asked the salesguy if Crimson Trace grips would be blasphemy...

 

[44wheelman]

To me, it's just like cars. 3 values; wholesale (what a gunshop would give you), retail (what a gun shop would sell it for), and 3rd party (private party gun show price)... and I might need to add a fourth: online auctions- they can get crazy & blow the whole curve.

When I say value...it's somewhere in the middle. You could buy the same 4" 29-2 from anywhere of $400 - $800 (or more) depending on where you live, who's selling, how desperate.....

That's one advantage of an auction it takes two people to determine the value at an auction: the winner, and the guy with the second best bid.

 

[Dave T]

My experience, particularly with customized S&Ws, is that when it comes time to sell the only chance you have of recovering what you have invested (original cost & gunsmithing) is finding someone else who wants a gun just like the one you came up with. As far as dealers go they generally look at customizing as a negative. The custom work detracts from the "as new" value. Also, they are taking into consideration how long their money will be tied up until they can find that customer who wants a gun modified the way you did yours. At least that's been my experience.

Dave

 

[fighter62]

I agree 100% I also take in the consideration, the effort to replace a firearm. For example, I sold my unfired and 99% Swenson Colt 1911 for 5000.00 to guy 4-5 years ago. Was it worth it? Compare to what? I also sold His parter my Original Pachmayr Combat Special on a colt series 70. Also unfired, for 3500.00 was it worth it for it for Him to buy it? What would we compare it to? What woudl be the point of reference? Other custom 1911's? Maybe offerings from Wilson Combat?

 

[Fishslayer]

Why sell something if the intention is to replace it?

Perfect example of "value." To me no 1911 on the planet is worth $5K. Obviously somebody else has a different opinion...and a MUCH fatter wallet!

 

[TOM BECKWITH]

The above replys nail it well. Starting with a clean smooth 35-24-36 and you start modify, you start to loose. Keeping it in great condition and well packaged, the value keeps going up (to a point). But start piercing, painting, expanding, or trimming and the cost goes up while the value falls - unless you start with a YUGO!!

 

[Fishslayer]

The above replys nail it well. Starting with a clean smooth 35-24-36 and you start modify, you start to loose. Keeping it in great condition and well packaged, the value keeps going up (to a point). But start piercing, painting, expanding, or trimming and the cost goes up while the value falls - unless you start with a YUGO!!

Generally by the time it's done ya wind up with a 40-25-36....

 

[Camster]

Perfect example of "value." To me no 1911 on the planet is worth $5K. Obviously somebody else has a different opinion...and a MUCH fatter wallet![/QUOTE]
I was at a high grade gun show a few weeks ago.A dealer had a WW2 Singer mfg 1911 for sale.Price:$85,000.Pure lunacy imo. Claimed the high price because only 200 or so made,blah,blah, blah.I don't care if only one was made-still nothing made with any more care than a brake rotor-it was a tool back then,still is.I couldn't see other than a slight premium to any other war 1911.I'll stick with my Les Baer P2.Heads and tails above most,less than 1400 when I purchased it.I buy quality, not rarity or low serial number nonsense.

 

[Fishslayer]

If somebody's successful (or lucky) enough to drop $85K on a pistol they'll probably never shoot (*I* would! ) then more power to 'em. I might shake my head & mumble something...

FWIW I think I overpaid for my 28-2, but to me it was "worth" it. Yes, it's going to go to the range once in awhile, but I see it more as an example of better days, a bit of history, all sorts of intangibles. For the most part it's going to wait for the time when the situation calls for something that absolutely, positively, HAS to go bang.

 

[fighter62]

Also , many people don't use any point of reference. For example: for me any used 629-3 5inch classic in decent shape 95% or better is worth MORE anyday than the same gun , NEW, with a lock. A used German PPK/s that was carried and looks it , still has MORE value than a NIB Current model.

 

[Fishslayer]

A used German PPK/s that was carried and looks it , still has MORE value than a NIB Current model.

Absolutely. I would wonder at it's story, the man that carried it, where it had been...

 

[DCWilson]

I don't think there is an "inherent value" to any gun in a particular condtion. These things are not currency, valued identically wherever you may go. They are items whose value or worth changes as time passes and locale shifts. Any one of us should be able to figure out our cost in a particular gun, but that does not make the weapon worth that to anyone else should we decide to put it on the market. The good side of this equation is that someone else may think it is worth a great deal more than we have tied up in it.

In an abstract sense, and without trying to set a numerical value on the observation, I tend to value my guns more highly than my cost in them. If I hadn't wanted a particular gun at the seller's price, I would not have paid the price I did to get it. I have on several occasions paid more for a gun -- sometimes a lot more -- than others would have. But when the dust settled, I had a gun I wanted, and they did not have a gun that they had at least been interested in. That validates its worth to me.

So it's all kind of subjective. You can certainly know your cost, and you can set a value you would like to receive if you took a gun to market, but you have no control over what others would actually be willing to pay for it once it has been made available.

 

[otis24]

I have a very thin wallet. If you have a nice pristine gun and are looking to sell, its not worth a lot to me.
If I have it and want to sell, well of course it is worth every penny, and then some.
Depends on whose shoes you are wearing. Another car analogy: I have a 1998 GMC Blazer. It was a one-owner vehicle and I was able to buy it from the dealership where I work at their cost. It has a lot of new parts. Worth, or book value, is a lot less than it is worth to me to keep as a driver. My dad used to say, "you will never get your money out of it". If I sell it, probably not. If I drive it until if is all used up, yes. Or, if I find someone with cash (think tax refund) who can not get financed on a vehicle (lots of those around), then I can get my money from someone who wants or needs it more than I do.

 

[Fishslayer]

Well, if the parts are genuine and documented, it would up it's "worth" to me.

I also looked at a M19 at the shop where I bought my 28-2. It had just come in the door and was not healthy. Cosmetically not too great, either. But the bore & forcing cone are pristine. Look almost new. The shop has a good 'smithing rep. I know that pistol will get some new parts expertly installed.

When it goes on sale I will have a look and to me the price I'll be willing to pay is more...

 

[redsfan2]

Just an opinion, but I've always thought that " worth " is "relative". I've only got 3 guns total ... a 28-2 that may or may not be a Jovino custom .... a 36 no dash .... & a 19-4 with a 4" brl. I had no idea what I was buying when I bought my 28 .... was looking for a .38 when I bought my 19 ( and couldn't resist it ) and finally got the .38 snub that I had been looking for all along. The model 36 at 319.00 was the most expensive, and I wouldn't take that or more for any of them.
I bought all of them because I really liked them, so to me they are worth way more than anyone would be willing to give me.

 

[pawncop]

Worth and value will always be relative. The key is the desirability vs. the actual need for whatever item is being considered.

Case in point, one of my other "vices" is wine. I took my lovely wife to III Forks steak house for our 25th wedding anniversary and was perusing the wine list. One item really stood out and grabbed my attention, a 1997 Screaming Eagle wine for $6.350.00. Now I know that Screaming Eagle has a fine reputation but come on - - a bottle of wine for over six thousand dollars.

I would submit that no bottle of wine is "worth" that price, and there will be those that disagree.

So it is not just guns, or cars, or paintings, that people will go a little crazy for and skew the "value" of things to their maximum "worth".

 

[keithherrington]

What's its value and what's its worth is a distinction without a difference. What anything is worth or valued in a free market society is what someone will pay for it. I recall when the assault rifle ban went into effect. The price of AK47s went through the roof. To those that bought them at the elevated price, they were worth the price. In the eyes of the purchaser, they had sufficient value to warrant the cost. Why? Fear! The same dynamic is seen on Gunbroker from time to time when someone keeps bidding above what others think wise out of fear he/she may lose the opportunity to acquire their "grail gun". As to the discussion of modified guns dropping in value, it's a specious argument. Why? Because that belief system has been propagated by those in the business of selling guns for a living. As someone on this thread said, it's difficult to find a buyer willing to compensate you for the price of a custom gun UNLESS they are looking for exactly what you have. True enough. But if you have difficulty selling is it because the value or worth of the gun is less, or is it because you just have not found the right buyer? Does the gun have more value or worth because I have the patience to wait for the right buyer? Nope. As said before value and worth are entirely relative and subjective, and purely the result of the agreement between buyer and seller. As I tell people on the car forums NADA is just a guide, and a poor one at that.
Keith

 

[aquagear]

I shoot every gun I own (no safe queens) but I like the older and rarer ones it is always nice to know what you have is worth what you payed for it, even nicer if it is worth more. My current collection is a pre 28 ,pre 23 ,pre 22 ,16-4 .32 h&r, and a model 66-2. got most of them for less than they were worth at the time
and they are gaining in value. I buy on a tight budget so I look for value, it is kind of a game I guess but to me thats collecting.

 

[gigx]

I often thought people asking the value of a gun on a board like this is odd. What I might pay for something in MI could cost something completly different in CA or FL. Throw in the factor of something old, odd or customized and now the price is all over the place. There is also the fact of how bad I want something vs another person. Why do you think there is a second place in an auction. I use book values for insurance purposes since what I pay is typically less than those figures. Aside from that, they are worth whatever I could get for them, though I have yet to sell a single piece.