Gun Show Sticker Shock
Went to a gun show in Columbia SC today.Some of the guns I saw,regular condition,nothing fancy,Remington Model11 ,12 gauge=$1250. Winchester 37=$750.Well used Savage 110 with spray can finish and Simmons scope $575.Grendle 380=$400.I think that will be my last trip to Columbia.Thats where the rich folks live.
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They can ask whatever they want. Whether they get it is another story. They will almost always come down 10% or more. Last show in Denver, I got 20% off and shipping included for a hand gun. 0 -
Agreed, the last show attended in Pennsy. Was a dissapointment. When I added up the parking fuel and tolls. The bargains were not there.
It was fun going out with my buddy and walking around and seeing some of the bizzare things for sale. The pistol I was looking at was no bargain and most of the other deals were not worth carrying.
Miss the good old days I guess.0 -
What gets me, is that the same guys, come with the same guns. Show after show. I know for a fact, that one of the table holders. Has been trying to sell a 40 caliber Beretta Cougar for over 2 years. You would have thunk, that he would got tired of looking at it by now.
If it was me, I either would tron it in the river. Or put it on the auction, starting with a penny and no reserve. This is an Italian made Cougar, not one of the Turkish clones sold under the Stoger name. There descent pistols,I had one in 45 ACP years ago.0 -
I decided sometime back that the dealers do not make their profit on what they sale at these shows, but on what they buy from the folks carrying around to sale/trade. The shows I have been to in Arkansas, I see the same dealers with the same overpriced guns. Now, when I go to a show, I go as early as possible and go straight to the back of the room, where they generally put the new sellers. That is where the best deals (from the dealers) are. Except the other dealers generally visit them during the setup to see what they have to try to get to resale on their tables. 0 -
Have you seen ticket prices?
I'm not paying $11.00 to get into a show filled with overpriced crap!
I'll wait til next weekend then go on safari to all my local gun shops.0 -
I will say I remember like most of you "the good old days " 30 to 40 years ago . for me any way if I had one or possibly even two hundred dollars to spend I was living large 8-) I would wonder the asile ways and question countless people as they walked the halls , all day sometimes both weekend days buying selling swapping lots of great stuff for the bottom feeder :oops: :oops: like me to deal on , the internet killed a lot of shows not just gun shows
also that's long before I knew buying selling the same day was considered dealing everyone did it , even though I would say it still goes on ( its been 5 years at least since I went to a gun show .
use to be a huge once a year , week long event not too far from me the Kenton coon dog nationals . first time I went 45 years ago I thought every gun in the tri state area was there for sale I miss that event more than any other . over time it dwindled down to a huge fle market junk and finily th family just stopped having it now held by another group in Lima Oh but not even close to the glory days
I guess getting old we recall the low prices and great deals sadly like 29 cent gas there gone0 -
I am only around 15 mile from that show and didn't make it this weekend. I have seen the same firearms on tables for 2 yrs. Some of the better dealers have not shown up with quality. 0 -
They used to have the grand-daddy of all gun shows at the L.A. County fairgrounds. They the politicians kicked them out & there hasn't been much of any purpose to go to any of them since then. Maybe once every five years just to see how much the dealers have raised the prices on the same guns they had five years ago. Show prices are WAY over $11 plus parking. 0 -
bustedknee wrote:Have you seen ticket prices?
I'm not paying $11.00 to get into a show filled with overpriced crap!
I'll wait til next weekend then go on safari to all my local gun shops.
Yep, they usually stock up pretty heavy for the gun show and then end up with a surplus so you can actually get a better deal after the show.
Same thing with boat and RV shows.
The only reason why I go to any shows if I'm in the market to buy something, is to take a look at all the brands/makes/models in one location so I know which one I want to buy without going to 30 different dealerships.
Of course Firearms are a horse of a different color, you can go into any gun shop and see all the brands/models in one location. But you always get the best deal right after a gun show0 -
rufesnow wrote:What gets me, is that the same guys, come with the same guns. Show after show. You would have thunk, that he would got tired of looking at it by now.
LOL. Many years ago there was a fellow working the shows who had three P-220 9mm magazines with the heel release. He had a table and was at all of the local shows in SoCal, so I saw him and the magazines three or four times a year. The mags weren't mint; they actually has a few tiny rust spots and some discoloration, but he priced them as though they were made of platinum. I offered him what I felt was a fair price, but he always refused. This went on for a good long time. The magazines weren't improving with age- I think that I was beginning to see to see a more rust! He always maintained that the magazines were worth twice the money I was offering; he just needed to find the right buyer. Because there were only a few thousand 9mm P-220 imported with heel magazine release, his chances of finding another buyer at these local show was slim to none.
One day I laid my cash on the table and told him that it was now or never. "Do actually you want to see these or not?" I took the magazines home with me.0 -
Parking, gas, and admission? a dealer would turn handsprings if those were his only expenses.
You live on the road doing gun shows and see what the meals, miles, motels, table fees, local business licenses, taxes, and the inevitable wear and tear on your inventory add up to. Then add all that in to your prices to simply break even. NOW tell me about your "overpriced crap."0 -
Here we go again.........
I've been going to gun shows for ever. I used to go with my Dad when I was like 5 or 6 and we still go today(I'm 60). Guys complained about shows then even more than today! "Too much this and not enough that" etc.......
We go with 3-4 friends, stop for a nice breakfast, catch up on each others kids, jobs, retirement, etc, Go to the show, look around and once every 6-8 shows someone actually buys something! Maybe some ammo or a knife and seldomly a gun. On the way home we stop for a cocktail or 3 and solve some world problems and we are home by Noon.
My one friend (newer to the gun show scene) complained after one show so we just didn't invite him to the next show. He asked when the next show was, and I told him it was last Sunday. You complained about the previous one.
We don't complain about gun shows! We enjoy them.........I enjoy the gun and gun show culture, and it won't be here much longer. That is why I support the local shows and local gun shops.0 -
The number of vendors/sellers at guns shows has decreased greatly over the past few years around here.
Travel expense and table rents ........and the internet have played a big part in fewer sellers.
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Just think of it as going to the circus, only the circus people smell better. 0 -
gearheaddad wrote:
We go with 3-4 friends, stop for a nice breakfast, catch up on each others kids, jobs, retirement, etc, Go to the show, look around and once every 6-8 shows someone actually buys something! Maybe some ammo or a knife and seldomly a gun. On the way home we stop for a cocktail or 3 and solve some world problems and we are home by Noon.
My one friend (newer to the gun show scene) complained after one show so we just didn't invite him to the next show. He asked when the next show was, and I told him it was last Sunday. You complained about the previous one.
We don't complain about gun shows! We enjoy them.
I think you misunderstood your friend, he was probably complaining about doing all the things on your list then being back at home by Noon, probably because he didn't have time to look :shock: , I'd complain too0 -
Gunbroker killed gun shows like ebay killed flea markets. It's so easy today to look on your phone and see what the market value is on a particular firearm. I only go to one "gun show" per year and that's Hillsville. I breeze through the VFW "gun show" part because it's the same sellers, same guns, very few deals. I see the same guy every year with beat up rack grade M1s for $1200 etc. I see alot of the same sellers out in the flea market too, with the same items year after year, you'd think the antique dealers would tire of packing and unpacking all that stuff. Why walk around a crowded gun show isle, where you can't move, and your elbow to elbow with people that stink of cigarettes, cigars and B.O. I go to Hillsville more for tradition, because someday it won't happen anymore, the ATF put the squeeze on it a few years ago and ran off alot of the private sellers, and it's lost it's wild west kind of environment. 0 -
I have felt for many years that they are aptly named 'gun shows'. With the prices advertised, they are just there to show you what they have, not sell anything. Aside from Wannamacher in Tulsa, I haven't been to a gun show in 15 years and that even included years where a friend could get me in for free.
I agree that GB has helped the slow death of the shows, but so has the increased prices to get in and the items there. I am always very particular in what I am after, and they are usually rare/odd variants and always in the best condition I can find. At least on GB and others, I can just set a watch for it and wait for it to appear.0 -
I still go to all the local gun shows. Sure you see a lot of the same guns year after year, but where else can you mingle with like minded folks for only $10.00. It costs more than that for a lame Hollywood movie. The local R K shows are pretty predictable, but sometimes you find a prize, My favorites are Tulsa, Denver and the Missouri Valley Arms collectors shows, They restore your faith in gun shows. Besides, I have met many good friends from Gunbroker at gun shows. I'm not looking for bargains, only self gratification. Wait! ???...That didn't sound right.
I have enjoyed meeting 27 Gunbroker members, mostly at gun shows. Many have become close friends.0 -
I go, hoping I will meet Mark Christian one day. 0 -
I went to the Sarasota one. Some pricey stuff but found a deal or 2.
I go - BS with like minded individuals, usually have a good time.
More social than sale for me anymore.0
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