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Buying a Gun from a Private Party

F

Freeborn

Alpha
Hi Group,

I did a search on how to value a gun and ammo when purchasing from a private party but did not find anything so I am posting this question.

I recently moved into a well-established 55+ community and am finding out there are older men with firearms they no longer use and are wanting to sell. I am talking with a fella about a Kimber Pro Carry II with 12 boxes of ammo and before I meet with him I want to get an idea on how to value the gun and the ammo. I don't know the age of the gun or the ammo but I am being told the gun is in excellent shape.

I don't own a 1911 and thought if I could buy it right this could be a good gun to start with.

What are the steps you go through to determine a fair value and how do you determine the value of ammo?

Thanks!
 
So I’ve sold 3 firearms “separately” in private sales and only once sold left over ammunition when I sold my 9mm handgun, I priced all sold items at 75% of current market value and sold them quickly without negotiation.

This doesn’t count firearms traded in at FFL’s when each time it wasn’t a sale but a trade for another gun.
 
In your case, you have yet to see the gun and so far don’t know the asking price?

What would be your budget starting offer, do you want any quality gun at a particular price or a particular gun for other reasons, price only secondary?
But having the going rate for that Kimber would be nice to know if you feel you may be paying too much for something you may not exactly want, or the seller over zealous considering there’s a raging market. They might be just strapped for cash, or clearing out unnecessary stuff and could care less what they get for unwanted items.

Ammo (prior shortage and it became a commodity) certainly went up in cost as did some rare guns. Is the seller offering a deal of the century, allowing any depreciation for a so-so high production firearm or expect retail pricing, have they done any comparison valuations in anticipating a sale or was this transaction a spur of the moment idea that came up in a casual conversation? I expect to see some Illinoisans dumping there high cap‘s because they don’t want the JB Headache fees.

Heres my quick for instance; I bought items from a retiree cleaning up his spares so he could fund another purchase, to wit; Colts in the box ($330) and .38 ammo w/$15 price tags...today, plenty will eagerly pay me 1980’s MSRP retail over-the-counter prices for these !

Like with a car, a retail trade-in value is a good start point for private sales, I generally offer even lower by 20% depends on condition and no modification. It used to be that car MSRP was negotiable to at least 10- 15% off sticker - ah, the good old days before the worldwide Flu lockdowns.

As AWB and capacity limits continue to spread across some States, will it factor into the evaluations, inventory and availability causing the market to also go haywire.
 
Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it.

The purpose of the post was to get a better understanding of how you approach buying used guns. I would like to add a few so when I eventually retire I can spend more time enjoying them. The gun I am looking at will be a range gun and its purpose is strictly to enjoy shooting it.

The opportunity on the Kimber will work out to be fair for both of us, I'm not interested in taking advantage of anybody and I don't have a budget. I just want to know what's fair and if I can get that on any gun purchase I'm happy.
 
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