.50 T/C Hawken Value these Days

[paulvallandigham]

The way to "deal " with gun show dealers, is to give them your "Low Ball" offer whenever you see them, and write it on a business card with your phone number to call. Then, go back late Sunday afternoon, if your schedule allows, and see what their attitude is about your offer then. They will try to make you pay their asking price, but almost all dealers put "asking prices" for trading for other guns, rather than expecting a cash sale. ( altho you are correct that they wait to see of someone comes along with lots of cash and will pay the asking price.)

If you don't get the gun at your price, walk away. The next time you see the dealer at the next local gunshow, and you still see that gun, remind him of your offer. Either offer it again, or lower your offer- even by $5.00! just to let him know you don't like to be played. You may not get the gun, but then, you might be surprised to get a call, or a sale for cash.

Some of these shows in the past year have been just terrible for dealers, who need to sell their inventory to get their working cash available to buy more guns. We saw lots of "Deals" made in the late Spring of 2010 because of the downturn in the economy. Attendant at even the big shows were very poor, and no one was buying. :hmm:

 

[kelleyjk]

Yeah I could write a whole page on gun shows and gun show dealers.

Pawn shops could take up a whole nuther page. About 90% of those in Dallas dont even sell guns of any type now. This has been on the increase since about 2003, and Im not sure why, maybe the whole FFL thing or their paranoia over liability litigation. Well anyway the really good deals are a thing of the past around here now. Cash America (a foreign ownde company) has followed this plan by getting out of the gun business at their store level and doing online gun selling, no I havent checked lately I refuse to do any business with Cash [strike]America[/strike] England.

I agree with the low ball offer approach, and it has worked for me a couple times but Ive come to the conclusion some of these old boys are just dense, theyd rather haul the same old guns around to show after show rather than accept a marginal profit, theyre all looking for that big sale. Maybe theyre in it too deep too.

Ive acutally had pretty good luck trading (partly because I got too many guns I always got something I can part with.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

You sound like a nice guy yourself!

Thanks for the compliment & back on ya!

Dave