How to Determine Fair Price to List in Classifieds?

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bowwild

bowwild

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Dec 28, 2015
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Lawrenceburg, KY
I have been active on this forum for almost a year. I look at it a couple times every day, including the classifieds. I have yet to buy or attempt to sell something in the Classifieds. How do I determine what to list a rifle for? Ive done some searches and can't find my rifle brand/model having been sold here but I'm sure it has. 
(I'll be able to provide references to assure fair dealing.)
Thanks
Roy

P.S. I posted this here because the rifle I'm thinking of listing is a PCP.
 
Take off about 25-30% from the retail price for a used rifle. This should put you in a price range that is fair yet still attractive for buyers. 
Add a little to the price if the rifle is in excellent shape, very sought after, rare, or collectible.
Take a little more off if the rifle is beat up, needs work, or you just want a quicker sale. 
Tom
 
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There is no formula. It is based on the desirability of the specific model. For example, currently, guns like the FX Wildcat are in high demand so they sell used for $200 less than new. FX Bobcats have been around longer and demand has been reduced by the newer bullpup models so I have seen them sell for $600-$700 less than retail (apart from the 30 cal). 

if you can't find any comparable air rifles for sale here or in the classifieds for other forums then you'll just have to experiment with your pricing until you reach a price that gets some bites.

Remember, used air rifles are only worth what people are prepared to pay for them and it doesn't always correlate to what you paid at retail. 

asking questions like this is going to raise some suspicions. Most people already have some idea what the guns they own are worth and scammer pricing that is not in line with the market is one the things that gives them away. 

 
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And please sellers, for gosh sake, be aware of any current discounts or coupon codes which reduce price for your air gun. I always shake my head when a Used air rifle is being listed for more money than it can be purchased for New (with discount codes and free shipping). Equally funny is when they price it about what a new (discounted) one costs (with free shipping), and then they want you to pay the shipping cost on top of it, for the used air gun. If your air gun is true "unobtainium", i.e. may have a commercially listed price, but nobody has it in stock for months at a time, you can push the price margin more. The best reference is digging through previous listings, but keep in mind the price it was listed for may not be what it was eventually bargained down to. There are some selective purchasers who wait until a high-end rifle has sat unsold for a month, then they swoop in with a low-er ball price offer for it. Previous versions of air guns, which the current version has significant fixes/upgrades from the factory, may not sell at the same price point as the current version. And lastly, many people do not want to pay for a scope; they have a favorite one already. Sadly, upgrades (such as regulators), rarely recover more than a fraction of their cost. 
 
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"addertooth"And please sellers, for gosh sake, be aware of any current discounts or coupon codes which reduce price for your air gun. I always shake my head when a Used air rifle is being listed for more money than it can be purchased for New (with discount codes and free shipping). Equally funny is when they price it about what a new (discounted) one costs (with free shipping), and then they want you to pay the shipping cost on top of it, for the used air gun. If your air gun is true "unobtainium", i.e. may have a commercially listed price, but nobody has it in stock for months at a time, you can push the price margin more. The best reference is digging through previous listings, but keep in mind the price it was listed for may not be what it was eventually bargained down to. There are some selective purchasers who wait until a high-end rifle has sat unsold for a month, then they swoop in with a low-er ball price offer for it. Previous versions of air guns, which the current version has significant fixes/upgrades from the factory, may not sell at the same price point as the current version. And lastly, many people do not want to pay for a scope; they have a favorite one already. Sadly, upgrades (such as regulators), rarely recover more than a fraction of their cost.
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+1

This applies double when newer models being sold at retail have improved features like carbon fiber bottles and factory regulators. Sometimes you see used rifles with steel bottles, no reg and a no name shroud for sale used for $100 less than a new one with CF bottle, a reg and a Huggett. Then for the next month the ad is "bumped" with $50 price drops and you think "do they know how to use Google?"
 
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Thanks all.

Sounds like the same for selling recurve bows which I do on an archery site called "TradGang". I'm not a dealer, just a fellow that goes overboard sometimes with recurves, and now (a bit) with air rifles.

I definitely know not to even think about getting new or near new price. Sometimes I simply have to decide to keep something because the price reduction to sell is just to painful compared to when I bought it. Yep, I know that about scopes too, I've done some powder burner trading (with gun shops) in the past (I'm 62) and learned that you don't get anything for used scopes because folks just don't know (which is fair) how they've been treated. I'll think again about whether I want to take a stab at recovering a bit of what I just spent on a new Wildcat. 
 
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Whatever you do, do not copy this guy's pricing strategy:

http://www.airguns.net/classifieds/show_ad.php?adNum=131347&adSort=&StartingAd=150&NumberOfPages=7

He seems to think that, thanks to a few of his mods, his Droydz Blackbird BB gun is worth $2200. To add insult to stupidity he goes on to make it clear that there is no warranty or return. If you receive it and it doesn't work, he gets to keep your $2200 and you get to keep a pile of Worthless Russian plastic. it might be the worst deal I have ever seen in the classifieds.

The most common delusion I see is the pricing people think their modified Marauders should fetch. I don't know about anyone else but there is nothing you could do to a Marauder pistol to make it worth $1,000 to me unless you coated with that value in gold and diamonds. 

Walmart sells Marauder pistols new for $350. You can put it in a bullpup stock, add a LW barrel and a reg but that doesn't make it a Cricket. People try and sell them with mods like that for $1000. There is one of air guns.net that started at $1200 nearly a year ago and it is still there but now he's trying to get $800. That's still double what I would pay for one. 
 
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zebraWhatever you do, do not copy this guy's pricing strategy:

http://www.airguns.net/classifieds/show_ad.php?adNum=131347&adSort=&StartingAd=150&NumberOfPages=7

He seems to think that, thanks to a few of his mods, his Droydz Blackbird BB gun is worth $2200. To add insult to stupidity he goes on to make it clear that there is no warranty or return. If you receive it and it doesn't work, he gets to keep your $2200 and you get to keep a pile of Worthless Russian plastic. it might be the worst deal I have ever seen in the classifieds.

The most common delusion I see is the pricing people think their modified Marauders should fetch. I don't know about anyone else but there is nothing you could do to a Marauder pistol to make it worth $1,000 to me unless you coated with that value in gold and diamonds. 

Walmart sells Marauder pistols new for $350. You can put it in a bullpup stock, add a LW barrel and a reg but that doesn't make it a Cricket. People try and sell them with mods like that for $1000. There is one of air guns.net that started at $1200 nearly a year ago and it is still there but now he's trying to get $800. That's still double what I would pay for one.
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Zebra, you just described my experience selling my rapid-70 bullpup Prod. I literally spent $1000 in the basic gun plus upgrades to get it shooting .5" groups at 40 yards. When I finally decided to sell it, after buying a Mutant short, the best offer I got was $375! On the other hand, I was able to sell my AAS510 carbine, with a few accesories, for $900. Not a bad deal, imo. Resale value definitely is not easy to predict, to say the least.
 
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 I find it fairly easy to predict resale values most of the time. You just have to think about the sort of person who would buy something and what else they could buy for similar money.

A Marauder or Marauder pistol is an entry level airgun. The principle reason people buy them is because they are a reasonable quality product at a reasonable price. It doesn't matter how much you spend on one in upgrades and accessories, it will never be a $1,000 gun. 

If I am prepared to spend $1,000, I would have put it towards a Mutant, an Air Arms or Daystate. There is no way I would part with $1000 and only come home with a Marauder pistol, no matter what dress it was wearing. A Chrysler will never be a Ferrari because you give it the Fast and the Furious treatment.

Just like with cars, mods can also reduce the value even if they increase performance. If I don't know and trust someone, how do I know they didn't make it unsafe or reduce it's working life?

In other words, if you are prepared to invest that cash in airguns, I think it is better to sell the entry level one and buy one that does what you want out of the box if you ever intend to sell it. If you want to make a Marauder a project gun, do it knowing you'll never get your money back.

You also need to look at the benefits people get from buying a new gun from an actual store vs buying from the classifieds. Stores offer warranties and returns. They offer free or cheaper shipping and someone to call if there is an issue. This needs to be reflected in the used price. If you only charge $50 less than the store you can forget it. 

I think the best way to make your money back on aftermarket accessories is to sell them separately. Then you'll attract people like yourself who weren't prepared to invest all the cash at once but they could manage it in small chunks as they slowly upgraded it over time. 
 
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Very good points you have. You are right. In my case, potential buyers were not interested in paying extra for a regulator, an aftermarket barrel, a moderator and a few internal mods. Only the bullpup stock was of some interest to most of them. Half an inch vs. one inch accuracy was not a factor for the average airgunner around here. Neither was 15 vs. 20 fpe. At least it was fun to play with my Prod. Luckily I did sell the barrel and regulator here (AGN) and cut my losses a bit.
 
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"cilami"Very good points you have. You are right. In my case, potential buyers were not interested in paying extra for a regulator, an aftermarket barrel, a moderator and a few internal mods. Only the bullpup stock was of some interest to most of them. Half an inch vs. one inch accuracy was not a factor for the average airgunner around here. Neither was 15 vs. 20 fpe. At least it was fun to play with my Prod. Luckily I did sell the barrel and regulator here (AGN) and cut my losses a bit.
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I think those things become more important if someone is choosing between guns of the same model and similar price. In that scenario the additional accessories might make them buy your one over someone else's. 


If you you returned the Prod back to stock form and sold the barrel, reg and stock separately, I think you'd find some takers if the price was right.

Package deals are the worst in the classifieds. It's so annoying when you see a gun you want to buy but they are selling it with a scope you don't want, a pump you don't need, a case you already have and a flashlight you would never use. It makes no sense to limit potential buyers to people who are buying their first PCP gun only. It doesn't help to say "will considering splitting" if you don't provide a price just for the gun.

The most important thing is that price is set by what the last one sold for, not what you paid. Nobody cares if a person paid $2000 yesterday if someone else sold one for $1200 the day before. 
 
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I've bought and sold several Airguns .It a lot like houses . If you price it right it'll sell pretty quickly and If priced too high it can become " stale" on the classifieds. There Is a guy who has been selling the same two guns for so long now on yellow and AA my eye automatically just skip them now . And FOR SURE if it doesn't sell on the first post DONTTTT make a link to a previous post . It sends the message your gun has been for sale too long as is probably overpriced . Post your best price to start and it'll go fast and you won't have so many tire kickers . Good price says buy now , or miss it . 20-30% off new is a very good guideline
 
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Thanks. All of this makes terrific sense. 

I'll share something I learned last week through a very positive experience. I sold one of my recurve bows to a fellow in California (Bob Lee Ultimate with 2 sets of limbs). He had no history on the archery forum where he spotted my bow for sale. I had about 5,500 posts on one of the archery forums, so he could scan my posts to become a bit confident. I wanted to sell the bow and he wanted to buy it. He made me a different offer than what I proposed but it was still quite good (not a lower price, just a different combination of limbs and riser). 

I told him a bit about myself and invited him to "google" me with various key words (archery, elk, KY Fish & Wildlife). I asked him for some background. Long story short, he is a fireman of 18 years.

Before we made the transaction I wondered if someone paid by PP and I deposited the payment, if the payment could be pulled from my account. I even called PP which was easier than I thought it would be (they e-mail you a "Code"). Turns out some folks have been scammed using PP. If you receive a PP payment make sure you document the delivery of your item. Some sellers have allowed buyers to pick up the item in person and the seller received no written verification. Later these buyers can claim to PP that they never received the item. Then PP requires the seller to refund the money or be visited by debt collectors. Ouch!

So, I received payment, deposited in my account, and mailed the bow ($1,700 item) with signature required (turns out with that much insurance a signature is required by USPS anyway). I sent the fine fellow the tracking number and even told him what day the bow would arrive. By the way, he paid the 3% PP fee even though I told him he didn't have to do that, I would absorb it. He did anyway. The cool thing is that the $51 fee he paid covered most of the $51.25 shipping and insurance -- pretty cool coincidence!

Today USPS is to deliver the bow. I've asked him to drop me a line when the bow arrives. 

It was a very pleasant transaction and I learned a bit more about protecting oneself. 

Sorry if this long post was common knowledge to everyone here.

Roy Grimes
 
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