There's embracing capitalism and then there's just being ignorant. Most of the pricing I saw fell into the latter category.

Just because it's used doesn't mean it's rare or collectible. If your price for a used gun is more than what I can buy it for brand new, you're a moron. Yes, I realize you can just make out the name Browning or Winchester through the surface rust and that the wood, though apparently used to stir soup and pound nails, was at one time high quality, but that doesn't make it an $800 rifle, even if there is a canted no-name scope attached to it.

And by all means, make sure you stock your booth with as much low quality crap as possible. Red dots, magazines, accessories. Quantity over quality. Nothing from a reputable name-brand manufacturer. As long as it looks like the product it's imitating, that's enough. Also, only sell ARs from random makers. Nothing top tier. If customers have heard of the brand, you're doing it wrong.

I'd estimate at least 80% of the inventory at the gunshow should have had its price reduced by at least 50%. And that's probably a conservative number. It's always fun to browse, but the whole affair is starting to turn insulting with the way vendors act toward potential customers. I'm not clueless, so don't treat me like I am. Yes, you have the right to set your prices and I have the right to say you're full of shit and keep going.

yea!!!!!

the someone weekly/monthly/annual gunshows suck thread!!


if you are in Va, I'll get you in the show for free, but you will have to set behind my tables and listen to the stuff the folks on the other side tell you,

as in, it is just as bad behind the table (as far as crap from peoples mouths)

and by the way, you will have to bathe,,, we are clean at my tables

I have watched bidders on both eBay and Gun Broker bid stuff up insanely. So vendors at gun shows listing things for stupidly high numbers comes as no surprise.

I think I've gone to gun shows maybe twice in my life. Both times seemed a total waste of time, which is one reason I pay them no heed, and haven't for years.

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:

as in, it is just as bad behind the table (as far as crap from peoples mouths)

That's why I had to quit working gun show booths 15 years ago. I was losing IQ points listening to that crap. It was making me stupid, and I didn't start out too smart either.

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
yea!!!!!

the someone weekly/monthly/annual gunshows suck thread!!


if you are in Va, I'll get you in the show for free, but you will have to set behind my tables and listen to the stuff the folks on the other side tell you,

as in, it is just as bad behind the table (as far as crap from peoples mouths)

and by the way, you will have to bathe,,, we are clean at my tables

Oh man, I completely blocked the lingering cloud of B.O. from my memory. Haha!

How was the beef jerky and home made holster guy?

There's a gun show in Orlando this weekend. I had been thinking of going, have not been to one for a few years, but you talked me out of it. Probably A Good Thing to save an hour of round-trip driving, ten bucks or so to get in, crowds of clueless inconsiderate people shoving their way through the aisles, vendors with attitude, greasy Italian sausage / pepper / onion sandwiches, overpriced crap -- hmmm, now that I think of it, what's not to like?

I still go to the shows that are sponsored by sportsmans clubs and the like, still some need things to see.

The ones I won't go to are the ones that have the backing of a company that does only that, run gun shows. We have a company in Michigan that has stepped in and made these shows not worth going to. The last one I was at I paid my five bucks, went in, and was out fifteen mins later.

Jim

I've been to exactly 1 decent gun show in the last 25 years. You forgot the Nazi crap. And the hot dogs stored in ice chests (sans ice) Saturday night and sold Sunday. I probably should catch one soon, haven't been in years. As far as working a booth-I hope you make a ton of cash. I can walk away from an obnoxious seller, but the booth guy can't walk away from stinky-ass, greasy fingered most-likely-a-felon "customer."

Gunshows in the late 80s and early to mid-90s were great.

I loved going, there was always a slew of guns and stuff.

You couldn't pay me to go these days - or a least you wouldn't enjoy paying me what it would take to get me to do.

Every once in a while I'll find something priced correctly. However, I usually go to gun shows for the entertainment value.

quote:

Originally posted by Monk:

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
yea!!!!!

the someone weekly/monthly/annual gunshows suck thread!!


if you are in Va, I'll get you in the show for free, but you will have to set behind my tables and listen to the stuff the folks on the other side tell you,

as in, it is just as bad behind the table (as far as crap from peoples mouths)

and by the way, you will have to bathe,,, we are clean at my tables

Oh man, I completely blocked the lingering cloud of B.O. from my memory. Haha!

Whenever I set up a table at a show, I brought pickled herring & Kimchi for lunch. It at least cover up the unbathed smell of some of the other denizens so I could eat.

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
yea!!!!!

the someone weekly/monthly/annual gunshows suck thread!!


if you are in Va, I'll get you in the show for free, but you will have to set behind my tables and listen to the stuff the folks on the other side tell you,

as in, it is just as bad behind the table (as far as crap from peoples mouths)

and by the way, you will have to bathe,,, we are clean at my tables

I like the guys, who want to tell you what they have at home, like the gun you're selling only in better condition and they paid less for theirs. Reminds me of a sign I once saw on a dealers table at an antique show ," the only one interested in what your grandmother had was your grandfather".

I refuse to sell one of my guns for less then I paid for it.

That said my wife gave me a edict three months ago - sell some guns to lower my credit card debt. So, off to the local gun show with guns to sell.

In my opinion over the last 15 years many local gun shows (I've been to them in Ohio, Michigan, and now Texas) have a somewhat flea market to them. Some of the people have tables at the show, walk around and buy guns from people who brought them to the show to sell, then put them on their table for sale, with the "qualification" private collection for sale...for a lot more then they paid for them...

The last show I was next to a woman selling jewelry, a local politician running for office, and a husband and wife selling hand made ball point pens. That helped me...surprisingly; in three months of setting up at the same gun show I sold $11K worth of guns.

To put it in its proper perspective - as I said to several people, its easier to lower my price then to raise the price. One person told me that he liked buying a gun from me (in 3 shows he bought 4 guns) because I'm willing to actually negotiate on the price.

Like the old guys with the $2500 1911A1 that's been $2500 for the last 15 years?

quote:

Originally posted by JR78:
Like the old guys with the $2500 1911A1 that's been $2500 for the last 15 years?

Dude, your avatar is 2,988px × 5,312px

Here it is resized: http://i63.tinypic.com/258v0gy.jpg

quote:

Originally posted by cwo4uscgret:
I refuse to sell one of my guns for less then I paid for it.

That said my wife gave me a edict three months ago - sell some guns to lower my credit card debt. So, off to the local gun show with guns to sell.

In my opinion over the last 15 years many local gun shows (I've been to them in Ohio, Michigan, and now Texas) have a somewhat flea market to them. Some of the people have tables at the show, walk around and buy guns from people who brought them to the show to sell, then put them on their table for sale, with the "qualification" private collection for sale...for a lot more then they paid for them...

The last show I was next to a woman selling jewelry, a local politician running for office, and a husband and wife selling hand made ball point pens. That helped me...surprisingly; in three months of setting up at the same gun show I sold $11K worth of guns.

To put it in its proper perspective - as I said to several people, its easier to lower my price then to raise the price. One person told me that he liked buying a gun from me (in 3 shows he bought 4 guns) because I'm willing to actually negotiate on the price.

lots of folks either don't know what haggling is, or just don't want to (and rather complain about a price than make an offer)

I guess I "manage my expectations" better these days. I go to the Nation's Gun Show in NoVA (Chantilly VA) at least 4 times a year and the prices seem north of reasonable but nor stupid as a rule. Plus, some bargains can be had if you look closely and are lucky.

I went the weekend before last and scores a box of S&B 30 carbine at $19 a box of 50 (for a case of 1000). That's a fantastic price, those rounds usually sell for $27+ per 50 at the gunshows.

I enjoyed gun shows in the 1970's and early 1980's, when it was really a good thing to do. When the DuPage County Fairgrounds show was three buildings, all full, lots of deals for both new and used guns, reloading equipment, military surplus (real US military).

The last show I went to, I think in 1983, the son of a friend tried to sell me an FN-FAL that he'd made himself out of "parts." Not even real FN parts. That was the last time I went, and the last time I saw my friend's son -- he had become one of "Them."

You guys have obviously never been to a an amateur radio ham fest.

Cheap assed stingey bastards with the same load of boat anchor old obsolete crap that they've been dragging from sale to sale for decades trying to get rid of it. Cheap assed Chinese mad crap. Piles of who knows what in the heck it is.