'Used' airsoft

[danfm]

Having looked on the forsale sections for a few weeks, at arnies and a few other places, it seems to me that the used prices for airsoft gear are very high.

Considering these items generally suffer quite badly from wear and tear im surprised to see items for sale with very little reduction when compared to current 'retail' price.

 

Ive looked at hundreds of sales, both past and present, i havent seen anything that i would deem worth the money. A few items are at or above retail price.

Having said that, people do buy them, so you cant blame the sellers i guess.

 

anyway im not trying to stir up trouble in any way, and this isnt directed at anyone in particular.

 

Id be interested to hear what other people think about buying/selling used airsoft>?

 

cheers

[_BlackHawk_]

well in some cases id agree but i had a great deal for a MP5 with an extended barrel red dot spoce silencer and a laser, a low cap, 3 hi caps charger and case all for £200 which i think is a great bargin it is in mint condition

 

so yea its pot luck really i think

sumtimes you win others you dont

[pokethepope]

its worth checking back every few days, because if a good deal comes up, it will be snapped up quickly. you can sometimes get a gun with a mag and battery for £100, if you are lucky.

cheers

[Hissing_Sid]

As a rule I think sellers expect too much.

 

They have a £200 gun, £100 of mags, a £70 sight, £60 of batteries and a £40 silencer and they think assume it's worth at least £350.

 

A buyer, looking for a cheap deal on a gun sees a £200 gun for sale with a bunch of extra bits and he can't understand why it costs more than a new one.

 

TBH, I gotta say that I've had good and bad deals. I bought a Thompson from a Mate of Screaming Weasel and it was in good nick and came with a battery an 2 hicaps.

 

I also bought a G3 which was MORE than the new price because it came with a metal body. It ended up being a bag of junk. It needed stripping down to the base components and rebuilding with about another £150 of parts.

 

I think that sellers should expect to see receive about 60% of the new price for their gear. Given the way some guns are treated, you just can't be paying more than this unless you're SURE the seller can be trusted.

[rizzo]

You've got to remember some guns people sell on HAVEN'T had that much use, and so a CA M4 with rds, mags, and batteries which has only been used once would be a bargain at just below the retail price, for example.

[Hissing_Sid]

Not really.

 

It's still just as big a gamble for the buyer. I think you'll find that the warranty only applies to the original buyer, too, so they are buying a gun with no warranty.

 

Why should a 2nd-hand buyer pay a premium because the seller has decided not to keep the gun?

[rizzo]

Buying a second hand gun is always risky- but if a gun has had hardly any use, and comes with a load of accessories, then i'd be prepared to pay near the guns retail price for it.

[FarEast]

Actually if the gun was paid for in cash and the seller passes on the receipt and the manuals with warranty card then there is no way of the Company knowing that it had an original owner.

 

Take the sig in my link:

 

Now tell me thats not worth the money im asking?

[jammy33]

Most people are only posting an approximate pice and are willing to take a cut in price as long as it's not silly. Their are still some great bargains about I just picked up a PSG1 worth around £420 (with extras) for £200. The swap idea is also hand if you want a change but cannot afford to go out and keep buying new gear.

[Hissing_Sid]

Actually if the gun was paid for in cash and the seller passes on the receipt and the manuals with warranty card then there is no way of the Company knowing that it had an original owner.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Except that a bolshie retailer could say "I've never seen you before so you didn't buy it here and your name isn't on our mail-order list."

 

I know this is all getting a bit hypothetical and silly now but pretty much every consumer item loses at least 40% of it's value as soon as it leaves the shop.

 

To clarify what I mean, above, if I was offered an ICS MP5 with 2 spare mags, a battery and a scope for £200 then I'd probably be happy to pay it.

I'd be paying the new price for the MP5 and, effectively, getting the other bits for free in return for taking ownership of a gun with no warranty.

 

If, OTOH, the seller wanted £250 or more then I'd have to assume they were taking the mickey and expecting me to, basically, foot the bill for their impulse purchase of a bunch of airsoft gear.

[danfm]

Its easy for a seller to say 'only 100rounds fired' or 'bought it last week, never skirmished' 'been under my bed unused for 6 years' etc..

 

As a buyer i would always assume that theres a good chance its been well used, dropped a couple of times and had its share of abuse from clumsy friends&family; in my experience this just happens, no matter how careful you try to be, and believe me im fussy, makes me cringe when someone else is racking the slides really forcefully and ramming them back into position etc...

 

Although it certainly helps when the seller seems to have been around the forums for a while and would want to keep his reputation in tact.

 

like i said, not having a go at anyone, but i had hoped to pick up a few bits and pieces to try out reasonably cheap but with current used prices i feel im much better off buying new. At least i can then sell the stuff on with minimal loss

[Jedi]

I think that the reason for the high resell value is due to supply and demand. The reality is that the amount of people wanting to buy used airsoft stuff far out weighs the amount of used airsoft stuff on the market. As the supply catches up to demand, the buyers will be less willing to pay high prices, causing the sellers to lower their expectations.

 

Couple this with the concept that most people selling used airsoft stuff do so to fund other projects. Therefore, it is important to the seller that they make as much off of the sale as possible.

[danfm]

its completely understandable that a seller wants to get as much as possible for his goods, its the fact that people pay these prices that surprised me.

[Ghost_Rider]

Take, for example, the latest gun I am purchasing from Beano.

 

Z1 Sl9, 4 days old, £200 off the retail price.

 

I'd say that's pretty damm good, and I know from previous experinece that Beano's a good trader. However, if someone i didn't know was selling it, I'd think twice about it.

[Prometheus]

"Why are used airsoft guns so expensive?"

 

Because new airsoft guns are expensive...

 

 

Simple reason.

 

 

 

 

~P

[GI0VANNI]

I don't know far east any, but he asks for a really nice price.

If I would have the money for his g3sas just would take a look on his profile, status points and so on to make sure he is OK (and all those posts and status are not despreciable).

I do't know how do you do, but I got to pay about 260$ plus shipping for some second hand and make repairs and never felt tricked exactly because the retali price plus add ons is always more than the asked.

On the other hand I really got surprised about some prices I see in the forums, especially with english people, it is much cheaper ordering from hong kong retailers than even buying second hand from you with the prices and taxes WGC makes for spain.

[danfm]

"Why are used airsoft guns so expensive?"

 

Because new airsoft guns are expensive...

Simple reason.

~P

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

good one..

[Shao14]

My advice is just do NOT buy the item if you think the price is too high, and hope the lack of demand will drive down the market price, but as long as there are people willing to pay the item, the price will not drop.

[Vicks]

Well all my stuff is bought 2nd hand, have yet to meet a bad seller, but i tend to pick my sales carefully and make sure i get lots of images so i know the item isn't a phantom. most of my stuff hasn't been to expensive:

M4: stock £110

Thompson: stock with battery charger, and couple of mags £180 (that was a bit pricy)

Glock 19: mag+50rd £100 (first buy got a bit ripped off but that was a couple of years ago before the kwa one came out)

M9: £60

biohazard: +1 mag £75

VP70: £120 (willing to pay more as less of them about and was desprate to get one)

 

so all in all i feel i got some good buys, but i have notice that prices are very high atm, maybe because of the possible ban people think that others are gonna pay more when faced with the chance of never owning a gun they have wanted for ages, but Shao14 makes a good point don't buy if you think the price is to high, i know i have turned some things down cause people want -£20 from retail price.

[pokethepope]

also factor in the postage costs, RM Special Delivery costs £20+ for an AEG, so the seller will want to get as much as he can to compensate for this.

cheers

[Billy210]

you can sometimes get a gun with a mag and battery for £100, if you are lucky.

 

You are lucky. See my signature.

[mhe]

I think the best bargains can be found if you look for an extremely upgraded gun.

 

I bought a used P90. Metal receiver, Laserex realsteel laser, sling swivel, precision barrel, gearbox with helical gears, dtp tri-rail mount base. Only paid 400 euros for it. It came without battery, mags or a aiming device (only the laser), but if you take into account, that all these parts are adding up to the 1k$ mark, I think it was really worth it. I reshimmed it and it still works like a charm.

 

But stock guns are also expensive from a certain point of view. It all depends on what financial resources are at your disposal. I always buy stock guns new. But since reshipping a gun back to HK is damn expensive in my country, no realistic opportunity for warranty is given.

 

But yes, the most stock gun users want their money back if they choose to sell their equipment. But if I am to choose between a used gun and a new one for almost the same price, I take the new one of course.