[Pikadon]

Oh yeah. But the more you buy the more it evens out. I’ve got more deals in my purchase history that have made up for the overpayments. That can take time, so education and search ing like crazy are needed. I like GB but better deals can be found regionally. That’s been my experience. I think that some of the buyers getting in now are driving up prices just like the recent straight razor craze. It’s kind of like stocks, gotta be patient and wait for the dips. Or search like crazy on multiple forums to find a fair
Seller. If you have a good firearm education, or simply want one really bad, just go for the passion. The feeling of shooting a coveted firearm cannot be replicated anywhere else. One of your biggest decisions will be if you shoot everything you own. If not, it can get expensive.

 

[Drm50]

I can honestly say I have never overpaid for a gun. What I have done a few times was sell to low because I didn’t know what I had. So I make it SOP to research anything I get that is outside my smarts. I also have a bad habit of buying the wrong Grips, Magazines and holsters at shows.
Having said that, how can one cheer on a deal as a good one when you don’t know what the bottom line was? My Bro has over paid for over half the guns he owns. Why? Because he goes to buy and doesn’t have the fuzz to walk away. I operate on the theory that anything you don’t need for immediate survival is a luxury item. All luxury items are a Buyers Market. People dealing outside this are the cause of crazy prices. If there are no buyers at $XX then the price will decline. There are those who think up all kinds of reasons for over paying. I’ve herd them all from Bro. I wish I had made a list of the guns I’ve owned in my 72 yrs. It’s well into the thousands. I come from the Dung Beetle school of gun buying & trading. Onward and upward.

 

[racoonbeast60]

Not outrageously so. I buy a lot of second hand guns so it is sometimes difficult to nail a solid price down. Plus or minus a hundred bucks can often be your best guess at "true value" assuming that there even is such a number. So, yes, I am sure that I have. But, as I has said, not intentionally or for an outrageous amount. I know a number of times the best price that I could get has been within fifty or seventy bucks of my "comfort zone" but I wanted the thing and this was the only one that I had seen in a while. So, I said "why not" and did the deal.

 

[PolymerMan]

I have overpaid plenty of times... but not "KNOWINGLY". Most of the time they were new models just out and I wanted them and actually believe I was getting a good deal only to see them a good hundred dollars cheaper in 3 to 6 months. But at the time they were mostly unavailable or limited. The most recent one was some time ago when Sig Sauer came out with the P938, and the prior one was the Kimber Solo. Both were new models and the vendors were selling them at near MSRP. I think I paid about $1000 for the Solo and about $850 for the P938. These days I no longer chase the latest and greatest, but 10 years ago there was a shortage of good reliable pocket guns for CCW and I was always looking for that perfect self-defense piece which BTW, the P938 fits the bill to this day.

 

[p.08]

Yes I did, back in 1999 I paid $750 for this WWII Colt. About $300 more than it was worth at the time. Belonged to a retired Army Colonel that was a member of my gun club. Got it at an auction after he passed away.

 

[RickB]

I've paid full retail for a new model, when I could have saved a couple of hundred bucks by waiting two years, but I've never paid over retail.

 

[K9s]

It's only "worth" what someone will pay for it. If you want it and can't find it anywhere else for a lower price, it isn't overpaying.

 

[LuvRetirement]

If it is a piece that I’ve been looking for quite awhile, but is very hard to find, yes. The ones I have overpaid for, I knew I was overpaying, but it was worth it to me. All I have overpaid for are still in my stable and are going nowhere. I justify it to myself by saying I may never see one this nice for this price again. Or, I may be paying a little too much now, but in a year or two it will have been a bargain. Low amount I have paid, maybe $20. Highest amount, maybe $200. All now worth more than I paid for them.

 

[Dump1567]

Guns are like golf. Both are hobbies, you don’t expect to come out ahead playing golf but with guns you have a fair shot of breaking even or better. That’s how I rationalize all the guns that I don’t actually need anyway. Regardless of how much I pay.

I use the same logic. Any hobby will cost money you won't usually recover. It's not about saving money, it's the passion of the hobby.

Since retiring, I've been buying and trying different guns. Who knows how much time I have left in the gun game? So if there's something I want, I buy it (with-in reason). I'll keep and shoot it for awhile. And than eventually sell it for the next gun. Usually at a loss. And even when I think I'm coming out ahead, after doing the math, I'm at best breaking even. I'm not taking any of it with me, or have any nice family heirlooms to leave behind. So I don't get too attached to any guns I have. I'm just using it as I "pass through" life.

I'm blessed to live in an area where firearms are priced right. And being a full time gun guy, I'm usually up on current prices. But if there's something I really want, I'll over pay a few hundred to get it.

And here's an example of a "buy & try" I picked-up a few weeks ago. I shot it yesterday. And to my surprise, it was one of the funest guns I've ever shot. I'll probably keep this one for awhile. I have both .44 & .50 AE barrels for it. And reload for both.

 

[Fatboy46]

overpaid? or just bought it too early? as they say in the classic car market. if you can't pay too much for a 'good used car', then you can't pay too much for a gun you like and want. the market may be high, but you have the $$ then you pay. The next one may not show up for years...Now, have I LOST money on a gun? 'nother story...

 

[frankiestoys]

I overpaid, but it looks great and I see it in my bookshelf every day.
View attachment 642695
View attachment 642696

Hey very nice!
Do you remember where you got the grips?

 

[frankiestoys]

Bought this Trojan at a local show and probably paid $150-200 more then I should have … I didn’t care . I sold one years ago and kicked myself everyday for it . Wasn’t letting it go this time.

 

[4barrel]

An old guy at the range had a hard chrome 45 for sale and I really wasn't interested until I realized it was probably an old bullseye gun from the 60's. I ask if I could bench it at 25 yards with my bullets<he was shooting 230 ball>It shot lights out. I ask if it had extra magazines and he said he had the original gun rug and another mag. We made a deal and he said would bring the rug next week. The gun rug was stamped King's Gun Works.

 

[Comatoes]

Compared to what? I try to pay the going rate or less. Comparing gun prices now to years ago isn’t productive. Market prices go up and down. How much is shooting a gun today vs two years from now worth?

 

[Drm50]

Some bragging about price they got for gun they bought 10yrs ago, ect, People do not understand yet the concept of inflation. The money they brag about in most cases is a loss. Another variable you have to consider when buying or selling. I recently bought a revolver that was bought in 1971 for $208.36, out the door including tax. The only reason I know this, receipt is in the box. Gun is 95%+ with case
tools & docs. I gave $400 and seller was beside himself for doubling his money. His old man would have never sold it for $400. He was the one who busted his hump at $250 a week to buy it. This last couple generations havent had to wait on anything. Buy now pay later. In 1971 gas was .35gal and most people were in $50 bracket jobs. You could buy pretty nice new car for $3k. That $200 gun from 1971 is now worth $1200 2022 dollars. And if you figure it out buying power is about the same. This doesn’t take into account the present daily slide from bad to worse.

 

[7in1911]

I'm sure I've overpaid from time to time, but the latest one that I most likely did was for a FN SLP Tactical 18'' auto shotgun.

I did my research and decided I wanted the SLP model. I called every gunshop I know, every one of them were either out or couldn't get it through their distributor. Same when searching on-line, everyone was out...EVERYONE.

Then one day I was in a LGS talking to a guy I know who was working there and I did a quick search on-line and found Classic Firearms suddenly had 3 in stock. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I showed it to him and I went ahead and placed an order for one, having it shipped to that LGS. Out the door with tax and shipping was near $1,400.

I'm glad I got it, because the next day I went back to that site to see if 2 were still in stock...all sold out. That was the last I've seen and now they're discontinued...none to be had. I did replace the standard stock with FN's full length pull pistol grip stock with adjustable length of pull and cheek riser pads. Also added a Mesa Tactical receiver mounted side saddle.

It's built like a tank and a lot of fun to shoot. Yes, I'm glad I got it.

 

[riposte191145]

Yes...at least according to my Dad. In 1966 I bought a Remington Rand 1911a1 from a pawn shop for $69 (that was perfectly legal then - but I couldn't drive yet so my Mom was with me and that likely sealed the deal with the owner). When my Dad got home he was sort of miffed - he said he could have bought me one at Ft. Knox for $20 (I met a guy years later that did just that). Heck I was young an ignorant, what did I know?

Fast forward 8 years and I bought another Remington Rand off a Lexington cop for $35, so by then that was the right price

Still got them both, still completely stock. I've used the $35 one to pass the Army Rifle qual three times, and won an impromptu 100 yard "sudden death" match at Gunsite with it about 15 years ago.

Oh yeah, in my defense the $69 gun came with set of real Sambar Stag stocks, which I thought was kinda cool but they were way too thick. It also had a micro front sight which was way too tall for the G.I. rear but I got that sorted out (bought a new g.i. front for $1).

I really wasn't that into 1911s back then, it was just a cheap way to get a centerfire pistol - I could not shoot it very well, years later when I got it out of storage, after leaning a little about accuracy, it shot pretty darn good for an old gun that rattles.

Riposte

 

[kitchencounsel]

Sure, if by "overpaid" you mean what it's worth today.
I've paid a premium for investment guns such as vintage 1911s, knowing that in a few years that will be a bargain.

But I won't pay extra just because something is new and shiny with the latest "tactical" bells and whistles. That's not an investment, it's an expense...

 

[martinschwabe]

I live in California, and like guns. probably don't need to say any more, but overpriced is the name of the game here unless you can find what you want on roster, but you will quickly realize it is not what you want. I have bought deals as well. The last gun I bought was 1700.00 new, I paid 2100.00 it was an incredible price, knowing that exactly two had sold on Calguns in 6 years. I flew from northern California to southern California, sacrificed a whole day and about 250.00 additional dollars, by my estimation, it is woth 3500.00, it was still a good deal.

 

[Walt3]

Oh yeah. But the more you buy the more it evens out. I’ve got more deals in my purchase history that have made up for the overpayments. That can take time, so education and search ing like crazy are needed. I like GB but better deals can be found regionally. That’s been my experience. I think that some of the buyers getting in now are driving up prices just like the recent straight razor craze. It’s kind of like stocks, gotta be patient and wait for the dips. Or search like crazy on multiple forums to find a fair
Seller. If you have a good firearm education, or simply want one really bad, just go for the passion. The feeling of shooting a coveted firearm cannot be replicated anywhere else. One of your biggest decisions will be if you shoot everything you own. If not, it can get expensive.

I will say, that as a collector, sometimes the only bargain is the opportunity to buy something.