Used Gun Values

Like anything that is being sold, the price is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it. A gun may cost more than what anyone is willing to pay.

Used gun values are determined by the type of gun, the condition, and the rarity in the area you are selling it.

• Type of Gun – A Glock 17 is a fine pistol, but there are a lot them out there used. Keep this in mind when you are purchasing or selling a firearm. If you are looking for a very common firearm you can typically wait for a great deal to come by, as there is a lot of that model to choose from.
• Condition – Grading a used firearm is done by a 100 point scale, which is referring to a percentage. A 98% gun should have no defects and other than the firearm being used a couple times, it should be as close to perfect as a used gun can get. Keep in mind that the “grading” is typically done by the seller and while many sellers will not out right lie about the grade, it is typically the higher end of the possible score the gun could actually get.
• Rarity - A good example of this is class-3 (i.e. full-auto) firearms. Due to restrictions on the import and manufacture of full-auto firearms the prices are typically 10 to 20 times the cost of the semi-auto equivalent. The manufacturing cost for making a full-auto is materially the same as a semi-auto (on imports it could even be higher). Due to the Governments restrictions the supply is artificially keep low which drives the cost up.

Blue Books

There is no perfect way of finding out the right price for a used gun. There are many Blue Books available that are updated yearly. These guides are a good start but they don't account for the availability of the firearm in your area. These are great starting points to get a ballpark figure of the cost or value of a firearm.

Online

Gunbroker is a great site to find out what real people have paid for a firearm in the last couple months. It is free to use and you may even find the exact firearm you are looking for at a cost much lower than you had expected. The use of gun forums in the classified sections will also help to give an idea of what to expect price wise. Remember when looking at any gun for sale online that you can ask whatever you want for a firearm and the price may be overpriced.

Gun Store/Gunsmith/Pawn Shop

Taking a firearm into a gun store can be a way to get an instant price on what the gun store would sell the firearm for and what they would be willing to pay for it. This difference is much like a car. You can sell a used firearm to another individual for more, but it does a bit of leg work in placing ads.  Remember, these guys are trying to make a living so they will have to buy it low enough for a profit.