The official "You've got to be kidding me!" price gouging thread.

[SecondsCount]

Why is this gouging?

Six months ago people were saying how expensive a $950 AR cost and now they are tripping over themselves to spend $1,500 to get one before they are banned. I have heard several stories of people walking into a gunshop in the last week and asking to buy an AR-15. When asked what kind they wanted the responses have been "I don't care, as long as it is an AR-15."

I spoke to a guy who owns a small local gunshop. He has two long guns and a couple handguns left. When he called his wholesalers yesterday morning to restock they told him they don't have anything but a couple semi-auto pistols and some bolt action guns which nobody is buying. Even 1911 pistols have been wiped out of inventory.

The next gun shows are going to be absolutely crazy and it is only going to get worse before it gets better.

[John Ralston]

So if I sell high...is that gouging or a good return on my investment?

[David Armstrong]

Don't have any firearms I'd sell, but I'm thinking it might be worthwhile to invest in a table at the next gun show and sell off about half of my AR and Glock mags.

[dstocum]

Someone can list a gun for as much as they want, they're not forcing anyone to buy it. And if an item gets bid through the roof, well, it's not the seller's doing. An item is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

I'll be auctioning a rifle and a pile of mags, an M1A scout I was already planning on selling before the panic. I'm getting away from the platform entirely. What am I supposed to do, list it at a "fair" fixed price and watch someone flip it as soon as they get it, or auction it and let the market decide what it's worth?

Everyone talks about how guns hold their value, good investment, blah blah blah. Now that people are actually making some real cash on their investments half the gun world is bitching about it.

This isn't like jacking the price of gas to $8 / gal in an ice storm or doubling the prices at the grocery store. Nobody NEEDS to buy this stuff.

[Odin Bravo One]

I have plenty I will sell. For the right price.

High on the list are an unfired Noveske/VTAC Recce, and a LaRue PredatAR in 7.62mm. I won't take anything near what I paid for them, but if someone is willing to pay double or so, then I could let them walk away without too much heartache. GF's Daniel Defense might be in jeopardy as well if the price is right.

Is that gouging?

No one is holding a gun to the head of the buyer forcing them to buy anything..............and these items that are flying off the shelves, and being sold at ridiculous prices are not necessities. The buyer is making a conscious decision to pay that amount for these items.

The value of any item is what someone will pay for it. Pricing on any item in any store is determined the exact same way.

[John Ralston]

Well...it kind of is an Ice Storm, and we don't know when it will be over. I would agree with you though - if you sell it at a fair price, that guy is going to list it on Gunbroker and make a huge profit (that should have been yours).

[Kyle Reese]

I've got a custom made MSTN made 3GM upper I'm looking to sell to fund a few handguns I'll actually shoot.

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[Odin Bravo One]

Well...it kind of is an Ice Storm, and we don't know when it will be over. I would agree with you though - if you sell it at a fair price, that guy is going to list it on Gunbroker and make a huge profit (that should have been yours).

Then it is a self inflicted Ice Storm.

I have no sympathy for someone who shoots themselves in the foot, then cries about how bad it hurts.

[dstocum]

Well...it kind of is an Ice Storm, and we don't know when it will be over.

Not really. Essentials are different from luxuries, and an AR-15 is most definitely a luxury item. It's one thing to raise the prices of things that people have to buy, like gas to run a generator to keep the furnace running or basic food to feed their family, and quite another to raise the price on avocado.

We're not talking about people buying AR-15s because it is an essential tool for defense. It's a nice tool, but definitely not necessary. People are buying them because they're afraid they won't be able to later. People who can't afford one at market prices, who don't have a gun now and want one, aren't going to be left in the cold. They will just buy something else if the market remains skewed.

I get what you're saying, I just think you mistook my analogy. I shoulda used the diabetics and insulin one instead...

[John Ralston]

Yeah, you're right...it's like going to the corner meat market during Hurricane Sandy and finding out that they don't have any ribeye's left.