Appraising Guns By a Gun Broker Gun Values Increase Obama Considers Gun Control By Paul Lowe

www.lowescertifiedguns.com

There are two types of appraisals conducted on virtually all kinds of valuables including guns. An insurance appraisal values a gun at the estimated replacement cost should the gun be lost, stolen, destroyed or damaged beyond repair. A market appraisal estimates the retail value a gun will sell in current market conditions. In general an insurance appraisal and a market appraisal for the same gun will not yield the same result. The two appraisals make significantly different assumptions and, as a result, the insurance appraisal is almost always higher.

The insurance appraisal assumes the gun will be replaced shortly after the loss. Particularly in the case of rare guns and other guns in short supply, the buyer is not in a position to spend the months or years he may have spent in initially acquiring the gun, replacing it. Accordingly the appraiser assumes a sellers market.

The market appraisal assumes that the gun will be sold quickly and as a result a buyers market is assumed. A market appraisal never assumes a top price for the gun at auction or retail; there are too many factors that could prevent the sale at top dollar including but not limited to:

• Sudden unanticipated increase in supply

• Poor review of the firearm in question by a gun magazine

• Release of a new and improved model

• Deep discounting by another seller with a cash flow problem.

• Sudden shift in overall market trend caused by political events (1 example - small revolvers that were difficult to sell before the presidential election are now easy to sell and are in short supply and 1911 style pistols are now more difficult to sell)

One of the most difficult tasks of an appraiser is to have to tell a gun owner that (as we say in private) "your baby is ugly". Often well meaning friends that are mistakenly considered experts by the owner have advised the owner that his gun is "worth a fortune" and then we have to appraise the guns market value at $500. German Lugers are generally the biggest offenders closely followed by Winchesters and Colts. A recent example is not atypical.

We received a 1955 Winchester 94 30-30 carbine through our "Sell you Gun without ever leaving home program". (www.lowescertifiedguns.com) The appraiser evaluated the guns condition, checked the Blue Book of Gun Values online (the only current bluebook – it is updated continuously) , auction sales at two online auction sites over the past 90 days and our own records of 77 previous pre 64 Winchester 94 sales. He estimated the market value at $650. The owner was furious! His brother had told him the gun was worth at least $2000! He concluded we were thieves.

Reality is we shop other dealers to assure that we pay the highest prices for used guns than all our competitors. We do this for two reasons. The first, and most important, is that it is simply good business; used guns have a much higher margin than new guns so we like to acquire used guns. The second is that a customer that feels cheated by us is a customer that will tell 10 other people that we cheated him. Despite our best efforts to acquire this 1955 Winchester this man in the above example will never, in his lifetime, sell that gun for what his brother told him it was worth.

There are dishonest appraisers and dealers in every used item fields. The firearms world is no different. Some appraisers´ literally make a living buying guns well below wholesale (wholesale is about 60% of the guns market value) and selling at retail. It is easy to protect yourself from these predators. A little research on your part can gain you a nice return on your small investment in time. Just follow these simple steps when you want to sell a gun.

• If you are fortunate enough to be near several dealers shop your gun among at least 3 of them

• Never sell your gun to a dealer that does not have his guns marked with a price tag but a code – that dealer does not want the seller of the gun to come in his store and find out how much he was cheated when he sold it!

• Check on line – Google your gun – you will be surprised how much information you will learn

• If you do not need the money immediately consign your gun to a dealer that will sell it on line – that way you can see exactly what your gun sells for.

And remember a dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail; if you want retail for your gun you are going to have to take all the risks selling it yourself.

A dealer values (appraises) a gun based on CONDITION, supply and demand, estimated time to sell (a gun on the shelf could be cash in the bank earning interest). A dealer does not take into account what you paid for the gun, what your friend says it is worth or what price you saw one sell for at auction. If you can find someone that will pay you more for your gun (remember shipping, transfer, liability, advertising costs etc) then please do. Dealers cannot make living buying guns any other way.

More information is available at the author´s website www.lowescertifiedguns.com

Or you can e mail him directly at paul@lowescertifiedguns.com