What To Consider When You Buy A Used Gun

Should you buy a used airsoft gun?

 

This is a question that has plagued BB Warriors on a budget since the inception of airsoft. Should you save some cash and lose a little value to get what you believe is a nicer gun? What about the opposite? What do you consider when it’s time to sell your used gun?

 

We’re going to try and answer those questions today. If you understand how to value an airsoft gun, you can get a better idea of what the used guns you are buying are really worth. It may help you determine if it’s even the right call to buy used instead of brand new!

 

How to Value Your Used Gun For Sale

This is a difficult task for many people on the market, and you can actually use most of these techniques as a buyer to determine if something is a good deal or not. We believe this gets broken down into a couple of simple techniques:

• Research Your Gun
• Price Out a Brand New One
• Determine value-added accessories
• Determine value-reduced usage/tech work
• evaluate your personal value of the gun

It sounds like a lot to take in, but really it is a simple process. Firstly, research the gun’s brand new status. Learn everything about it from stats to performance to included accessories. This will all help you later. During this process, take note of the price of a brand new one. Make sure to factor in retailer coupons, special deals and any other cost saving measures. The goal here is to compare the lowest possible price of a brand new gun, to the price of this used one you intend to set. Ideally, you’ll price your gun at 60-70% of the lowest brand new price for a similar quality used rifle with minimal use.

Once you have the price set for the base gun, you can plus up the value a little bit for added accessories and included materials. It shouldn’t ever really eclipse the price of the new gun, unless it’s a ton of stuff though. Extra magazines, red dot sights and any other included items can help increase value. The same is also true in reverse though. If the gun is missing parts, or has been opened for work by anyone who is not a verified technician with good reputation, it often damages the perceived value of the gun for the buyer. These are all things you should keep in mind.

Lastly, you need to factor in your personal value of the gun. This is more to determine if it is worthwhile for you to sell, but is not something you should use to gauge increased price. To be blunt, your buyer doesn’t care what YOU think the gun is worth, but what THEY think it is worth to them. You have to keep this in mind and be reasonable when pricing out and negotiating a sale.

 

 

Where Can You Sell Your Gun?

In today’s modern age, selling anything even remotely shaped like a gun is taboo. This means airsoft guns are against policy to sell on sites like Craigslist, and Facebook, as well as other social media sites. So where can you go to sell your used gun now that you’ve priced it? Where do you look for used guns to buy? There are a few places:

• Swap Meets at your local fields or GI Walk In stores
• HopUpp App
• Airsoft Marketplace on Reddit
• Various Discords for Airsoft

You actually have a lot of options, but they are definitely much more “underground” than they are mainstream, save for the first option. With any of these tools, you always want to be cognizant as a buyer of getting ripped off. This is especially true with online interactions and whenever possible ask for vouches and do your due diligence to not get scammed.

 

So Is Buying Used Worth It?

It’s not as viable as you may think. While there are definitely good deals to be had, and sometimes if you want a new project gun this can be a good cost saving measure to engage in, on the whole it’s not worth the effort. For the vast majority of airsofters, if you are an avid discount hunter you can often score a new gun for close to or the same price as some used guns.

Compare the listings you see on the HopUp app for yourself and see just how little you really are saving when you factor in the price of shipping a used gun. We often offer free shipping or steep discounts on many of the same products, only ours are brand new.

That begs the question then: When is buying used worth it?

The best deals when buying used, beyond obviously low pricing, is when you’re getting a lot of extras for your money. If you can get a lower price, but a buyer can throw in a box of magazines, batteries, and some accessories you have yourself a good deal. If it’s just a beat up gun of questionable condition and you’re only getting a menial discount, just buy brand new, and thank yourself for it later.

 

Hopefully that clears up some of the confusion about buying used. If you’d like to peruse our brand new guns at all time low prices, click HERE.