The Airsoft Second Hand Market

[sonofsammo]

I'm just wondering what people's experiences of it are. Not just on here, but on sales sites, FB, discord, real life etc...
I don't know if it's just the ads for guns I'm looking for or what, but it seems to me that there are a lot of grumpy sellers out there.
I should look at stuff I'm not interested in to see if they're any sunnier in their disposition.

The only second hand stuff I've bought has actually all been good gear so far - but most of it's been through day to day interactions rather than adverts.
What do you think of the 2nd hand airsoft market?

[Tiercel]

Its died, thanks to Combat Machines and other such cheap, well performing guns.

A few years back I used to buy and sell guns all the time, Id pick something up for cheap, get bored of it or need to make some money and sell it on. Rarely made a loss on selling 2nd hand guns,sometimes even managed a profit.

 

Now you either have to accept the offer of £2.80 and half a pack of polos, or just accept that youre not going to sell it. Unless you have something particularly rare or interesting for sale.

 

Nobody wants to spend £200 on a second hand gun anymore when they can just buy a CM16 for £130 brand new with a warranty. 

 

Its not just the grumpy sellers though, its the cretinous chancer buyers too  The art of haggling is lost on them, with constant "wats ur lowest price" "£50 today" "wat best price?" "how low u go?" messages that make me want to gouge my brain out with an ice pick rather than even bother replying to them.

[skintrade]

It's variable, same with any preloved market.

Why do you refer to grumpy sellers, and what defines them this way for you? Are you contacting them with questions that they just don't want to answer, or trying to knock down their asking price for example? They may have been contacted repeatedly by people just looking for a crazy deal (which would annoy most sellers), and could have hit a limit in their patience just before you say 'hello'.

 

The fact that Airsoft is a small target group "should" mean a friendlier environment, but the flip side is that we "know" what we're prepared to pay, depending on the usual variables like wear and tear, age etc. It also means that due to the restricted scope of buyers, that there isn't a whole lot of competition for a seller unlike cars, tech, and so on.

 

Most sellers will want to make as much of their investment back as they can, and sometimes over price the kit compared to what you or I may be prepared to pay.

That can lead to a simple "I want £x", "I'll pay £y", "Sure, why not", or "I want £x", "I'll pay £y", "Sorry no.", or the worst one "I want £x", "I'll pay £y", "F Off, it's worth more than that, you c***!"

The last happens when either the buyer is really under valuing what they are looking at, or the seller over values it. In that case there's no real getting beyond it; the buyer has to keep searching for, and the seller has to wait for someone who doesn't know what something is worth.

 

In any case, as a buyer you have to accept people are human, they may have had a bad day, they may have responded in a manner that you interpret as being stroppy, and they may also just be wankers with a bad attitude. It is also possible you're contacting them in a way they either misread, or doing or saying something that just happens to set them off too.

 

[sonofsammo]

44 minutes ago, skintrade said:

It's variable, same with any preloved market.

Why do you refer to grumpy sellers, and what defines them this way for you? Are you contacting them with questions that they just don't want to answer, or trying to knock down their asking price for example? They may have been contacted repeatedly by people just looking for a crazy deal (which would annoy most sellers), and could have hit a limit in their patience just before you say 'hello'.

 

The fact that Airsoft is a small target group "should" mean a friendlier environment, but the flip side is that we "know" what we're prepared to pay, depending on the usual variables like wear and tear, age etc. It also means that due to the restricted scope of buyers, that there isn't a whole lot of competition for a seller unlike cars, tech, and so on.

 

Most sellers will want to make as much of their investment back as they can, and sometimes over price the kit compared to what you or I may be prepared to pay.

That can lead to a simple "I want £x", "I'll pay £y", "Sure, why not", or "I want £x", "I'll pay £y", "Sorry no.", or the worst one "I want £x", "I'll pay £y", "F Off, it's worth more than that, you c***!"

The last happens when either the buyer is really under valuing what they are looking at, or the seller over values it. In that case there's no real getting beyond it; the buyer has to keep searching for, and the seller has to wait for someone who doesn't know what something is worth.

 

In any case, as a buyer you have to accept people are human, they may have had a bad day, they may have responded in a manner that you interpret as being stroppy, and they may also just be wankers with a bad attitude. It is also possible you're contacting them in a way they either misread, or doing or saying something that just happens to set them off too.

 

Nowt to do with interaction. I was more referring to the way  the actual adverts are written.

Puts me off getting in touch in the first place, so I don't 😁

[skintrade]

3 minutes ago, sonofsammo said:

Nowt to do with interaction. I was more referring to the way  the actual adverts are written.

Puts me off getting in touch in the first place, so I don't 😁

Some people just don't know how to write a compelling ad chap.

[sniperslucky]

It's not only cheaper guns but sellers stating Almost used / upgraded and being overpriced as this topic has been gone over earlier. When you look at the price of the new gun 90% of the adverts are £40 cheaper, second is second hand whether it's upgraded or nearly new.

 

i've only had bad experiences so far with 2nd buying. G18C looked all good in photo's but when it was posted it had bit/parts missing and items not sent of which i had to chase . Then you get the sob story of pay and i'll send the rest as i ned the money lol

 

[Druid799]

As tiercel said , for me the grumps are caused by fuckwits messaging with inane questions or ridiculous offers , as in I post ‘for sale I have an as new never been out of the box  ‘wat am bestest gun’, comes with 10 batteries a charger , 20zillion mid caps and an aliens remote gun mount . Price £1.75 this price is including P&P and all Paypal charges . You then get “how much with postage ?” , “what batteries does it take”  “will you do a deal with some mags as well” or the classic “what’s ya lowest price ?” To which I usualy reply (if I can actually be bothered to reply) “umm let me think ? Oh I know how does £1.75 grab you as my lowest price ?”

[Wo1f]

I’ve found the Airsoft market like the car market. Things tend to get sold when they start going wrong or they’re  hyped up and turn out to be shite. The amount of times I’ve spent £400+ on an airsoft gun and it turned out to be a melon is ridiculous. Now I tend to buy based almost solely on the seller and their forum presence/knowledge. For example.. I bought a Tm g18c from @rocketdogbert because he knows his shit about pistols. Pistol was exactly as described. 

 

On the other hand.. I sold a GHK AK74u package for £400 in perfect working order. First owner broke the full auto sear and it’s changed hands a few times. Last time I saw it it was up for £530, still broken.. not advertised as broken. Advertised as semi only, like it was done on purpose. I feel genuinely sorry for anyone who buys half of the guns on here. 

[Guest]

It’s varying wildly at the moment. 

 

I rarely buy on impulse, research often tells me what I should pay, and generally I wait until something turns up 25% less than that, or a lot less but broken.

 

I like fixing and/or building things, but often get bored once it’s done. I like to be able to move things on at a fair price so most of the time I don’t lose too much, and sometimes I make some money.

 

There’s an awful lot of crap out there, but I like to think I’m fairly good at spotting it if it’s within my sphere of interest👍🏻

[sonofsammo]

12 hours ago, rocketdogbert said:

It’s varying wildly at the moment. 

 

I rarely buy on impulse, research often tells me what I should pay, and generally I wait until something turns up 25% less than that, or a lot less but broken.

 

I like fixing and/or building things, but often get bored once it’s done. I like to be able to move things on at a fair price so most of the time I don’t lose too much, and sometimes I make some money.

 

There’s an awful lot of crap out there, but I like to think I’m fairly good at spotting it if it’s within my sphere of interest👍🏻

You have PM. With my Paypal deets and a shopping list 😁😂😭😁

[klein]

Normally I part ex / upgrade any guns at my local site

 

I always get a fair price and I know they need to make some money on it 

 

I do not have the time or patience, Maybe im getting old

 

 

[Albiscuit]

15 hours ago, Wo1f said:

I’ve found the Airsoft market like the car market. Things tend to get sold when they start going wrong or they’re  hyped up and turn out to be shite. The amount of times I’ve spent £400+ on an airsoft gun and it turned out to be a melon is ridiculous. Now I tend to buy based almost solely on the seller and their forum presence/knowledge. For example.. I bought a Tm g18c from @rocketdogbert because he knows his shit about pistols. Pistol was exactly as described. 

 

On the other hand.. I sold a GHK AK74u package for £400 in perfect working order. First owner broke the full auto sear and it’s changed hands a few times. Last time I saw it it was up for £530, still broken.. not advertised as broken. Advertised as semi only, like it was done on purpose. I feel genuinely sorry for anyone who buys half of the guns on here. 

 

 

Very similar to above. I would almost certainly never buy a gun second hand as;

 

A) I cant trust the owner is not selling a lemon or has not 'upgraded' the gun to its early death

 

B) Most sellers either dont bother looking at the current values as people are greedy and want as close to retail as possible. Why would I buy a used gun for £300 when for £320 I can get a brand new one? makes NO sense!!

 

C) Guns come with a tonne of crap I dont want/need (when I was looking at getting an Evo Scorpion most second hand sellers wanted more than a new retail version as they stuck loads of crap in with it which I didnt want. sights, mags, batteries, chargers etc)

 

I have got a few guns from regulars on here and they have worked fine and would only consider buying from someone I played with/against a few times or know has a good rep on here, otherwise I am going to a retailer for a new box and warranty!!

 

Gear on the other hand, im not too fussed with buying 2nd hand as I dont really bother with expensive stuff and used pouches and the such can hardly cause many issues unlike a gun worth hundreds.

 

[klein]

Just had a flick through the classifieds on here, found a gun i liked, did a quick google and found you can buy it new with a warranty for £20 cheaper than 2nd had price

[skintrade]

17 minutes ago, klein said:

Just had a flick through the classifieds on here, found a gun i liked, did a quick google and found you can buy it new with a warranty for £20 cheaper than 2nd had price

 

Yep, happens a lot with the market. People value it as what they paid, and someone will buy it because they are too lazy to research.

[Wo1f]

15 minutes ago, klein said:

Just had a flick through the classifieds on here, found a gun i liked, did a quick google and found you can buy it new with a warranty for £20 cheaper than 2nd had price

At a glance, 50% of the stuff in our classifieds is overpriced. Some are just more than they’re worth but under retail, and some are well over new price. It’s like painted guns. If you’ve got a £500 Tm recoil and then you’ve drowned it in krylon, it isn’t worth fuck all to virtually anybody. 

[Gepard]

On 11/10/2018 at 20:11, Tiercel said:

 

Its not just the grumpy sellers though, its the cretinous chancer buyers too  The art of haggling is lost on them, with constant "wats ur lowest price" "£50 today" "wat best price?" "how low u go?" messages that make me want to gouge my brain out with an ice pick rather than even bother replying to them.

 

Eer Burt, this bloke won't haggle! 

 

 

Personally I hate people who list a bunch of items with no prices - just offers - and when you send them an offer they don't bother replying! 

 

I mean, if it's too low just haggle with me! I love that stuff! 

[madmogga]

Having just read all the above and taken on board the comments I have just removed my first and only listing in the classified section as I totally agree with all the above, while I thought my price of £350 for a brand new gun with a load of spares, lots of mags etc. was fair it was based on what I paid for it and wanted to get back from my investment and not realistic price, and I also thought that it would be more attractive with all the spare parts, but as pointed out people might not want them or need them so why would anyone pay more for what you don’t want.

 

Wish I had read this before making my first post, but will now list the AEG on its own at a more realistic price and list the spares separately for anyone who might be interested in them.

[mcwimbo]

I've bought and sold literally hundreds of guns over the years. As others mention above i rarely used to lose money when reselling, i reckon there's a time most aeg's in use were 3rd/4th hand. 

 

But selling these days seems slow. 

 

On the other hand, 

People seem to mess with/ butcher/ upgrade things far more often these days than I'm comfortable with. 

 

If you mention high ROF, swiss cheesing or AoE correction in your advert then I'm simply not buying it. 

[Immortal]

This is the first hobby I've not bought anything second hand as 99% is over priced.

So I guess I've no issue if they're grumpy or not as it's not going to get to that stage!

 

Why bother on a risk if you can get it brand new for near enough the same price with a warranty.

 

Other forums I've been on have an over priced section for flippers. Sorts out the chaff...

 

To add: Another thing some other forums do is also make the seller list the current RRP too. Doesn't matter if the price has gone down it's what's current versus what your price is.

[Tiercel]

2 hours ago, Gepard said:

 

Eer Burt, this bloke won't haggle! 

 

 

Personally I hate people who list a bunch of items with no prices - just offers - and when you send them an offer they don't bother replying! 

 

I mean, if it's too low just haggle with me! I love that stuff! 

 

Ugh yeah I hate the "send me offers" adverts, I simply don't bother with them. Most places putting a price is a requirement of the advert else it gets taken down.

 

I think the problem is the internet has become too accessible to retards... have you ever tried selling a car on eBay or Gumtree or anything like that? It brings out the spastics like you wouldn't believe. I recently listed a car for £500, and get a message just saying "£150", nothing else, no mention of anything like wanting to view it, no questions, just "£150".  And then one like this:

 

 

what the fuck does that even mean?

 

Now before anyone goes hunting down that ad and goes OMG WAT PRICE??? I am deliberately taking the piss with my asking price because I know its not worth that and Im going to get a collection of dribbling spastics and chancers offering me significantly lower thinking that theyre going to get a bargain, which Ill be happy to accept because its getting more than Id get for it as scrap. Everyone's a winner. Sometimes I wonder if thats what some people are doing on here with their gun prices. Its a bit easier to make a decision with guns though as you can easily find an RRP.

 

2 hours ago, Wo1f said:

At a glance, 50% of the stuff in our classifieds is overpriced. Some are just more than they’re worth but under retail, and some are well over new price. It’s like painted guns. If you’ve got a £500 Tm recoil and then you’ve drowned it in krylon, it isn’t worth fuck all to virtually anybody. 

 

Dont even get me started on "amazing custom paint jobs!". Theyre all crap. Every single one of them. I like my guns like I like my amateur bored housewives gone wild collection. Black. I will make an exception for guns that have a purpose being painted, such as sniper rifles as its practical - however they also have to accept it obliterates the resale value.

[Prisce]

I agree with some of this, but vast amounts I disagree with.

 

I have bought and sold 30ish RIFs in the last two years, it was all going well and no issues until the last few months. 

 

Everyone now expects to get something for nothing. 

 

The main issue is supply and demand. That and people being thick. If your after a good deal, ask, but do so in the right way. The reason prices are so high(in my opinion) is because of the way people haggle. Say the item is up at £500, someone will offer you £250 for it. Say the same item is up for £250, someone will still try offering you £150 for it. So to counteract these annoyances people put the prices up so if they do get a ridiculously low ball offer, it might be somewhat near what you actually want for it.

 

 

For example, I recently sold my SSG24, advertised for £550 on UsedAirsoft, and £500 on this forum. I got offered the full £550 on used Airsoft within 30mins of me listing it, this bloke did buy it, but I didn’t take the listing down until 2 days later, in which time, some plonker offered me £350 on here.  

 

If you want a specific item, message the owner, tell them your budget and ask what can we do?, you never know, and it’s not rude or being a dick either.

 

 

I currently have a working, with issue(selector plate needs replacing) TM MP5 up for sale at £80, it started life(when working) at £120, dropped down to £80 because I want it gone(it does have a terrible paint job- not going to lie), the only offer I have had for it is £20... I can break it for more.

[skintrade]

22 minutes ago, Prisce said:

If you want a specific item, message the owner, tell them your budget and ask what can we do?, you never know, and it’s not rude or being a dick either.

 

This is great advice, all we ever can do is hope the seller is honest too not saying sellers lie, but there are some shonky people on both sides of the equation.

[CiderPunk]

15 hours ago, Prisce said:

 

I currently have a working, with issue(selector plate needs replacing) TM MP5 up for sale at £80, it started life(when working) at £120, dropped down to £80 because I want it gone(it does have a terrible paint job- not going to lie), the only offer I have had for it is £20... I can break it for more.

 

omg i just saw it, that poor gun

[Prisce]

Just now, CiderPunk said:

 

omg i just saw it, that poor gun

Tell me about it, my brother purchased with the thought of painting it himself and fixing a few niggles.

 

You should have seen the wiring, it was atrocious. 5 different type of connectors from the gearbox to the battery... I have rewired it now. I have also fixed the poor hop unit and poor air seal, so the gun actually works rather well. But I have run out of spare time to actually fix anymore RIFs, been to 1 Airsoft game in 5 months, and that was the Mall game.

 

Hence why I have sold so many in the last few months, this is the second last to go. Last will be a TM VSR once I get a chance to list it.

 

 

[L3wisD]

Prisce... £50?