1911 Firearm Addicts banner

Has the 1911 resale market hit bottom?

11K views 183 replies 70 participants last post by  WVsig 
#1 ·
Watching the Classifieds recently I’ve noticed prices have crashed. There are always the few like Yost that don’t seem to tank. Are we at the bottom yet or will they continue to drop more?
 
#4 ·
Nope not yet! Tier one smith builds will be the last to drop in value.

Semi customs and lesser renowned smiths are already dropping and will continue to do so.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Nope not yet! Tier one smith builds will be the last to drop in value.

Semi customs and lesser renowned smiths are already dropping and will continue to do so.
Tier 1 work isn’t selling like it was 1-1.5 years ago
The market is indeed slumping.

** I feel it’s quite a ways from hitting bottom yet though. However, your points are definitely on target.
 
#6 ·
Guns get cheap during holidays and tax season. Also folks should be holding on to their cash after the 2nd half of last year. The general market has done better this month, stocks are going up, crypto is edging up. However, fuel, housing and other costs are still higher.

We have this same conversation every year in June (summer starts, schools out, summer vacations going on) and November through March ish.
 
#8 ·
I believe that we are nearly there. Whether it has truly bottomed or just close, I don't know. This is officially uncharted territory. Even more interesting, to go from a time when many were making purchases that they otherwise would not have via stimulus checks(I picked up two that totaled about $5k from just stimulus money), wait times for an Alchemy exceeded a year and guns at top dollar sold immediately in the classifieds. Now, ACW delivers in six months, people are selling their stimulus guns because they realize eggs cost $5/dozen(I roll my own) and beautiful semi customs languish at what may only be described as "bargains".

I think the worst sign that we could see would be for the Yost/Rogers/Burton guns to languish and even worse would be if national Glock/AR/etc. sales plummeted.

We deal in luxury and high performance on this forum. That is quite a niche market. If Glock's, Sig's, etc. stop selling that to me would be an economic sign of serious trouble. We're already headed toward serious trouble and things are drying up, but the day that NFL stadiums, Disneyland and Las Vegas sit empty will truly show when things have come undone. Sadly, status symbol cars and NFL/Disney/Vegas trumps home ownership and actual security in today's America and is the ultimate economic standard.

When people show up to church on Sunday rather than the watering hole to spend a day watching men play games, we'll know that it's really bad.

We may have this conversation every year, but this time we aren't speaking of a seasonal swing. It has been a drawn out thing for over a year now and keeps going. The rate of sales in the classifieds when I first started looking in '20 was amazing. They stopped about a year ago and never started again. What used to be seasonal is now an economic slump and to deny that is, well I'm not sure what it is. I don;t know where the bottom is, but that we are slumping is undeniable and has been one of the only consistent things of the last 2-3 years.
 
#24 ·
We deal in luxury and high performance on this forum. That is quite a niche market. "

Well said, it goes for watches, cars and Bourbon as well. Paying even just $2000 for a 1911 or a watch seems just insane to most folks.

And honestly, me too to some extent. Two days ago I fondled a new DW Pointman 9mm for $1600, nice trigger but the gun just did'nt speak to me. Yesterday I found and bought a 5" Ronin in 9mm on the strength of the Ronin Commander I have. Shot steelcase and aluminum rounds thru 11 different mags and it ran tip top. Its not like spending 2x as much was gonna shrink my groups that much.

We are getting old, my nephews have 0.0 interest in guns, anything but a Apple watch, nor decent stereo equipment. There just aren't gonna be tons of buyers out there.

Sorry Merton, I did not mean to type into your quote.
 
#10 ·
Can someone point me to those “crash” listings? [emoji41] All I saw so far are reasonable prices on older used guns that were bought much lower than current inflation driven MSRP.

I know what folks are saying about the economy but I doubt we will see much of a crash in 1911s or any other tangible property (in general, there are always exceptions). Prices will hopefully stabilize and people will stop asking over MSRP for used items, but why would anybody liquidate assets and replace them with cash that is losing value every month?
 
#12 ·
Can someone point me to those “crash” listings? [emoji41] All I saw so far are reasonable prices on older used guns that were bought much lower than current inflation driven MSRP.

I know what folks are saying about the economy but I doubt we will see much of a crash in 1911s or any other tangible property (in general, there are always exceptions). Prices will hopefully stabilize and people will stop asking over MSRP for used items, but why would anybody liquidate assets and replace them with cash that is losing value every month?
To answer your last question first, because they need the cash for other purchases more than they need that 10th or 20th 1911 in their safe.

There have been Yost (hi Powers) that have sat that last year would have sold instantly, there was a Reid last month that sat & not sure if it in fact sold which again early last year would have sold almost immediately, the number of Alchemy listings continue to grow.

Folks who paid premiums over the last couple of years are likely going to hurt if they need to sell something.
 
#14 ·
Base guns might drop another 50-75 bucks but that's about it. High end guns have a lot more room to discount. For instance In the last 3 months I have offered 4 grand on 6 grand guns and while sellers didn't budge they also haven't sold their inventory yet.
The markets will be tough until the rates stop climbing and people decide the bottom is in.
We are heading to ebbtide and will find out who is swimming with no trunks on.
 
#18 ·
The Valtro was at a fair price and priced what they were going for about 3 years ago - cant comment on the other two you picked up.
 
#21 ·
I think between the economy and this the market changes. On my area I was able to snag some good deals on rifles from guys that were getting out of shooting and moving someplace warm. They aren't as desirable as the black rifles I guess so it worked out for me. I'm wondering if the older revolver prices ha e changed based off the same idea. I feel like most of the time I'm the only person with one at the range.
 
#19 ·
As Merton pointed out this is by and large a niche community, the average gun buyer isnt buying multiple Nighthawks never mind multiple custom smith 1911's.

The folks who worry about or feel the pain when the prices on eggs goes up arent going to be affected much by any of this then again those are the minority even in this niche.

I expect to see prices drop far more in the coming months followed by an adjustment in pricing by some smiths who I think got a little too excited by the market the past couple of years & will find that their pricing is not sustainable.
 
#22 ·
I think it's pretty difficult for new or like new full customs from the most desired builders to crash in price if these builders are keeping their prices constant or raising them and if they still have multi year backlogs. With the cost of everything staying high I dont see the prices these smiths charge doing anything but going up over time. There may be less people spending discretionary money on luxury goods like this but I think a "crash" is not likely... ( I would define a crash as being able to buy new or like new full customs at prices from 5-6 years ago ).... Hope I am wrong as would be nice to be able to get some guns at those prices but not holding my breadth.
 
#29 ·
I've noticed the slump. From my personal experience in my LGS, where I've snagged a couple of remarkable deals, to the classifieds here in which I lurk almost daily. Great firearms are going for notably less than a year or two ago, and are taking longer to get scooped up.
 
#31 ·
Personally, aside from my heavy daily carries, Dan Wesson Guardian, Counselor and Sentinel Compact I will only buy and own full customs.

Prices on Burton, Rogers, CT Brian's, Reid's and Yost are what they are cuz as I like to say go find another.

Two Yost revolvers sold for $7,500 each last week in minutes, those are RARE guns, go find another.

When was the last time a full house Burton transacted on the forum? Those are RARE guns.

A Wilson is more production than even semi-custom today so those prices will slump badly
 
#35 ·
I think many here have over inflated the market by their own doing and we're just finally coming back to reality. I'll catch heat for this, but its the truth... A Kandros custom should never sell for 6k - this is my "jump the shark moment" It makes everyone look around and think they can sell what they probably only paid 6-7k a few years ago, now for 10k because it has a better name. We're seeing this now in the classifieds, these pistols "valued at 10k" slowly get reduced down to 7.5-8k to sell and seller is probably breaking even. Everyone wants fun & cool stuff - but I think they want value too and thats what we're seeing now in the classifieds.
 
#36 ·
Of course the economy is affected by many factors and the only constant is change. The important thing is the duration of the state of the economy, particularly if it happens to be bad. Inflation has lowered the value of the dollar and has most likely caused many to think more judiciously when considering purchases of luxury goods. Couple that with the tremendous uncertainty that exists today and it is easy to understand the slowdown, not only in the firearm business. Regardless of one’s political persuasion it is quite evident that our “leaders” have put us in a unsustainable situation economically. And, it’s worldwide. It may be a long ride before things stabilize. Tie your shoelaces real tight.
 
#40 ·
If we all say prices are rising they will stop rising? Tell that to eggs and everything else at the grocery store. I think that your point is generally true as it pertains to this group of people on this forum, but what is it about the economy that looks like it's headed up?

If it were just the small community of Absurd Gun Owners, that would be one thing. If the secondary market simply had more guns in it than fools like us(I make no exemption for myself, by the way) to buy them, that would be easy to quantify. Every time you turn around the dollar is worth a little less and some new thing is hard to find and at an even further inflated price.

I still have to argue that while things are cyclical, what has happened since '20 is entirely new territory that we don't have anything to truly compare to. I'd love to believe that we're going to go back to November 2019, but I just don't see any evidence of it.
 
#41 ·
A couple thoughts....
Boomers have the most disposable income of any age bracket.
Boomers like 1911's
Boomers houses are paid for
Boomers cars are paid for.
Boomers kids are out of the house.
Boomers came face to face with the possibility they could die a couple years ago.
Boomers said I'm going to buy what I want.
Boomers are going to die. (sorry)
There are going to be a lot of Boomer children flooding the market with Dad's 1911 collection so they can buy Glock's and an AR's

It always comes down to supply and demand..
 
#44 ·
A couple thoughts....
Boomers have the most disposable income of any age bracket.
Boomers like 1911's
Boomers houses are paid for
Boomers cars are paid for.
Boomers kids are out of the house.
Boomers came face to face with the possibility they could die a couple years ago.
Boomers said I'm going to buy what I want.
Boomers are going to die. (sorry)
There are going to be a lot of Boomer children flooding the market with Dad's 1911 collection so they can buy Glock's and an AR's

It always comes down to supply and demand..
Most of that list applies to me and I’m not a Boomer! Gen-X checking in.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top