I don't want to be an alarmist, but....
 

It seems that Parkers are selling more cheaply these days, from what I see on the Internet auction sites. What do you suppose is the cause of this?

My take is that people are more willing to accept less for some pretty nice guns and I have wondered about the reason for this.... and what I think is the reason is that these sellers (at drastically reduced values) actually NEED to sell these really nice Parkers and consequently accept lower prices. But I don't expect this trend to last. I think we are looking at a new America - a more prosperous America where people no longer need to sell off their nice guns as a way of "making ends meet."

What are your thoughts?





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I think it's less demand. Younger folks aren't interested in our kind of guns. As the market shrinks, average quality guns are no longer in demand, so prices soften. Presently, the market for high quality examples will remain good, but down the road.....

A friend of mine who is a major buyer/seller/collector of WW II militaria is seeing the same thing

Dean, I think this is a very timely topic. Without bleeding on this forum, I must say that the years between 2007 and today have been for me a lost decade.
Business and real estate losses, loss of my son to an auto accident in 2009, 180,000 pages of new regulations added to the books in the past 8 years, virtually guaranteeing an older, small business type like me will NEVER, be able to pick up the pieces. Working for other people for the past 6 to 7 years at a break-even existence. Yes, some very nice guns left my modest collection.
All that said, I have renewed faith in my country, and a God that allowed me to be born here. It will get better.

I recently bought an exceptionally nice Parker for a fraction of what I considered to be its actual value. I am not, nor have I ever been, a "bottom feeder" but I was the high bidder and would have even bid more, but....






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Todd, I am truly sorry for your losses, especially that of your son.




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I believe it has more to do with the aging of sportsman with fewer and fewer youngsters coming into the sport and those do have more interest in more modern firearms. Having a small antique business I see less and less interest in "old stuff". What were highly sought collectibles a few years ago don't move anymore or people have no idea what it is. Ask someone under 40 who Howdy Doody is, or even Hopalong Cassidy, and watch for the blank stares. American firearm trends have always been bigger, faster, more powerful and thats what the new sportsman looks for. Your told you can't kill a duck unless you Have the latest 3 1/2" super duper magnum and a "6 ounce load of the latest technology shot at unbelievable speed". When you read the posts here most water fowl are shot with 7/8 to 1 1/4 oz. loads at what would be considered ridiculously slow speeds by today's standards, and yet they work and work well. Outside of the "true collector's" and collector quality firearms, or Sportsmen in the"know" I don't believe prices will escalate the way they have in past years unless we can pass on our ways to a younger generation. We are Dinosaurs and fading fast, hopefully some will discover our footprints.

George has it correct. Kids today are not interested in buying what they consider to be 'antique' the way their parents and grandparents did. They want new and flashy.

I just turned 49. I have always carried an appreciation for SxS vintage guns and I enjoy shooting them for hunting and sporting. I have a modern shotgun (Beretta autoloader) but I have not shot it for about 6 years, although I probably shoot it better than some of my older shoguns. I also have a Browning O/U used for sporting clays and that too has collected a lot of dust in the last few years. There is something about the old time craftsmanship and the artists who created those beautiful examples of functional work of art that is seldom duplicated nowadays, (or it is beyond my affordability when created today). I would not be able to afford any of my turn-of-the century guns if they were to be produced today the same way as then, handmade, with lots of labor intensive hours by expert workers at today's market prices. Heck, I would not be able to afford the piece of walnut wood or the engraving work on it.
For me, the vintage gun represent an example of amazing work of art, aesthetics, and quality that I can both admire and use at the same time. Those old guns have soul!!! Alas, a lot of shooting folks I know do not share the same admiration and views as I do. BillK

Sounds like an echo in here. I think that is the heart of it, the age of those interested.
I know of 1 young man under 30 that has a passion for Parkers. I'd bet a bunch of us that are between 50 and 70 have seen our incomes as stagnant the last 10 years. Myself I don't have someone that wants them when I am gone and that plays a part also.

My recent purchase from GB tells me the bottom feeders are not paying up for guns like they were. My guess is that they have more then enough of the good deal Parkers sitting around. and that the demand has weakened enough so they must sell at a loss to move them along. I'm not sure we will ever recover from this as our youth seem more interested in cheap, ugly, plastic. My oldest son just informed me that the woodwork in his new house is old fashioned, stained and varnished, and needs to be updated to white trim.