Trouble with any investment they all have a "load" Sell your house it's going to cost you 12 % sell a fine double through one of the Auction Houses 1/3 of sale price gets skimmed right off the top. You need a lot of appreciation to make up for the load.

I have a neighbor that has always bought and sold guns. Started with Colt SAA's many years ago when he was in the service in the Pacific Northwest. Spent his off time looking for them. Long time significant owner of SSA’s well known on the circuit. Sold them all moved into Henry Rifles fewer guns much more money tied up. Now says he has the market cornered on Colt Burgess Lever Actions. Must have 3 dozen. He still has a load it's the expense traveling to gun shows buying cheap and meeting up with interested buyers. Never goes through Dealers.

He get his pleasure out of the deal. Honest I don't think he likes guns that much at all. He never shoots them.

William

And then there are the 'hoarders' who buy any and all they can find regardless of the grade, condition, or price, and the vast majority of the guns they hoard will never see the light of day until the day they die. Then the market becomes flooded thereby causing a devaluation of the ones we have in our comparatively meager collections.





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Right, Dean, we're going to lose our asses when we try to sell our "junk". :rotf::rotf::rotf: On a more serious note, William Davis brings up the subject of the "brand switcher" who really has no love for the guns but wants to be where the action is. I am not real fond of those guys.

I kinda thought a stable full of hookers and some good farmland in Columbia had a better turn around although a bit more chancey LOL's !

I dunno if I'm a hoarder but you can bet your backside if I can buy it right I'm gonna do so . It may stay with me a few days months years or my life . But I'm not adverse to buying one or two keeping them a bit and rolling them over for a profit and buying something else .

Seems to me the majority of yawl do the same thing .

I probably sell a dozen or so each year . And most years I acquire that many or more .

I won't deal with any of the auction houses as a seller . Nothing against them I just don't care for the cut they take and yes I realize they need to make money as well . I sell exclusively on Gunbroker and generally if I sell a $1000 gun GB gets $18 a $2000 is usually about $30 . I can deal with that . Sold a couple in the $7000+ range and never paid GB more then $250 .

The whole thing is like someone told me before I went to the Baltimore Show the first time , keep your eyes open for anything that's priced at a good buyers price . Don't be focused on one particular thing as you'll overlook others .

Now granted if you don't buy and sell and want say an AHE 20 gauge that's what ya want and that's all you're looking for .

Am I really going to be the first to recommend The Parker Story, 4 pages in to the thread?

Acquiring vintage american made side by side shotguns is about little more than greed and gluttony - we all want them all. Investments? I wish I had started buying ammo several decades ago. Now that would have been a good investment. Perhaps good enough to justify the expense of my guns.