Rare 20 gauge Parker

[J.B. Books]

I second Dean's nomination as moderator.

I think the larger question is; what do we offer and is it perceived as valuable for someone to fork over their money and join the PGCA. With that in mind who are the people who come to these forums for the first time or limited posting non-members and why. There are the people selling guns, looking for market exposure or advice because they think they might have something valuable or they want to be sure the collector hangout is alerted. Then there are the prospective new or limited knowledge buyers trying to be sure they don't make a mistake in either price or originality. There are also those who have discovered grandpa's old shotgun and want to know if it's worth something, can they shoot it and should they get it restored. There are occasional non-members whose gun broke and they are looking for the best person to fix it. For the most part we provide these services as a group every day, free of charge here in the forums.

If a person has one Parker and wants to know all there is to know or verify orginality we suggest they get Research letter. If the person has one gun they have a choice, $40 dollars for membership plus another $40 for the letter OR $60 for the letter and not join. Anybody see a problem here? Perhaps we should consider all first time new members get one free research letter then you are offering the curious something monetarily tangible and if they join they might stay and start collecting/shooting/participating.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Pete Lester

If a person has one Parker and wants to know all there is to know or verify orginality we suggest they get Research letter. If the person has one gun they have a choice, $40 dollars for membership plus another $40 for the letter OR $60 for the letter and not join. Anybody see a problem here? Perhaps we should consider all first time new members get one free research letter then you are offering the curious something monetarily tangible and if they join they might stay and start collecting/shooting/participating.

Pete, If I were a BOD member (and I'm not) and this came to a vote (which I am completely confident it never will) I would vote against such a motion.

Also, please go to our Home Page and click on the "Research Letters" and you will see that the price of the non-member research letter has been raised to $100.
The reason for this change will be explained in the Spring Issue of Parker Pages which is at the printer as we speak. But suffice to say that it will be cheaper for someone to join PGCA and order one letter ($40 + $40 = $80) than to simply buy a letter at $100.

If anyone thinks $100 is too much for a letter he should try buying a letter for a Colt or Winchester

[Labowner]

I don't see anything wrong with these type of nonmember posts. We get to see a gun before it ends up at a pawn shop and then shows up on GB or another web site because the owner had nowhere else to offer it. I know of a couple of very nice guns that changed hands in similar situations with both parties being very happy. It's not like the forum is full of these type of threads.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

If anyone thinks $100 is too much for a letter he should try buying a letter for a Colt or Winchester

SAA letter from Colt is still $100 and will include info on returns to the factory. A Cody letter is a good deal more, and tells a good deal less.

[Bill Murphy]

I think a Fox Collectors Association member gets a free letter with initial membership. I think that is a good thing. It would get people familiar with the "letter" concept, and gets people a year of Parker Pages, which should get anyone with any sense to renew. I apologize if I am repeating anyone else's idea.