Cheapskate sales

[Ratinator]

What has happened to the value of our kit ?
When I first joined this forum and was in the market for some nice kit, you had to constantly monitor the sales section for your desired toys. If you switched off for ten minutes and you wanted a Ripley ,bang it had gone for the asking price of a grand no questions asked.
Now it seems if your not prepared to put it in the guys hand 200 miles away for under £700 they just sit around. If I buy something now I always look at whether I will be able to recover my money and more often than not the answer is no.
Are we asking the wrong money for our goods or are we being swayed by the fact you can buy a Dvd player for £25 made by ting tong in hong kong?
If Ripley's were made by people using cheap labour and materials in sweat shops would we be happy paying £300 quid for one or would we question the quality?
What ever happened to the good old Union Jack stickers that ment the tool in question would last for life ,are they only available in pound land now

[longsider]

I'm relatively new to internet forums myself and when the sales section here was opened to me I was surprised at the very reasonable prices compared to other selling sites . I think the sense of selling among friends affects the prices and makes them constantly low . This might be counter productive if you want £800 for a rifle but members know that a couple have sold for £650 / £700 . Money is tight for most people nowadays and maybe that's why they are more inclined to wait and watch . I have only sold a handful of products here but the fact that I have bought some good kit at very reasonable prices has made me price the items I've sold lower than they are priced on other sites to show some "give and take" and I think that's a plus point of the forum . On the subject of the good old days when anything with the Jack flag on it meant good quality and workmanship the simple answer IMO is that unfortunately at present it doesn't and the standards are not always any higher than anywhere else in the world . Don't get me started on privatisation several decades ago but that , to me, was where we lowered the standards you mention .

[Binker]

I've rationalised any losses I make on guns as a 'rental' charge. Calculated over the time I've kept the gun and factor in the joy of shooting and it seems like good value usually. I think my last couple of guns worked out at about 75p a week

Cheers

Binker

On re-reading I'm not too sure how relevant my contribution actually is but thanks for letting me play.

[SteveH]

You have singled out Ripleys, my favourite rifles are Ripleys, but they have a few problems which goes against them in terms of second hand sales. I sold one in 2013 which sold overnight for £1200 and recently I've been looking to replace it.

1. The stocks. As they come without a stock they vary a lot. Some of them are poor home made creations that should have no place on a ripley, some are CSS template stocks which are no use to anyone... but some are stunning Paul wilson/Gary cane creations which are fantastic.

2. Build quality isn't always top notch. The are the kind of rifle you absolutely need to shoot before you buy. It's the same for anything hand made, you will get Friday afternoon guns where there is something not quite right.

3. Age, it's an old design. I've been shooting since 2002 during that time I've not seen Ripley introduce a new model... (elites do not count... they ain't ripleys)

Just my thoughts, a top of the range rifle in a proper stock will still get top money but a lot of them are far from that.