There have been a lot of truths spoken here, and I always do enjoy going on and reading even when it's the same thing being re-hashed for the thousandth time.

Some items of note from this thread:

1) You are selling a shotgun that is your old friend to a business where it's only merchandise. And because it's your friend you put a higher value on it then you should. And they have to guess whether they will have their money tied up in it for two weeks or four years, and the risk that to make it go away at some point in time they might have to sell it at loss. Just because it might be a nice gun doesn't mean that anyone will come into the store and buy it at even a low fair price.

2) Give someone who is trying to make a living at selling guns a break. Guns don't move off the shelves like bread and milk do and look how much of that inventory is tossed outr as garbage everyday because it doesn't sell and is now stale/spoiled.

3) There is no such thing as 100% profit. Percent profit by its very definition is "always" calculated based on the selling price. Pay $50 sell for $100 you made 50% profit. Pay $20 sell for $100 you made 80% profit. Pay $2 sell for $100 you made 98% profit. Now if you pay $50 and put the price at $100 you have "marked the price up" 100%, but when you sell it at $100 you made 50% profit. Don't believe me, go to any definition site on the internet and verify the definition of percent profit. It's the same all over U.S. no matter where you are and all over the world as well. It's better defined than caliber and gauge as there is no range of acceptable variances.

4) Unless you have some killer gun and take it to a specialist who has eager customers for it, taking an average gun to a dealer is the worst choice. Do you expect to get the best price for your used car by taking it to the new car dealer in town and selling it to him even though you are not buying a new one from him. Same principal. Want to see how "easy" it might be to sell your gun at your desired price? List it on gunbroker or gunsinternational as previously suggested and see how many people beat you door down to buy it quick. Or if you think your local gun store has an eay go of selling guns, list it in your local paper or pennysaver and sit by the phone waiting for it to start ringing off the hook.

5) Here's an even better one, not from this thread but from a friend of mine who is an antique dealer. About two months ago a collector phoned him to offer him an antique that he had decided he didn't want any longer. When my friend told him that that was not his antique area of focus the collector told him that as a professional dealer in antiques it was his responsibility to focus on and handle all antiques and since he had a business in selling antiques it was also his responsibilty to buy everything offered to him and at a fair price to the collector. Amazing isn't it when we have something to sell. And when we see something we want we want the seller to sell it to us for less than he paid for it.

O.K., I've vented, now come blasting back at me with all those barrels blazing and spitting fire.