the market is truly down

[Cz315]

I'm sure all of you noticed that we are way down from the COVID heights, which is great time to buy. I really don't need another SKS but at $633 total acquisition costs I could not say no to a as-issued 1954 Tula. Not the nicest I have, but it's pretty good and I'm an addict  Where is GM to console me?

[Greasemonkey]

I really don't need another SKS but at $633 total acquisition costs I could not say no

Nice...    

Willpower my man.. just couldn't say no... could ya..... and your blaming covid for your indiscretions...  and then your asking for consoling..    I mean $633 for a behind the dumpster crack deal isn't bad.. yeah I'll lump you in with the rest of the addicts simply for pointing a finger at something and blaming it on something and following up with you couldn't say no.... it's justification in an addicts mind, I get it..

I just try to own my addiction... like another f*&@in FN that just happened to show up. I didn't need another, but I guess my other personality thought I did.

So...  wait... maybe the addiction tries to own me 

[Cz315]

All jokes aside, I'm ok with being an addict too

The issue with picking up some nice toys is that my bank account is not happy and I really to need to move stuff. I hate doing it especially when the market is down I put a nice as issued Izzy on GB, will see if anyone bites.

[Boris Badinov]

I really don't need another SKS

REPORTED.

Miods, you know what to do with this blasphener.

[Boris Badinov]

At that price-- which is like 10 years ago pricing at least-- I can only guess this wasn't a gonebroker catch. No?

I'm not in the market (i.e. need)  for another sks either, but at just over 6 bills I could muster up some need and excuses for the wife in no time flat.

Congratulations!

[Cz315]

Indeed, it was a smaller auction through proxibid. I was after a different gun but saw this one and put a low ball bid thinking there was no way I would get it. Lo and behold my bid of 525 won. Came to 633 after buyers premium and shipping. Lady Luck liked me that day

[echo1]

I picked up 2 Russians '51 Tula, a light refurb (Texas $500) and an as issued (Oregon $650) and a KSI Paratrooper (Colorado $450) between December '23 through March '24. They had been listed higher initially for and the prices were being dropped weekly, I happened to catch the flow just right. PAX
https://sks-files.com/index.php?topic=7406.0

[running-man]

Nice to see some reasonable pricing in the ridiculousness that has been the past 5 years. 

[Phosphorus32]

Very nice acquisition, and great that the bidder's premium was lower than average.

I would guess that you were fortunate and found one at the low end of the curve. Maybe an isolated piece in an auction with relatively few firearms, or only one or two SKSs. Do you really think milsurp prices have fallen on average, or SKS prices in particular? I admittedly have become an infrequent buyer, but the few items I'm looking for have certainly not dropped in selling prices. I haven't been keeping tabs on the SKS market, so I'm honestly interested in your take there.

[Cz315]

This particular one was definitely an outlier - every once in a while there are deals to be found, but I feel the market across the board is down at least 20% from its heights. I definitely took advantage of it to get some nice examples, but on the other hand moving stuff is much more difficult, especially on the low end of the collecting spectrum. I looked at LSB on Gunbroker - high volume seller, high visibility, penny starts, no reserve to get that estimate. The top examples are still sought by collectors, but there is much less demand for the usual run of the mill surplus. RIA and Morphy's will still make a ton of money, but maybe not as much as few years back.

It had to happen. The prices shot up during COVID like crazy - stimulus, home lock ups, all that led to the spike in prices that is correcting now. Plus I'm sure some folks bough them as "investment" - tulip bulbs always will go  up in price, right? This also puts pressure on the market, who wants to buy the tulip bulbs that are losing value?

By every measure the economy is slowing. The years of inflation put some strain on the wallets and toys like collectible firearms look much less desirable when the cost of living went up significantly

One dark horse remains, though. Things in the firearms world have been surprisingly quiet in an election year. Come November it might change.

[Phosphorus32]

Thanks for your input CZ.

I think of tangible goods, like collectibles, as doing better in a slow economy as people worry about traditional market investments. However, I know like everything in economics, it's complicated and difficult to determine many absolute cause-effect relationships. Softening of the market for the more accessible milsurps seems consistent with decreased purchasing power for the lower to middle classes.

A lot of corporations took advantage of the high unemployment during COVID to degrade benefits and lower wages. A combination of real inflation and plenty of profit-taking (e.g. the grain, meat processing, and grocery businesses in the U.S. are oligopolies). The biggest players may be colluding in price hikes. Whatever the causes, we have enduring increased costs for consumers in essential goods. With these and other factors combined, real purchasing power for the lower class and middle class has declined.