Introduction: The following is a suggested list price for various AEGs. This is not a command, nor is it to be construed as such. AS a seller, you have the right to ask for compensation for your belongings. But if you want to sell, you will have to convince the buyer that what you have is worth their money. Before we begin, lets accept some cold hard facts about reselling your gun -- chances are, you will never recap more than 75% of your initial investment. The odds are, you will get roughly 50% back. And that is assuming you took excellent care of your guns, kept them clean, and well-maintained, never fired excessivle on full auto, and kept them securely locked in a padded case when not in use. That being said, we should first define some terms relating to general condition. Mint/New in Box - has not been used or excessively handled, still in original box. Excellent - has been test fired up to 500 rounds, near mint physical condition. Good - Functional Has seen light use, some physical signs of use. Fair - Functional, some external damage, signs of moderate use. (subtract $30 from Excellent - Good) Poor - Functional, some external damage, internal damage that is fixable. (subtract $50-$60 from Excellent - Good) Non working - non-functional, to be used for parts. (subtract $80-90 from Second, we will establish a general guide to stock weapons in Good - Excellent. These are stock guns, in stock stock condition. Generally speaking, they will include the original box, loading tool, and Owner's Manual. quote: MP5K/PDW - $120 MP5A - $140 MP5SD - $150 MC51 - $140 G3A3/A4 - $170 G3SG1 - $180 PSG1 - $200 G36C - $160 SIG 550/551 - $160 - $180 (discontinued/rare) SIG 552 - $160 XM177/CAR/655 - $150 - $170 (discontinued/rare) M16A1/VN - $150 M16A2/M4A1/733 - $170 SR16/M4RIS - $180 AK Variant - $180 Aug Variant - $170 FAMAS - $120 Uzi - $120 Thompson - $140 P90 Variant - $160 Thirdly, it is always important to know your base price. Keep in mind that a buyer has the option to buy locally with far less worries than buying from a fellow hobbyist. With this in mind, selling privately depends on your items being sold at a better value than that offered by retailers. If you are looking to recap exactly what you spent, you are a fool and would likely only be able to convince another fool to buy from you. Your Accessories: Selling them Smartly Next we establish a base value for magazines and accessories. Even if you take a loss on the gun, you can easily make up for that by offering your accessories separately or by offering package deals. Set a fair price for a set amount of your items. Many beginners and experienced players are looking for a gun and some accessories. Offering such a setup can help sell your gun more quickly. quote: Magazines: Star Locaps - $2.50 ea Midcaps - $10-$12 ea Standard Magazines - $15 each Hicaps - $20each Drums - 50% - 75% of original value Other: Batteries - 25% - 50% of original value Chargers - 75% - 80% of original value Scope Mount - $10 - $25 Optics - 50%-75% of value Lasers - 50% of value RIS - 50% - 80% of value Suppressors - 50% - 80% of value Additional Factors in determining worth: Trademarks Trademarks estabilsh the gun was not defaced or damaged for import. Generally, I would place an added value of $20 for Flawless Trademarks. Internal Upgrades Upgraded guns represent a double-edged sword in airsoft. Upgrades properly performed by a well-reputed airsmith can increase the value of the gun, while upgrades performed by a nobody can reduce the value. As a general rule of thumb, unless the original stock parts are included to return the gun to "stock" format, a hobbyist should not charge more than 50% of the value of the parts. Personally, I wouldn't pay for an upgraded gun without the stock parts included in the deal. Unless you have the gun's history of use and such, you just don't know what you're getting or how long it has left. External Modifications External Upgrades can be another mixed bag. If a paint job was done well, it may add value, where as a bad one will reduce the value. Unless you are a well-reknowned artist who makes a living painting rarities of the airsoft world, I would not charge anything above the cost of materials for this endeavor. As the Artist, you are free to keep your dignity. But the world is also full of starving/out of work artists who kept their pride. Metal Bodies/Reinforced Parts Metal Bodies and reinforced parts can easily add value to the gun if they were properly installed and still structurally sound. Obviously, a damaged metal body is not going to be worth very much. Let's assume that these parts will be in good-excellent condition. 75% of the original cost is a fair market value for a used body. Availability/rarity of Gun Now obviously, if you have a gun that is no longer produced, you are offering a limited item. As such, you are pretty much free to set the terms as far as pricing. But, keep in mind that there may still be several in circulation. Watch the market value very closely. If you have a limited edition gun, no longer in circulation, there may be people out there looking for just that item and willing to pay for it. On the other hand, a fair market value will insure that you have cash and not worrying about the if-thens in life. Shipping and Handling: What to charge and whom to go with Now that we have all of our pricing out of the way, we still have to figure out how we are going to get this item to the buyer. Shipping Companies (Carriers): There are several companies to choose from, but selecting from the three major carriers, we have: United Parcel Service (UPS) Uniited States Postal Service (USPS) Federal Express (FedEx) These three carriers handle the majority of national and international shipping. They own their own private fleet of vehicles - cars, trucks, semis, containers, railway cars, and planes. Many of the smaller shipping companies will even ship with them because they have the infastructure to ship any package anywhere in the world. Between the three of them, they will occasionally ship with their own competitors to guarantee package delivery dates. International shipping usually goes two routes - by air and by sea. Shipping by sea is usually by loading a container onto a ship and sending it out. When you ship items out of country, you will have to deal with customs and you wil also need to fill out paperwork. There will be customs duties and brokerage fees that you may or may not wish to deal with. It is the buyer's duty as the person importing the package to pay the import fees or to provide for such. If you are unsure about brokerage and duties, call your shipping carrier and they can answer your questions. Honestly, I would just assume avoiding interrnational deals altogether. Shipping prices can be very high, eliminating much of the savings. Often, the person could get the same items locally for less than the total cost of items. Then you have the entire tranfer rates between currencies which can be a real pain. Unless you are dealing with rare and limited edition items, I would keep your dealings local. Shipping Services: Pickup Orders would be the least expensive. If you could bring the gun to a game and meet your buyer, it would be just great. But many times, it doesn't work out that way. Buyers can live anywhere in the world. You need to decide who you plan to sell to and how far you are willing to go to get this item to that buyer. It should be assumed that the shipping costs in this case would involve the trip needed to pick up the item - gas, required food, or lodgings to accomodate should be taken into consideration. That doesn't mean it should affect what you are asking. Ground shipping can be extremely tricky. I have shipped items via ground that have been damaged severely. Then, to make matters worse, the shipping company tried to tell me it was my fault. Know that shipping by ground will take between 5-9 business days (Monday - Friday). At one end, you can have your item by the end of the week, at the other end of the spectrum, it could take up to two weeks. If oyu want to know exactly how long it will take, check with the various carriers. As a general rule of thumb, lets assume the longer it takes the package to get to its destination, the more likely it will be the item doesn't arrive or does so damaged. When you are talking several hundred dollars of equipment, that can be a huge burden on you. So what can you do to prevent this? Always ship the item insured, packaged in such a way that there is little chance having the crap kicked out of it will damaged the contents. AND always assume your package will be dropkicked off the truck, rolled down a flight of stairs, and have something large set atop it while it flies the friendly skies through a hail storm. Insurance protects the buyer and seller should the shipping carrier damage your package. Expedited Shipping means your buyer can get the item faster, giving you a better chance to fix any problems that arise. Shipping companies are far less likely to mishandle an insured item shipped via Expedited means. IS paying $25-$35 worth the peace of mind in knowing your item will arrive quickly and safely? That's your decision to make. It doesn't mean that you have be the only person paying for those services. As it stands, it costs roughly $25 to ship an AEG using expedited Shipping anywhere within the United States. This includes USPS, UPS, and Fed Ex. Before you settle on one carrier, you should familiarize yourself with each of them. Find a carrier that offers you the service you need and which is convenient for you. Expedited Services includes - Express, Priority, 3-day, 2-day, and Next Day Services. The sooner you want the item to arrive, the higher the cost of shipping. You can get a shipping garantee of a specific date and time by visiting the Shipping Company website or by requesting a shipping quote. www.usps.com www.ups.com www.fedex.com Communication: Conversations between a Buyer and Seller. Now when it comes time to negotiate, you will need to actually speak to the person. You will need to exchange personal information, payment methods, and shipping preferences. Most importantly, get a complete description of the item you wish to purchase. Sellers need to be willing to go into great detail about their gun. If you have nothing to hide and want to sell this gun, you should have no problem answering questions about it. Unfortunately, people are lazy and stupid. A Seller can post a detailed description down to the millimeter concerning size, weight, color, and taste and there will always be that complete idiot who asks what color the gun is. You have two choices here, answer the question and invite a potential buyer or be rude and satisfy your urge to not deal with idiots. Sellers: always assume a potential buyer will be the most uneducated individual on the face of the planet who cannot read and who should be stricken from this earth by the divine hands which forged the heavens above us. However, it is your job to educate the buyer so that he (she) may make an educated decision as to whether this item is right for him. In order to educate them, you need to give them information. Buyers: always assume the seller has listed everything he feels is important in the description and actually read past the title. If you do not see the information you are looking for, ask a question. That is to say -- If you do not see the answer written in plain english, directly in front of your eyes as you slowly scroll the page downwards, ask a question. It is your duty as a buyer to ask all of your questions up front so that you can make an educated decision to buy. If you cannot take the time to fully read the description, expect your stupid question to be ignored. If you cannot take the possibility that someone will ask you a stupid question, do not put your item up for sale. If you are not willing to give information out about the item you are selling, most people will not be willing to buy it from you. Finally, people who ask questions, do so, because they are interested in finding out one of life's many mysteries. With that in mind, having patience and showing your buyer that you are willing to take the time out of your life to make him feel at ease about entrusting you with his money, may not insure a sell, but the buyer is far more likely to buy from you if he can trust you to treat him with respect. End Game: How this all Ties in together. So, I'm sure you're asking how all of this ties together to figure out a price? Well, take a look at the following list and see how it applies: quote: TM G36 in Good Condition w/ Full TMs - $180 3x Standards & 2 Hicaps - $85 2x Mini Batteries - $20 Shipping - $28 ---------------------------------------------------------- Total Price: $313 shipped Let's say that altogether, this package costs you $320 shipped anywhere within the US. Compare that with retail and overseas, and you find a value of roughly 50% retail. Is this a good deal? If the items are as described, in excellent condition, hell yeah its a great deal. The seller gets to recap some of his investment while providing an excellent opportunity for another player. This opportunity can foster long-lasting bonds, which, in the end, is what this hobby is all about. If you give a person a good deal, they are 10 times more likely to give you return business or, at the very least, recommend you to someone else. Nothing in life is ever garanteed, except death. All you really have to lose is your time. And if your time spent equals a sale, your time really is worth money. As stated earlier, this is just a guide to help you along the way. It's free advice. Take it or leave it. *I am not the author of this article. This was originaly posted by Texx, of Airsoft Ohio. I decided to post this in the Gudes section of ebay, because I was tired of seeing stock TM's selling for over 400 dollers used. Any ways, I take no credit for what Texx said in this post, and I highly reccomend anyone selling their AEG's look at this before deciding on a price.