When selling an airgun – How to choose JOY over pain
Which type of person are your in our airgun universe?
Besides the collector species, there seem to be two other types:
(A) Shooters. Buys a gun. Shoots it until it breaks, or until he finds a gun that’s more interesting. | Spends much money on pellets and air.
(B) Modders. Buys a gun. Tries it out. Says: “Hey, it shoots great. Let's take it apart.” | Spends much money on performance parts.
In the end though, they are both the same: They get what they pay for: (A) The shooter really doesn't buy pellets, instead he pays for the JOY of shooting pellets downrange, (B) the modder really doesn’t buy parts, instead he pays for the JOY of tweaking and making the almost impossible reality. They’re both happy. They get what they pay for. ?
Now...., when the modder wants to set the price for selling one of his modded guns, he could be asking – “How much did I pay for the parts I put onto this gun – what are they worth?”
However, maybe even more to the point he could be asking – “How much did I pay for the joy of modding and tweaking – was it worth it?”
And if it was worth it – he could sell the gun without a feeling of loss about not getting all the money back that the parts cost. Because it was really the joy of modding he paid for. And he had plenty of joy.... (the buyer of a modded gun does not get any of the joy of modding, because it’s all over, the tweaking is done, the excitement is gone...).
So, I’m trying to understand the airgun universe correctly, and here it seems just like gravity we have a general principle that governs our airgun world and how we derive joy from our guns. Something like this(?):
(A) The shooter pays for shots, (B) the modder pays for mods.
(A) Pellets and (B) parts are just a means to an end. The joy of shooting and the joy of modding.
And when the day of selling a gun rolls around (because the wife keeps insisting “No more unless you sell some!”) both type (A) and (B) can remain happy if they don’t expect a high resale price for what they paid for – because with much joy the shots have been fired, and with equal joy the mods have been installed....
May you find joy this day. We have an awesome hobby! ?
Matthias
I have this OCD that causes me to get bored rather quickly and I just buy but don't think about selling any of my guns.
My 177 Benjamin Fortitude has had my attention for a rather long time now, especially after the Gen1 Marauder/Crosman Challenger CH2009 trigger upgrade (with shim spacer).
That trigger swap is an absolute necessity because out of the box the trigger is very terrible!
I shoot this rifle the most out of all my air "Rifles".
HA
I'm definitely a shooter. If I've learned anything from modifying/improving a gun, it's this; if a gun isn't ready to go out of the box, get a different gun instead. I went the mod route with a Crosman "Custom Shop" gun. In the end I had a $300+ gun with a barely adequate trigger. It wasn't worth all the money and time.
Fortunately I count knowledge gained in the value I received from a purchase. That let's me sell them at a loss without getting worked up over it. I bought a used P1 for less than I had in the Crosman and I'm happier for it. The P1 is a keeper.
I've sold a lot of guns over the years, airguns included. I have not regretted a single sale. Once I thought I regretted selling one so I bought another. Within a week I remembered why I sold the first one and sold the second as well. I'm just not into the accumulation of stuff. If I don't use something frequently it risks going on the block.
The only thing I own but don't use is a Remington Nylon 12 bolt action .22. It's just a little bit older than me but unlike me you can't get spare parts for it. I'd sell it to a collector or something like that but it was my first. I got it for Christmas that year my Mom said "You'll shoot your eye out." This was before the movie.
So since money is hard to come by and time is always running out, I'm more about experiences than things so I'll pass on most "durable goods" and save up for that next bike trip, backpacking adventure, kayak splash or plane/train ticket to visit one of my girls. Oh, and ammo, inner-tubes, dehydrated meals, concert tickets.
You get the idea.
Oh, almost forgot, beer, wine, great food...
I love the picture!! ? ?
And if you are sure of your destination, you are also sure that you will have every thing imaginable — or better than "imaginable" — to assure you having the time of your life, eternally.
(In the other location, you're guaranteed to shoot your eye out, repeatedly, and worse.)
