Seasonality??

Millsworks said:

Unfortunately the Savage , Ruger American, and Marlin guns are tuff to resale for what you've paid for them. As others have said, to many can be had for cheap on sale new.
Used is still used.

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I completely get it - new in the box from the store is better than new with no box from some guy in MN. What type of discount off of current store price are we talking? 15%, 25%, more?

Millsworks said:

If your going to sell em for the most you think you can, then certainly sell in the time around February-March. Lots of income tax checks get burned on guns.

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Good point! I kinda forgot that angle. I hate giving the gov't an interest free loan so I always under-withhold and pay in on April 15th (so April is a lousy gun buying month for me).

In the 1970s the economy was sluggish due to oil prices that had jumped up increasing the cost to move goods around which heated up inflation wish pushed interest rates above 10% on vehicle loans. Credit cards were over 20%. I would find that from Thanksgiving through Super Bowl was a buyer's market as relatively poor Midwestern rural folk were done deer hunting for the year with their rifles and the better duck and goose hunting was wrapping up as well. There were guys that each year would be looking to make a deal to sell their weapons to scrape up some Christmas money plus to pay for the Christmas bills that rolled in on the January credit card bills. 20% would create a call to action. Those guns would get dusty the next few months then around August the interest in shotguns would build when dove season opened then in October rifles would get popular as deer season approached. Basically was a pawn shop cycle.

I'm gonna say it's tuff to put a dead percentage of value loss from new to like new sale.
The quicker the seller wants to sell, the cheaper the price. So be fair, but certainly be patiently firm.
I think an average loss of 40-50 dollars is expected at this time on those less expensive models.
Sad but if you waited ten years they could be worth a hundred dollars more, or exactly the same.
The right buyer is what you have to wait for mostly.
I used to buy and sell alot.
I buy more carefully now and look for guns I think I can get the most use from.
Though guns are still a good investment, they used to be a more sure bet on future value.
Manufacture processing is far different today. Especially on finishing and stock quality.
Plastic just doesn't hold the value that a well fit wood stock or a well finished barrel that resists rust does.

I swear some of these guns rust if you look at em to long.