Is this a sign of the times?
I mean are the guns falling into a price bracket that is out of the reach of the average working class shooter (who still holds a job) and perhaps below the price payed by folk with enough wealth to not worry about the current financial economy?
I say this based on a couple of things. A few years ago when the credit cruch first hit I asked the owner of a commercial shooting enterprise in my area if he was concerned about how it would effect his business. He said that the clients who came from all over the world to spend a lot of money on several days sport would not realistically worry about where their next £10,000 or so came from to allow their sport to continue, such was their personal wealth. But they are subsequently buying guns worth a considerable bit more...
At the other end of the ladder are those who may in the past when income was safe, have put away a few hundred quid here and there and aspired to owning guns like yours. maybe even make do with a cheaper lesser model for a year or two until the funds have accumulated to allow the purchase of a quality but affordable (just) shotgun that is a joy to own. Well, in realistic terms with uncertainty now all around about job and wage security, thoughts of such purchases go out the window and with it your potential market for selling them to. In other words I have no doubt if they were lesser models at under a grand they would probably still be in demand. Then you have the fantasists who are dreaming about still owning such an item but are fearful of that financial commitment, or just fearful of the other half!!!!
On another note I read somewhere about pricing structure on seconhand cars on garage forecourts. If a car didn't sell at a particular price the tactic initially was often to raise the price by a few hundred or even a couple of thousand pounds before reducing it as the customer can be put off by a product that appears too cheap based in the assumption that if something seams too good to be true.......
the result was that often it would generate interest as the car was selling for what its thought to be worth.
i don't know if that makes much sense or is correct, just repeating what I read.
Buyers market it may be but I wouldn't give something away for nothing.
As has been suggested already, I'm sure if you are in no rush to sell them, placing an advert on Gunstar, Guntrader and any other forum that has classifieds or even contacting a couple of well known guntraders who may have clients details who are looking for such a gun that is not common may help, and then its a case of sitting back and waiting. Perhaps even negotiate away from the commision scenario and just say 'I need this for the gun, and anything you get above that is yours' if they say they would sell at a grand more Thats a lot more than they would get on 10 or even 20%. Robin from Cluny Country Store told me at the Royal Highland Show that he has a list of buyers looking for lesser model 20b Beretta or Browning shotguns for example.