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German captured Norwegian Krag price guide.

Warrior1354

ax - hole
I thought this would be the best place to ask a good friend of mine has a 1912 Engineers carbine that's German captured depot stamped. From what he told me it's all original and matching. I still have yet to see it in person, plus I don't think he wants to sell it yet. But I wanted to make a fair offer on that carbine. So what I wanted to ask what might that offer be?

I'll be honest I have seen very few of these carbines for sale. None of them were German captured marked though. Going to gun shows I have only come across two in person, one of them was last weekend and it was in poor condition. But it was matching priced at $1,500.

Like I said I just don't want to take advantage of this gentleman because he is a good friend and I want to make a fair offer when he decides to sell it. And I think he may let it go if my offer is fair. Sorry no pictures, but he has extended the offer for me to come and visit him.

Unfortunately with my work schedule I don't have a lot of time off right now.
 
Any thoughts of this? Wanting to give him a call this weekend. Maybe we can work out a deal.

Again appreciate any advise or info given.
 
Nobody can help you because there aren't ever any for sale to get pricing info from. Just pay until it hurts? But do get it because I need it. :)
 
Ask him where he sees the value of the rifle since you'd love to get one yourself and have not seen any of these for sale. If he replies to you, then you also know where he thinks the value of his item is and you can ask if he would sell his at this price.
 
Scotty has sold 2 of the longer "Stomperud" rifles in the 3k range. I think legacy has sold a few around that price as well. That would be the only type of rifle that I think would even give a ball park. I think Norwegian arms are interesting!
 
If correct ,and in really good shape, $2500 plus is a ball park figure because they are few and far between.......
 
Guys I think you all answered my own thoughts $2500-$3000 maybe a little more depending on condition. I'm hoping we can work this deal out one day. But this is one of his best items, and it's the only one in his collection. He will probably sell off other items first before this but it doesn't hurt to ask. I'll be honest always had a thing for Krags especially the Norwegian ones. Will see what happens.

Anyway thanks for all the advise given greatly appreciate it.
 
Does no one negotiate any more? You know, offer, counter offer (repeat as necessary), shake hands, have a beer?
 
In my opinion, trying to buy something from a good friend can be difficult. Two things concern me: 1) The owner may have some information about the value that is wrong--like he saw online that his thing is worth "X" amount of dollars that is an amount 2 or three time the actual value, or 2) After the sale, the seller may be led to believe from some source that he sold way too cheap. Either way, the good friend may think poorly of the buyer, that he violated the friendship, based on the offer or actually price paid.

If the owner/seller is a good friend that places trust in the buyer, then the buyer may have a fiduciary duty that requires him to be fair, and put the seller's interests above his own. This seems to be where the OP is coming from. He wants to be above reproach with his friend.

On a deal like this--a hard-to-value item sold by a good friend--I think the OP is on the right track. If the owner wants to sell, maybe they should collaborate and show each other the results of their research and then agree on a price. Revealing this thread to the seller would establish the buyer's good intentions. I would not be surprised if, after going through a process like this, the good friend gave his buddy a nice discount.
 
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That's the thing he doesn't have to sell. The only reason he is selling is because he's getting older. He doesn't want to be a burden on this family when he does kick the bucket as he keeps telling me. And he is willing to negotiate on prices but he's not going to let things go for nothing he knows what they're worth. He's met his fair share of folks that have tried to lowball him on things, and he has kindly told him them to go basically pound sand. And that's putting it nicely.

The biggest problem is he has to sell a certain number of things first before he gets to other items so you can't pressure him either. And I completely understand that we all been there. There's items in my collection that I'm not ready to let go. The big thing I always assure him is it's going to a good collection. Basically not to a dealer that can just be flipped on GunBroker. Which I think makes the best difference. We all would rather sell a nice item to a friend or a fellow collector.

I'm holding out that we can make this deal happen I think it will.
 
I can't see why you have a problem. Just be honest. Tell him you even asked on a forum for information on value and didn't get any replies and that therefore you simply don't know what to offer. If he likes you and is honest himself he'll appreciate what you did and you'll come to a price that is fair for both of you.
 
I can't see why you have a problem. Just be honest. Tell him you even asked on a forum for information on value and didn't get any replies and that therefore you simply don't know what to offer. If he likes you and is honest himself he'll appreciate what you did and you'll come to a price that is fair for both of you.

Hopefully will be able to talk to him about this carbine in May. I'll be honest I think he would rather me have something like this then a big auction house selling his stuff off. Maybe we can agree on a price and maybe he might just let it go. I'll keep my fingers crossed!
 
Older thread but good news! He's bringing a few for me to see the next time we see each other at a show in May. Might come home with cool pieces only time will tell but it sounds like this deal might happened! I'll keep you all posted.
 

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