From a dealer's perspective (and we have had this discussion before on this forum), an offer must state clearly whether it's an "as is where is" deal, or "subject to professional inspection". You won't get to double dip in most cases, ie do the deal at a discount to asking price and then get more money off for each ding, dent, scratch and crack that your gunsmith points out...unless of course the dealer is desperate to sell in which case you may get away with this. More likely you will be out shipping both ways and your inspection cost. "As is where is" offers generally can be lower, that way the dealer knows for sure the sale is going to stick and there won't be any requests for adjustments after the fact.
In case anyone is wondering, our websites are "click and you own it" sites, so we don't build in nego room like the "call for info" sites. This puzzles some people who get mad if they don't get something off on every deal, even a $50 item. Yes, like everyone in this business, we overprice a gun from time to time - it's hard to know exactly what every make, model and variant is truly worth. In that case, the gun will take a long time to sell and that tells us to go back and give it a haircut. By the same token, we underprice some guns, and then we get the "what's wrong with it" call, or some smart guy picks it off pronto!Sometimes we'll nego a package on multiple items, if the dollars are significant. If there is a significant latent (undisclosed) defect in a gun, we'll generally make an adjustment after the fact provided the other party is reasonable about it and doesn't try to get a restoration done at the seller's cost....for example if a rib is found to be loose and the bbl finish was less than perfect to start with, we will split the cost because the gun is going to end up with a gorgeous fresh finish on the bbls, and be worth more when it's done.
