KY Jon,
"Well...this'ere widdow lady came in with this nice gun, and I asked her what she wanted for it, and she said "I don't know"...".
"So I offer her a hunnert bucks, and she just stands there and sorta starts ta shake, see. I figure 'Oh Hell, she's mad and I'm really gonna catch it now, for gettin' caught trying to cheat her'. But, she finally manages to stammer out, 'THAT MUCH?!!'. [laughter]"
True Toledo, Ohio gunshop story; and that may well be why a gun can afford to hang around in inventory for so long. In this case it was merely a Colt's Revolving rifle which her ancestor had brought back from the Civil War.
Of course, most people ARE decent -- a lot more decent than the above piratical fellow whose escapede was witnessed. The same guy once offered me a 'rare' rusty Mauser 98 bbl'd action, in exchange for a commercially finished 8.15x46R WW1 NCO's Gewher 98 target rifle.
However, a more realistic answer might be speculated at for your question, in that perhaps the dealer views the piece as a 'stock and bond investment' and is just waiting for it to mature? ;~`)
