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Buying a gun safe can take quite a bit of time, as it takes a lot of research, and money to do so. It’s not an easy and quick purchase.
During that time of research, many buyers will come upon the idea of purchasing a “used” gun safe. They have to ask themselves things like: Is this really a great value? Is owning a pre-owned safe secure? Where can I even get a used gun safe?
So should you buy a used gun safe? Buying a used gun safe can be a good idea, as long as you keep in mind things like your own security, and stay to the budget, and the type of safe you want. If you are one to get distracted by a good deal, and don’t keep the downsides in mind, then a used safe may not be for you.
What are the upsides of buying a used gun safe?
Of course, just like anything, there are actually quite a few good reasons to buy a used gun safe, including price and even the possibility of getting one for almost free if you are willing to put in the work.
1. A buyer can get a great price.
Used gun safes can provide a great value to anyone willing to look into them. Safes can be cheap for multiple reasons.
Some safe owners need to move quickly and need to get their safe sold, some don’t know the true value of their safe, and others are just happy to work with a new buyer to have a good conversation about it.
While many people are honest, if a deal seem too good to be true, make sure to be wary. There are things like water damage, fire board damage, or lock damage that can cause a safe to not be worth the money no matter how cheap.
2. Many people will give a safe away just to get it out of their house.
One thing that can be seen a lot is home owners that purchased a gun safe, and are needing to move quickly.
While it is a great life event, it can pose a problem when they need to move a 1000+ pound safe across the USA.
That is where some great values come into play. You may even find people that will give the safe to you if you are willing to come with enough people to haul the thing away.
Downsides of buying a used gun safe
And just like the upsides of buying a used gun safe, there are of course a few reasons to think about wen buying a used gun safe. These include your own security, the age of the safe, and of course the lack of variety you will find.
1. Less secure because someone else locally has owned this safe before.
The main purpose of a gun safe is to provide complete security of guns and other valuables. Because of the nature of the matter, buying a gun safe from an individual can cause some risk.
These people you purchase the gun safe from now probably do know your car, what area you live in, and whatever else you have spoken about when looking at getting the gun safe.
Because of this, if you decide to go to someones home to look at a safe, make sure to let them know as little as possible about you. As they now know you have valuables enough to warrant a gun safe.
2. It has older technology
Surprisingly for being a large metal box, technology advancements have brought a lot of new security features that older safes don’t have.
Things like fire rating have gotten much better recently, or features like the 5 to 1 gear ratio from Fort Knox, or the better electronic locks, or aesthetic things like Rhino’s Ironworks series didn’t exist until relatively recently.
Many safes you will find to purchase from someones home can be missing these things.
3. Harder to find exactly the safe you want.
With so many safe brands out there now days, every home has a different kind of safe.
Because of this, if you want a very specific model, with a specific color scheme, with a specific lock, it is going to be difficult to do this.
Conclusion
Just like buying anything, buying a used gun safe is going to have its risks, and downsides. However many of these cons can be resolved by taking a look at some local, or online retailers!
They tend to either have safes that are in good working condition but are damage in some way. They may have some in on consignment. Or they may have used safes that they have taken in on trade for a new safe!
No matter what you do, I recommend to stay safe. Purchasing from an individual always has its risks. Stay safe in that way, just as much as you are trying to stay safe by keeping your firearms in the gun safe.
That said, make sure to check out my buying guide to figure out what used or new safe you want to look for!
