Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Advise for a widow

A widow lady at my church has asked my advice, I told her I didn't know the answer, but I knew where to look.
Her late husband left her about a hundred guns ( rifles, pistols, and shotguns) as well as a lot of misc shooting and hunting stuff. She is not pressed for money, but would like to dispose of it at a fair value. She doesn't want to do a yard sale type of thing as she is hesitant to expose herself to potential thieves.
What is the best advice from ya'll?

auction quality guns ,or a private buyer that can be trusted, either one will take 20% or a little more.

norm

It'll take work, but she needs to inventory the collection describing all aspects, markings, serial numbers, condition, etc. and, completely photograph each gun. This could be sent to a reputable auction house (Rock Island Auction Company, Heritage Auctions, etc.) to ascertain their interest and fees.

It's a lot of work, but necessary to get max value. She'll need some knowledgeable help in doing this and she probably lacks the knowledge personally (i.e., what's a serial number?, what's a caliber?, what's condition mean?, etc.). Perhaps you can help and charge her a small percentage.

Otherwise, she's a the mercy of scalpers.

miracle of understatement, and marginalization there.

We are COMMANDED to protect Widows.

GTC

I did the same thing djs advised for my sister-in-law last year. It was abit of "work" but I enjoyed it as well. I photographed all the guns, noted the serial numbers and gave her a "don't sell for less than" figure and an appx current realistic asking price.

It's not an option.

it's something that we're SUPPOSED to do.

calling the vermin that prey on Widows "scalpers", just seems completely WRONG.

"Predatory Vermin in need of less Oxygen" works better for me.

GTC

Yes, we are.

Did Ya ever notice how scalpers hate to be outed as scalpers, just like Obama hates to hear illegals called illegal aliens? miles

I have done it more than once here, much to the displeasure of a couple of local "dealers".

She will get the most money & a fair market price by having someone list them for her on GunBroker. A lot of Dealers will try to low ball her on the prices.
Anyone who would take advantage of a widow needs the ShiiTT kicked out of them.

it is incumbent upon us, to be pro active when it comes to things like this.
Every one of us, married or not, should already have an inventory of our things. We should already have made arrangements for the distribution, or disposal of our favorite or expensive possessions.
I keep a list in the safe, with a complete description of every gun and knife. I list when I got them, from whom, what I paid, and what the value is. If an item were modified, I note who did the work, and when.
I have two people lined up to handle the sale or distribution chores.

Djs actually had some good advice. See if a couple fellas can pitch in and catalog each gun.

Fair prices would have most guns sold on this board in fairly short order, I'd reckon. A diverse lot of collectors and shooters here.

I second putting them on GB. They will sell for what they are worth if properly photographed and listed.

Once she knows a fair value, take them to a gun buyback and wait for collectors to make an offer.

inventory and appraise them at fair value and then buy her a table at the next gun show and help her sell them

for your trouble offer her a fair price on a gun would would like

Here we are again, someone passes away and his family has no clue as to the value of his stuff.

PLEASE, fellers, take of photo of all your guns, annotate the photo with some text as to what is is, value, etc. Put the photos on a disc and make a few copies to be distributed around, like in the safe, the safe deposit box, etc. Do the same with your other valuable possessions. Update at least once a year.

Do it for your family.

i


I agree 100%,Greg. My training partner is as canny a gun trader as I've ever bargained with, but on 2 occasions he's taken on a Woodrow's inherited gun collections and done the right thing by her in both cases. He asked me to audit his work and report to the widow independently, too.

100 guns on gunbroker would take a lot of time and work and money for shipping, FFL fees, etc. i'd inventory the collection and figure out a high, mid, low price for all pieces and then contact an experienced gun auctioneer and see how he operates. the gun auctions i have been to in the past 10 years have been a real sellers market. i can't believe the prices some people pay at an auction. of course, the auctioneer will get his piece.

if she has any especially rare or valuable pieces, i'd try the gunbroker route for them. the others, i'd do a local auction.

i have a complete inventory of my guns with price paid and what i consider fair market value.

My brother received a similar request, he is a MAJOR gun nut. He supplied the widow with a list of three different businesses that would handle the selling of her inventory.

He saw all three offers and was surprised that two of the businesses were offering what he believed to be 50% of the fair market value. She went with the highest bidder and was very happy with the out come. She offered my brother his choice of any of the firearms, there were several worth over $10k, for his help. He said the offer was FAR to generous, accepted a hug for his payment but I continue to hear him complain about not having accepted one of the high walls.

90% of this has been good advise .

mabey T Lee being in Florida could help even if he just looked and got a good idea what is there and then make a recommendation.

poster said lady from his church have you got a handle on what she has??

norm