Home Forums Gear Free Classifieds Gun collection going to sell. need help

Hello I have just over 100 collectable firearms that include winchesters, colts, brownings, and I am looking for options to sell these guns, does anyone have any suggestions that would bring fair value for my items? thanks in advance for any help you may have Gene

Welcome to the forum.

There are many ways to sell guns. To get the most one could shop each item through the internet or to dealers. They can be consigned with dealers. Or some broker/dealer might take the whole bunch right now.

Give us an example of one of the guns. Where are you?

one example is a 2.5" colt python blued perfect condition but no box. wood grips Michigan

Good detailed pixs go a long ways in marketing goods.

If you use a dealer/broker you will pay a fee of about 20%.

You could also sell them yourself and offer the 20% savings to the direct buyer.

I would start by group listing them by make; such as all the Winchesters, Model Number, Cartridge etc.

Get a real good knoweldge of the value of each one; then figure out what you would take for each lot.

I would not let someone cherry pick the lot unless they offered a really sweet price.

It all depends upon how much work you can put into the selling effort. This is an interesting topic to me as well. While I have to run right now stay with us here and I am sure the board will come up with some good ideas for you.




http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=147142502

Thats the first 2.5" Python I found on Gunbroker and the $ is 1399. One of my dealers gets 18% for consigment.

Where are you located? If you know a fair dealer they could help you out a lot. With my dealings The most I would charge would be 10%. Might be less depending on how it was handled.

My view -- your interests are always handled best by you. Do your homework (researching prices of the SAME guns in similar condition on gunbroker.com and auctionarms.com . . . using prices from completed listings that actually sold, not unsold items with sky-high asking prices and no bids). Then offer them for sale here and other places at your asking price. Handguns need to be shipped through an FFL to the buyer's FFL, but you can ship long arms directly to the FFL of the buyer.

Good luck.

Get a gun values book and spend some time on GB. I'd sell them myself unless they were very high dollar pieces. You can also sell here. Lots of folks here know their gun values and your guns will sell if the price is fair. Ken

Hey Guys, I know Gene he is good to go. I suggested he may be able to sell some or all of his guns to the guys on the forum. He has some real nice stuff. Thanks Del

Is this from an estate? From your question I am guessing that you were not the one who originally purchased these?

If you want a good price for each of them it will take a while to research and sell them but you'd make top dollar. www.gunbroker.com is a good place to get nationwide exposure but it takes some effort to list each item, track the winning bidder and then ship the firearms out. There are different rules for shipping long guns versue handguns. The rules are not complicated but you don't want to run afoul of the law.

I would strongly recommend NOT taking them all at once in to anyplace - gun store, dealers, Cabela's or anything like that - and asking what they'd give for the whole lot.

If you did not have the time to research each one you could take them to someone who could appraise them but I'd be very wary if that same person also made an offer on the whole lot. There are a lot of honest people in the gun business but there are more than a few unscrupulous ones as well, particularly if these are "collectible" firearms. A potential value of $100,000 or more can alter some otherwise honest people's perspectives.

Good advice.

Here is an example of a ridiculous listing that won't sell. This dufus has had these Winchesters in 444 Marlin listed for several years. Apparently, he is holding out for The Lone Idiot buyer. I get an occasional good laugh when I see them. His price just might be right in a 100 years.

Winchester 94AE in 444 Marlin - Auction Arms

The info you've been offered on this site is good. I've bought and sold a few over the years and the advice here rings true. Do the research and ask questions. Sell them yourself on here and/or GunBroker.com. A dealer I know well wanted to ding me 30% on consignment sales. Also, the advice about not offering them as a lot is sound. It will minimize the value of each individual piece. It will take some work but I expect you will be satisfied with the result.

I think you just found yourself a new part time job. I don't know for sure but I THINK I recall reading that you can sell up to 20 per year as private sale. After that you should get an FFL. That was years ago though and the rules may have changed.

Eh? No... there's nothing having to do with selling a gun collection and needing an FFL.

as long as you are not buying and selling for profit no FFL is needed no matter how many guns you have.

PM me a list and I'll help you out.

I would absolutely recommend that you sell them yourself. Turning them over to any dealer just lines his pockets with your money, and you come out of it with little if anything.
I'd go on GunsAmerica.com, and GunBroker.com and value each item yourself. Check all available listings for an identical item for arriving at an equitable asking price.
Then sell them here on 24 Hour Campfire. You will be WAY ahead doing it that way.

Edit to add: When my Step Dad died, my Mother got a dealer in the local area to give her an estimate of the value of each of his guns. That estimate was exactly 40% of the going price of each gun, at that time. So, if she turned the guns over to him, he would have gotten 60% of the money, and she would have gotten 40%. There's something very wrong with that picture.

I just sold my first gun on GunBroker last week and I followed much of the advise given previouly. I researched actual prices paid for my gun by looking through completed auctions and most of the rest is painless
Matt

Hello Gene,

My advice is to check the listings on GunBroker - not the current items for sale, but check the auctions that have completed in the last 90 days. This will give you a good idea what things are selling for, rather than the ridiculous prices that some are asking. The Blue Book is probably not an accurate guide this late in the year. The real prices of guns are best determined by completed sales.

I agree with the others that suggest that you sell them yourself. One caveat I would make is to get to know a local FFL, maybe a gunsmith, who can handle the shipping for you at a nominal cost. When guns are shipped FFL to FFL, they can be shipped USPS Priority, which saves money and makes your guns that much more attractive. A reasonable price for shipping is anywhere between $20 and $35.

If you don't already have one, pick up a digital camera. From what I've seen, the best way to take photos is outside on a partly cloudy day. Nice photos will help sell your guns. You can upload the photos to a site like Photobucket and post the links in forums.

One last bit of advice is to sell the guns on forums like this one. You can quickly get a solid reputation as a good seller and you won't lack for sales. There are other sites as well - please feel free to e-mail me and I'll help you as much as I can.

Of course the really nice part about selling the firearms yourself is that you'll have the opportunity to make some new friends. I've been very fortunate in this regard.

Best wishes in this endeavor,


David Martin
dmartinphdcomcast.net