Where to sell large lot of firearms?

[quadrafire]

I have a neighbor that is trying to decide how or where to sell a collection of firearms, Family inheritance.
There are approx 50 long guns/shotguns and 20-30 handguns.

Not sure if they would want to hassle with individual sale??

Thoughts?

[pianoman9701]

Start with a classified on here. There are members who would be interested in a big load of guns. Maybe Gunbroker.com, too?

[Blacktail Sniper]

Auction?  Since he doesn't want to mess around with individual sales, the commission may be worth it to just to avoid that.

Quick google search turned these folks up:

https://www.owensauction.com

[quadrafire]

Start with a classified on here. There are members who would be interested in a big load of guns. Maybe Gunbroker.com, too?

I'll chat with him about that. There are some nice pieces I wouldn't mind having, but the wife gave me the evil eye when I brought it up......

[quadrafire]

Auction?  Since he doesn't want to mess around with individual sales, the commission may be worth it to just to avoid that.

Quick google search turned these folks up:

https://www.owensauction.com

Hmmm....That's only about a mile from our house.

[baldopepper]

I have a brother who owned a gun/pawn shop for years and they bought large lots of firearms like you are describing.  Only advice I could give you would be to have your neighbor get them appraised first and then decide if he wants to sell them separately or as a lot.  I can tell you that dealers who would buy the whole lot will take a very big margin on them and are not always forthcoming about some that may have a great resale value. He often times bought a large lot just to get the 2 or 3 that were most valuable but usually only bought at the value of the 2 or 3 he knew would move easily. Can leave a lot of money on the table if he/she is not careful.

[Dale Gribble]

I think booker auction out in eltopia outside of pasco has done things like that in the past. Estate sale firearm type auctions.

[quadrafire]

Only advice I could give you would be to have your neighbor get them appraised first and then decide if he wants to sell them separately or as a lot.

Guess that is another question. Are there firearm appraisers near Spokane? or just using online sources to see current values?

[baldopepper]

Only advice I could give you would be to have your neighbor get them appraised first and then decide if he wants to sell them separately or as a lot.

Guess that is another question. Are there firearm appraisers near Spokane? or just using online sources to see current values?

I can't answer that for sure, but I suspect they could start online and work from there.  Perhaps take a couple you suspect may have good value (older with low serial numbers and in good condition) and research them first to see what they come up with.  I think there are members on here who could probably give you a pretty good starting point on some. I know my brother sold some for several thousand dollars that I sure wouldn't have known would be worth that much. He's retired now and I don't think he keeps in touch with the values much anymore. I know he had a kid walk in with a colt peacemaker pistol who wanted to sell if for a couple hundred bucks.  He took pity on him and helped him eventually sell it for over $100,000 and the gun eventually was traded for a ranch in Montana!! 

[Stein]

What if you called up a local gun shop that was centrally located and worked some sort of deal for a one day sale?  They might go for it if the buyers used them for the transfer and a small fee, maybe 10-20 per gun for them to appraise it and hold the sale.  Post flyers on this site and Craigslist for free and you would probably sell most of them in one run.

[quadrafire]

Wow, that is a cool story.

[nutntoit]

You can also try putting a post on Spokaneguntrader.com. There are plenty of guys on there that would be interested in a big lot of guns. You can also get one of these books. This is what the pawn shops use to make offers on guns. If he has any over/under shotguns he wants to part with individually let me know. I am in Spokane.

https://www.amazon.com/38th-Blue-Book-Gun-Values/dp/1936120909/ref=dp_ob_title_bk?dpID=51lrXjUNWNL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=detail

Consignment is also an option, there are a few shops in town that do that.

[fly-by]

Before approaching anyone he should figure out what he has.

He should register on Gunbroker and use the advanced search function that shows completed auctions.  Sort by number of bids, then look for transactions that actually took place (reserve met).  These are real world prices of actual transactions.  Once he knows what he has he can tally everything to come up with a "one at a time" price.  Then he should discount the lot x% for a bulk sale.

[NRA4LIFE]

You know where I live, just saying...

[Skillet]

If he wants to take it on as a side hustle and put the time and effort into it, he can get the highest dollar per gun by selling each one individually.  Realize there will be a lot of work in collecting payment, arranging shipping, dealing with dissatisfied customers (auction site sales), etc.  With that many guns, there will be some hiccups.  Selling the low-value guns will take more time and hassle than the higher value stuff. 

If the goal is to just turn iron into cash as fast as possible, bundle them up and take to a pawn shop.  They'll basically steal them from him so they can earn the profit of the retail sale themselves, but he'll be done with it in an afternoon.

There's likely decent auctioneers that could handle it for him, and get much better money returned to the family than the pawn shop deal.

Just depends on what he thinks his time is worth, and how he perceives the risk of selling them individually.

 

[Boss .300 winmag]

I have a neighbor that is trying to decide how or where to sell a collection of firearms, Family inheritance.
There are approx 50 long guns/shotguns and 20-30 handguns.

Not sure if they would want to hassle with individual sale??

Thoughts?

This would be a nice problem to have. 

Post them on here they'll sell. 

[724wd]

Owens Auction here in spokane does a lot of firearms collection sales.  Cabelas has been known to buy large, "good" collections.  He needs to find out what he has.  The Blue Book Of Gun Values is worth the $35!!!

[Jburke]

http://premierauctioncenter.com/
Here is another local auction house that deals in guns a lot.  They're in Post Falls

[JackLink]

One of my hunting buds in Chelan grew up with the guy you need to contact. From what I understand, he has been buying and selling gun collections his whole life. Works only the national market (no local auctions or neighborhood dealers). Get this - he works with both the Boone and Crockett Club and The Wild Sheep Foundation to sell their member donations. Also represents many of the name gun writers and firearms industry execs. My friend says his current inventory includes two of Jack O’Conner’s guns and the most incredible selection of left hand rifles anyone ever imagined. Name is Dwight Van Brunt. His company is Sportsman’s Legacy and the site is sportsmanslegacy.com. Number is 406.212.0344. Might want to give him a try...

[quadrafire]

Thanks for all the info guys. I'll get these contacts to the interested party

[whacker1]

Cabelas will only give 40%-50% on the dollar for the collection as I understand it depending on the collection.  They then sell them at the markup for what you see in their sales turning the other 50%-60% in the store.

 

[JDHasty]

Cabelas will only give 40%-50% on the dollar for the collection as I understand it depending on the collection.  They then sell them at the markup for what you see in their sales turning the other 50%-60% in the store.

Cabela's is probably the safest bet for someone who doesn't want to put much effort into it.  I have seen a lot of estates ripped off at ten cents on the dollar, at least with Cabela's it will net them about sixty cents on the dollar

[fowl smacker]

I wouldn't mind seeing a list of what he's got!

[tlbradford]

Why don't you pick out a couple that you want and then offer to sell the rest individually for payment?  If there is an older Browning Bar in there let me know.  I have been eyeballing the gun stores for a nice older one to pop up.

[jackelope]

Why don't you pick out a couple that you want and then offer to sell the rest individually for payment?  If there is an older Browning Bar in there let me know.  I have been eyeballing the gun stores for a nice older one to pop up.

If you have the time to do it, this is what I would do too. Don't forget about I-594 and all that horsepucky. The current owner will be invested in some time as well to legally do the paperwork stuff.

[quadrafire]

I've not laid eyes on any of the firearms other than a high end browning double 20ga.
I really don't want to do the leg work honestly. I'm pretty flush on firearms right now.
I tried to meet up with him last night to give him some of these options.

[tlbradford]

I'm pretty flush on firearms right now.

There is no such thing! 

[quadrafire]

I'm pretty flush on firearms right now.

There is no such thing! 

True that.... i can't even believe that came out of my mouth. Haha

There are a few siblings involved so piecing the collection is not going to happen. None of them want to deal with the dickering, shipping, hassle etc.
they are leaning towards Cabelas's.
Ive not seen this collection but would love to. Briefly browsed the list.. it is NICE
I may ask for a copy of the list to tease you with. (And me)

[JL]

If there's no chance of the group wanting to sell individually (which would guarantee the best sales results), all of you would be better off just breaking the lot up into thirds, quarters, or whatever the case may be, and dealing with those lots as you see fit. A single lump sale is going to result in a hit no matter who you sell to, or how you cut it. Someone in your group may owe it to the departed to seek a fair value. If it were me, I'd take your portion of the lot and start here. What do you estimate the entire lot's value to be?

[quadrafire]

If there's no chance of the group wanting to sell individually (which would guarantee the best sales results), all of you would be better off just breaking the lot up into thirds, quarters, or whatever the case may be, and dealing with those lots as you see fit. A single lump sale is going to result in a hit no matter who you sell to, or how you cut it. Someone in your group may owe it to the departed to seek a fair value. If it were me, I'd take your portion of the lot and start here. What do you estimate the entire lot's value to be?

Not my lot JL. Just started the thread for info and presented it to the seller. They took that info and will Use it. But at this time looks like they want a quick turn around and do not
Want to deal with individual sales. Can you imagine how time
Consuming that would be with a hundred guns?

[JL]

Sorry Quad, missed the neighbor mention. There are some platforms nowadays where the thought of the nightmares associated w/ individual sales can be reduced, at least partly. If they weren't into the idea of quickly creating a stock template where all you had to do was add a description and photos than I'd definitely suggest a consignment type of deal vs. an outright sale. At least there, it's a win win for all of them.

[Skillet]

If there's no chance of the group wanting to sell individually (which would guarantee the best sales results), all of you would be better off just breaking the lot up into thirds, quarters, or whatever the case may be, and dealing with those lots as you see fit. A single lump sale is going to result in a hit no matter who you sell to, or how you cut it. Someone in your group may owe it to the departed to seek a fair value. If it were me, I'd take your portion of the lot and start here. What do you estimate the entire lot's value to be?

There's no free lunch. 

Good, cheap, quick - pick two.

[quadrafire]

If there's no chance of the group wanting to sell individually (which would guarantee the best sales results), all of you would be better off just breaking the lot up into thirds, quarters, or whatever the case may be, and dealing with those lots as you see fit. A single lump sale is going to result in a hit no matter who you sell to, or how you cut it. Someone in your group may owe it to the departed to seek a fair value. If it were me, I'd take your portion of the lot and start here. What do you estimate the entire lot's value to be?

There's no free lunch. 

Good, cheap, quick - pick two.

add to that easy-no hassle 😉
And they are not relying on this for a retirement income.

[quadrafire]

I would be. But they are not

[JL]

Sounds like they should just sell the lot to Cab's or something.  Must be blue bloods or something, the big timers I know will squabble over a decimal just on principle?

[jagermiester]

I'm looking for a gun for my cousin. He is getting into shooting skeet and he asked me to keep my ear to the ground for him. Does he have any shotguns that would fit that mold?

[tlbradford]

I deal with Dave at Northwest Gun and Pawn and he has always been fair to me when purchasing firearms.  I have never sold a gun so I can't speak for that side of it.  I also don't know what crossing the state line means for the sale to Cabelas and if they will take a large hit from that as well.

[quadrafire]

I deal with Dave at Northwest Gun and Pawn and he has always been fair to me when purchasing firearms.  I have never sold a gun so I can't speak for that side of it.  I also don't know what crossing the state line means for the sale to Cabelas and if they will take a large hit from that as well.

Hadn't thought about that. But I'm sure since there is a presence in WA that wouldn't be a concern

[Blacktail Sniper]

Crossing the state line in this instance should not be an issue if selling to Cabela's, which holds a Federal Firearms License.

[T-Bone]

Sharp Shooting has recently advertised that they buy entire gun collections:http://www.sharpshooting.net/

Having sold a few guns to Cabela's and Double Eagle Pawn, the best you can expect is 50% of the real value; be it Cabela's or some other pawn store (like Northwest Pawn...Forget him; he'll "low ball" you every time!), they are buying your guns to re-sell them; not because they want them for themselves.

With the Pawn Shop 50% Rule in mind, I can vouch for Cabela's and Double Eagle Pawn.