# selling a firearms collection



## Mike in Friendswood (May 21, 2004)

My father had a decent sized collection of antique firearms (100+ guns). The vast majority being Winchester. He passed away nearly 20 years ago. My Mom has kept the collection mostly intact since that time. She now has expressed an interest in selling the collection, after my siblings and I pick out which ones we want to keep for ourselves.

This brings me to my question. Mom lives in a very rural region in the midwest. 
Her thought is to hire a local auction agency, let them advertise, and then sell the guns at auction. My concern is that there will not be an optimal turnout and prices will not be as high as they could be. Additionally the cost for this type of auction would be pretty high.

Second option would be to use an online platform to sell the guns. This option would probably yield higher prices, but would also cost a fair amount for the auction service.

The third option would be to transport the guns down here and sell them myself. Eliminating any middle man and maximizing the proceeds for my Mom. My thought is that the Southeast Texas market could absorb a collection this size without diminishing the prices received.

I would welcome any input and thoughts.

Thanks!


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## mrsh978 (Apr 24, 2006)

I think hands on is best. Iâ€™m ffl. There are sites, gun shops that will appraise and sell assets. If you have the time yourself - cut out the middleman- and put on gunbroker. Have Guns sent down and do it yourself


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## Muddskipper (Dec 29, 2004)

Mike- you should do it

IT's THE time doing it and will you be compensated for your time


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## Trouthunter (Dec 18, 1998)

Get them to your house Mike, then see Mike at Collector's Firearms for an appraisal. He's a Winchester expert and will tell you their value and might make you an offer on the entire collection.

TH


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## [email protected] (Jul 12, 2006)

If you have the time, gunbroker is the way to go.


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## richg99 (Aug 21, 2004)

As has been said, it depends on what Your time is worth.

When I worked, I couldn't have taken the time that negotiating, packing, shipping, insuring, etc. would take. Not to mention the legal aspects associated with who buys each individual item. 

One bid, or a consignment setup ..would have been my choice...if I were still working.


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## truckin_angler (Mar 24, 2010)

I just went through this recently. My Mom knew a guy she went to high school that is an FFL he lives in Galveston. He helped me sell them on Gun broker and he took a very small percentage for his time and effort. If interested give me a DM and I can give you his information.


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## chwoodall (Aug 27, 2005)

I'm an FFL as well, unless it's a buddy, any dealer or auction company is gonna take a chunk out of your $.. GunBroker bus good too depending on the item, but their fees are high too. If it's not too much trouble would you be open to sending me a list of what you have?

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## richg99 (Aug 21, 2004)

I talked to my guy at Shiloh some weeks ago. He said that a lady had brought in a large number of older guns. They were selling them for her, one at a time. 

I have NO IDEA what they charged.


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## Go Frogs (Nov 19, 2014)

My dad had a very large collection of old very good condition Winchester rifles. When he passed I had Collectors come to the house to make me an offer. As a business owner I understand needing to make money, but they were not close to what the guns were worth. They are good people, don't get me wrong, but as others have said you can do a lot better yourself if you are so inclined. Best of luck regardless of what you decide.


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## Modelace (Feb 6, 2017)

Mike: Get the latest copy of "The Blue Book"
Look up the prices which vary by CONDITION.
Make yourself a list of each firearm and sell em yourself at Texas Gun Shows.
CUT OUT THE MIDDLEMAN!


Collecters, Gun Broker, etc., etc. are in business to make a profit.
You make the profit for your mom.


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## richg99 (Aug 21, 2004)

*
Mike: Get the latest copy of "The Blue Book"
Look up the prices which vary by CONDITION.
Make yourself a list of each firearm and sell em yourself at Texas Gun Shows.
CUT OUT THE MIDDLEMAN!*

If you have more time now, this might be the way to go.

This LINK might be the book he is referring to.
https://www.bluebookofgunvalues.com/#/Index


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## chwoodall (Aug 27, 2005)

Modelace said:


> Mike: Get the latest copy of "The Blue Book"
> Look up the prices which vary by CONDITION.
> Make yourself a list of each firearm and sell em yourself at Texas Gun Shows.
> CUT OUT THE MIDDLEMAN!
> ...


I tend to disagree. I have a bluebook subscription and a lot of those values are far from what people will pay. I'd recommend hitting advanced search on GunBroker, and search for past auctions of the firearm you want to sell. Many times I've blue booked something at around say 750$, when the last dozen auctions of said firearm have brought 5-600, or 8-1000. Use both resources and make judgement from there. Good luck!

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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

I am not sure that I could get through selling my Dads collection. Hell, I still drive his pickup in the pastures and use his tractors. His guns are in my safes, never to be sold while I am here. But he wasn't really a gun collector, really didn't collect much except cows and land......still have all of the land. 
Good luck to you, even after 20 years. My Dad has been gone since 2002 and....well I still have stuff.


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## Bird (May 10, 2005)

Do it yourself. Look up the values from gun resale websites and see if you can get a feel actual market values. You'll know pretty quickly if a gun is valuable or not. If they are valuable, sell it individually. After you have gone through the valuable ones, see you can get a quote from a large gun shop to get the rest of them sold.


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## unc_jaws23 (May 29, 2008)

Agree diy, but blue don’t mean ****, I know as used gun is like a used boat they are only as valuable as you can get some one to pay for it. It will give you an approximate if any of them are rare and very collectible


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## busaro (Dec 29, 2012)

Collectors will appraise low and then sell high. Theyâ€™ll buy your gun low as hell and theyâ€™re selling the same gun for twice the price. I believe in making money but theyâ€™ll rape you. Gunbroker is the way to go.


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