Reluctantly Have To Sell My Smith Collection

[quietman123]

I typically use GB. I have a friend on the Colt Forum that uses Legacy Collectibles which offers two options:
1. They make you an offer
2. They consign it on their website
My friend is very pleased with this company.

 

[Camster]

One has to be prepared to absorb the fees. Just the cost of doing business.
You can't necessarily say that you have a $1000 gun, and you want to net $1000 after the sale.
Dealers in my part of the world, want $60 minimum for a handgun transfer, including my LGS. He also now wants 25% for guns placed on consignment.
I suppose with less new gun availability during Covid, he wants to make it up somewhere else.
That often means guns that sit there a while, as too many consignees think they deserve full retail for themselves, even if they're doing none of the work.
The $1000 gun becomes a $1300 gun in the show case.
Of course, some folks just want the guns gone, and some want as much as they can get. It boils down to how much personal effort you want to expend, and what your time frame is for getting your hands on some loot.
Be realistic in valuations. Good photos sell guns, more than the words, though sellers who won't describe a gun very much at all, and say rely on their less than great photos for the condition, send me the other way.

I can feel your pain. Been there, done that. It's all good if the funds go to a greater or more necessary purpose. It's just "stuff".

 

[dave1918a2]

By the time You auction them and pay the fees, shipping, insurance, I think You could do just as good here. Take Your fair price and add shipping and ins and list the gun as $XXXX including shipping. You'll get a fair price and the S&W fans here get a shot at what they want. Fair to You, fair to Us.

 

[BAM-BAM]

If you are in the western part of the state there is a company located south of New Castle that a buddy of mine has had great success in listing and selling guns for him on Gun Broker...... do great descriptions and photos.

You can take your stuff to them and they do the rest. If you're interested PM me and I'll call him and get the name.

/Been thinking about listing my Reg Magnum with them.

 

[josywales]

Now thats a dealer!

Well, they knew how happy the Mrs would be. Very astute dealer indeed!

 

[winchester62]

UPS and FedEx won't allow a non FFL to ship guns to an FFL anymore. They've caved to the administration. This makes selling guns a lot harder. Hate to say it, but this isn't the best time to sell a load of guns. All by design unfortunately. I'd try to find a dealer that would ship for a reasonable fee and use GunBroker. Fees and all...

 

[357 shooter]

I decided to sell six guns in the summer of 2021 one of which was a Smith 357. I had them sold through a top gunbroker seller. Five of the 6 guns even after consignment sold for far more then I could have ever got locally. Selling a 357 revolver in Indiana is like trying to unload a dead raccoon.

The Smith was a 586-8 4" probably the least collectable or valuable of the dash series and still got almost a grand for it after consignment. I would have been happy just to break even. Locally I would have been lucky to get half that. I did extremely well with a couple of Marlin lever actions.

Now this was during a time when guns were harder to get. But the next time I sell a group of guns I'll likely do the same.

 

[Dave Lively]

UPS and FedEx won't allow a non FFL to ship guns to an FFL anymore. They've caved to the administration. This makes selling guns a lot harder.

Even before the new rules I found going through my local FFL who charged $25 plus actual USPS priority mail shipping costs was about half what it would have cost to ship a handgun directly through UPS. Much more convenient too. That was a few years ago, my FFL raised his fee to $30 recently.

One other thing that will make selling guns more difficult is the IRS going after people selling anything and not reporting the income. This will have the biggest effect on people using something like PayPal or Venmo which cannot be used when selling guns but they originally wanted to require banks to report all deposits over $600 that were not a direct deposit from an employer. The IRS backed down from that but reminded everyone that by law they are required to enforce the tax code and given a lot of leeway in how they do it.

I have been thinking it is time to thin the herd again. This time going through a dealer that sells on consignment will be my first choice but I am not selling by necessity and am willing to accept less money in exchange for not having to deal with all the GunBroker hassles.

I don't think income from selling some safe queens on consignment will be reported as income but plan to keep records on the cost basis of everything I sell. If they do report it I always end up losing money overall so it will be a deduction, not income.

 

[gkitch]

I have found this forum the best way to sell something with the least hassle short of a local sale. GB is a great deal more trouble (and the only way to do it is to start at a dollar and let the momentum of the auction take its course).

The GB money looks great until you subtract around 15% or so. You pocket about $850 on a $1000 sale that was a great deal of trouble. Just selling it locally or on this forum for $850-900 would have been better for you and the buyer.

Do not forget gun shows. Rent one table at a show and you will move most of your guns for cash by Sunday afternoon if you have priced them fairly.

 

[JH1951]

From a "buying" perspective, I have more successful transactions over the last several years here on the Forum. As for selling, my choice would be here on the Forum.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Swabby, I hope that it works for you. You might want to show them off here even if you sell them elsewhere. We all would like to look at them - if it works for you.

 

[toad67]

I've sold a few hundred guns on GB, and while it can be monetarily whorthwhile, it can be a real pain in the ***. It sounds like there are a few local people who would do well selling them on GB. From my opinion, contact them and see what they say. For the small percentage they charge, it would be well worth it. They take all the pics, deal with the shipping and hassle if something goes wrong, damaged or lost in shipping. It seems that sooo many buyers now want to use a CC, which is a pain to get set up for as an individual. You won't be wasting your fuel money going to a local FFL to ship things, as well as the amount of time. Oh, and the amount of non-paying bidders on GB these days is incredible. One less hassle for you to deal with..... Good luck!

 

[cbunix23]

If it was me, and will be too soon, I'd give this place a call

Milestone Auctions
38198 Willoughby Parkway
Willoughby, Ohio 44094
(440) 527-8060
[email protected]

and see what they can do for you. I think they use hibid.com and/or proxybid.com for their auctions.

 

[Grayfox]

I don't know the laws where you live. However, if your state allows private sales between individuals, I recommend getting a table or two at a gun show. Its one weekend of your time, a large group of potential buyers and relatively easy. Plus, if done right, can be a lot of fun.
BTW: post a notice on local forums that you will be there and what you have. Some folks will come specifically to find you.

 

[Drm50]

I found most who did auction or consignment are talking in neighborhood of 20% + of selling price. You have to look at what you think gun will bring - %fee, to see if that is the way to go for you.
Also make sure you are looking at actual selling price. The online auction sites don't care what it goes for, they get their slice first.

 

[josywales]

It's nerve racking if you use a dealer. They started every action at $.01…a penny!! It all works out in the end though. It's crazy.

 

[RCL-09]

I have found this forum the best way to sell something with the least hassle short of a local sale. GB is a great deal more trouble (and the only way to do it is to start at a dollar and let the momentum of the auction take its course).

The GB money looks great until you subtract around 15% or so. You pocket about $850 on a $1000 sale that was a great deal of trouble. Just selling it locally or on this forum for $850-900 would have been better for you and the buyer.

Do not forget gun shows. Rent one table at a show and you will move most of your guns for cash by Sunday afternoon if you have priced them fairly.

So, according to GB their fees are:

Up to $325 = 6%
$326 and up = 4%

A $1,000.00 sale would cost $46.50 netting $953.50

Am I missing something?

 

[ladder13]

If you're in SEPA, I can advise a shop who will post them on GB. I used them last year and will again next week. Ridiculously easy.

Think about it. He's had a successful storefront for decades. His online presence is in the thousands. He accepts credit card from the buyers. All of that adds up to top dollar for your guns. He charges 15%. When you think about the time/effort to take pictures, list guns, etc., plus the extra 5-10% I believe with what a respected online dealer yields in sale price, it's an easy decision. He told me when he would list them and that I'd be paid 10 days after they received payment, or I could wait for a single check, which I did.

Forum members here are the likely a very good route and I would love to see them have a shot. Maybe start with a few and see how it goes, but it could be more work than you might be willing to endure.

Sorry you have to sell. Not crazy about it myself, but that's how it goes I guess.

Curious…Tanners?

 

[gkitch]

So, according to GB their fees are:

Up to $325 = 6%
$326 and up = 4%

A $1,000.00 sale would cost $46.50 netting $953.50

Am I missing something?

Been a while since I sold something on GB but found their cut, while reasonable, was around the 15% mark (same as Ebay). Perhaps my memory is clouded...or something changed. I will be selling some things gain on GB soon so will refresh.

 

[RCL-09]

Been a while since I sold something on GB but found their cut, while reasonable, was around the 15% mark (same as Ebay). Perhaps my memory is clouded...or something changed. I will be selling some things gain on GB soon so will refresh.

I actually had to look it up. Overall I think it is a good place to sell and the fee is reasonable. As to buying, I find a lot more collectable stuff there than locally, so I check it out regularly.

The one thing that is terrible is their customer service. I had a problem with a non paying bidder and could not, for the life of me, ever get anything out of them. Eventually it was resolved but in the interim it really irked me.