HOUSTON RICK
Member
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.
Reluctantly Have To Sell My Smith Collection
- Thread starter Swabby
- Start date
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!
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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.
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
US Veteran
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.
BTW: post a notice on local forums that you will be there and what you have. Some folks will come specifically to find you.
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.
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.
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?
Curious…Tanners?
gkitch
Member
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.
Thanks to everyone for their thoughts on the matter. I am not selling a ton of guns, but some of them are really nice S&W's. The flagship would probably be a M681-PC with a 3" quadport barrel, box and all the paperwork, complete with a set of new S&W combats that I took out of the package to put specifically on this gun. I've seen these go for anywhere from roughly $2,000 to $3,000 on GB. I have never shot it or carried it, but I am not the original owner. No Jinks letter, but with all the factory paperwork, I did find the original bill of sale. Really, a very nice gun. It's rough parting with something like that one, but I never carry it, or shoot it, so......
31FordA
Member
That's who I thought of with that description. I understand that Tanner's was just sold to new owners, hope they don't change too much, it's a nice shop.
PA Auction Center in New Holland, PA runs a really good gun auction. They use two different on line platforms and in person bidding.
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I'm going to be checking out some of these auctions. I think it's time to sell off some of what I have soon.
I did sell some guns on here and had good luck. But I had some very bad luck with one, a model 24. The buyer did nothing but complain and I finally had to tell him to return the gun. That soured me on selling here.
I still have to decide what to sell though.
I did sell some guns on here and had good luck. But I had some very bad luck with one, a model 24. The buyer did nothing but complain and I finally had to tell him to return the gun. That soured me on selling here.
I still have to decide what to sell though.
riverrat38
US Veteran
eBay has notified members that they need to report total annual sales of over $600 to the IRS. I presume that this means extra tax time paper work to show just how much was profit. Some of us might not be able to document how much we paid for what we bought 15 years ago, or whatever. Sounds like a hassle, and maybe expense, if it means we need accounting help. I don't see why GB, or other sales sites, would be any different.
73,
Rick
73,
Rick
brownhipower1
Member
Because of age and health I will be doing the same. I live in northern Louisiana and was thinking of taking a bunch to Tyler Gun Works in Texas for consignment. Not sure if anyone else has experience with them.
Rock Island is great for higher dollar stuff because you get very savvy buyers with deep pockets, but the fees are at least 30%. If you're talking guns that are individually worth less than $2000, there are probably better options.
I've seen a few posts on different forums about them with positive feedback.
Justamessenger
Member
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I was recently the 'winner' of an auction, but I discovered the pictures of the gun were taken off another site- in other words, fraudulent. 'Seller' had a great rating and multiple sales- there were no red flags before sending the money order. Fortunately, they messed up on the other end and I got my money order back.
OP has never sold with GB, so he would be at a disadvantage- no rating and unable to take a credit card. He's not going to get top dollar selling them himself on GB.
OP has never sold with GB, so he would be at a disadvantage- no rating and unable to take a credit card. He's not going to get top dollar selling them himself on GB.
Of course not. You would have to hand it over to a top penny start auction. They have the best pics and description. Trust me, I have made at least 20 purchases in the last year and you learn who the good guys are.
357 shooter
Member
Yep , that was the main reason I took mine to a well established top GB seller with a proven track record. Plenty of excellent high resolution pictures definitely helps too. And the buying audience is the whole country.
I gave up on selling myself and the local gun shops usually have little interest in what I bring in. Have a 66-1 that I can't see the sights on anymore , one local shop didn't even want it , said had one just like it and it sat in the case for ever. Another offered me $400 , no thanks.
Doug M.
Member
I think selling here on the forum is a good choice. You get members who have been more or less vetted and people who know what you have and value it in a way that random buyers won't. To get the best bang for your buck on GB, you likely need to use a dealer who can do the dirty work for you. Unless you are in a hurry, you are cutting your return for little value compared to selling here.
I may be biased, of course - while my accumulating days are mostly over, you might have something I want.
I may be biased, of course - while my accumulating days are mostly over, you might have something I want.
Idk, dealer or GB, either way your paying dealer and shipping. So if your paying dealer a commission let him handle the aggravation. For the record I'm an FFL and can ship almost any long gun almost anywhere for $46 thru USPS. For handguns usually $20. These people on GB charging $60 and more to ship are just padding their profits. It cracks me up when they charge more to ship a handgun than a long gun. Why? I bought a Kahr 9mm From a dealer In Oregon on GB. Ad said buyer pays actual shipping. I messaged him to inquire. He said it's $40 because that's what they pay to ship to east coast. Package arrived USPS. postage on box said $14.
xfarfuldog
Member
I have purchased a few guns lately from the big auction site. I normally like to buy them at a local gun show. One great condition S&W was purchased for $ 550. But with taxes, shipping, and fees it cost me another $ 90 to get it to my FFL dealer. Those extra costs are making the online deals cost prohibitive. You should be able to get a better price by selling on the forum eliminating the extra costs buyers pay on the auction sites.
I am not an FFL but I do ship packages quite regularly across the US. Using USPS Calculator, a med USPS Flat Rate Priority Mail package being shipped to the next county over cost $17.10 and $1000 of insurance is $6.30. A total of $23.40. The cost of your services of logging the gun into and out of your books, packaging the gun, and the cost of your time and gas to take the package to the post office is worth what to you? I recently had a plumber do some service work at my house and his labor was charge at $95.00/hr + service call! $60.00 to ship a gun might not be too far away from reasonable!
IMHO, jcelect
Yep, There can be a huge difference in the price realized on a gun from a new seller with a few pictures and a known seller that includes 50 good pictures. If looking at completed auctions you need to filter out all the auctions that had no bids and then look at the all the sales that actually happened. Then start looking around at the variety of prices that get realized.
There can be swings of $100's of dollars on a $700 gun. Sometimes a nice variant will go for $600 while a few days later a mediocre variant will go for $800. Why did the better gun sell for $200 less??? Descriptions, pictures, ad title, seller rating, timing of auction, buyers mood all factor into those prices.
When I sell a gun and ship it my time packing and preparing are the cost of doing business. If I wasn't packaging the item what else would I be doing? If you aren't making enough on the sale , raise your price. Don't nickel and dime me and try to hide extra profit in shipping. I believe in transparency as both the buyer and seller.
100% correct
IMHO, jcelect
Sir, you are 100% correct in your statement! However, this thread is about those that would bring you a gun to be shipped to another FFL at an unknow distance away. If you ship that package for the amount of the shipping cost, then your "cost of doing business" is 0! It's hard to keep the lights on with a profit margin of 0!
IMHO, jcelect
Agreed. If I'm handling a transaction between 2 entities it's $30 for a handgun and $25 for a long gun. The extra $5 is because there's an extra step for a handgun in NY. The person receiving gun pays actual shipping cost. I guess we got off on a bit of a tangent there with shipping. I did not mean to hijack the OPs thread.
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