Has Anyone Ever Sold A Small Group Of Guns To One Buyer?

J

Joe_Pike

New member
I am real uncertain about the future of my job. My boss keeps mentioning pay cuts, layoffs and closing the store altogether. It's been a decent job and has allowed me to by a modest amount of firearms over the last few years, but the poor economy has now taken its toll. Now, I am thinking about selling about half of what I have to start preparing for the worst. I need to stop visiting the LGS because I always come away wanting something I can't afford, although I've been good about not buying so far.

I'm thinking about starting with the revolvers since they would probably be easier to sell, although listing a couple here and there on different forums hasn't been too successful. Shipping costs are the killer along with all of the weird requests about how to do a transaction.

Has anyone ever sold 10 or more guns to one buyer? I would prefer to sell to an FFL with that many in question, but I don't think I could get a fair price at any local shop. I've bought all of the guns locally but on the few trades that I've done I thought they were a bit tight on the trade, so, an outright buy would probably be insulting. Nothing I have is worth a huge amount of money, but some of them are fairly collectable and I'm not just giving them away. I'm not in a tight spot yet, so, at this point I'm just thinking out loud.

Anyway, I'm just curious, has anyone here sold a fair number of guns to one buyer and, if so, was it locally or a shop you contacted via the internet?
 
Unless you have something so collectable that they'd kill for it, never sell to a shop unless you are desperate. They will compare your gun to what their cost is, or what the lowest printed/posted value is at the time, for the condition.

Any time I had several guns to sell, I listed them on GB, or on various gun enthusiast forums individually. You'll (almost) always get more for them individually than in lots.
If you list them on GB, there will be links to your other sales, so there's always a chance that buyers may buy more than one gun. I once had 4 (similar) guns go to the same buyer... saved on shipping costs, and I made a good profit on the guns.

If you can take the hit, you could sell two or three very similar guns (various S&W 'J' frames for example) for one price if you want to make them go away... but you'll have to make it worthwhile to the potential buyers.

If they are collectable and you're having a hard time parting with them... pawn them, or get a loan from a friend with gun as collateral.

Cheers,
C
 
I wouldnt sell to a gun dealer or a pawn shop. They will take advantage of you and you'll most assuredly have to sell your guns at a loss. If its legal to do a FTF transaction in your state you could list them on www.armslist.com, its the craigslist of gun sites lol.
 
I would prefer to sell to an FFL with that many in question, but I don't think I could get a fair price at any local shop.
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You'll get a "fair" price, but you need to understand that means wholesale used prices and not retail - after all, the dealer needs to mark them up to make a profit. That would be the fastest way to downsize, although you will also take the biggest hit $$$-wise. Selling your self on gunbroker, or here and other forums will take more time, but you get to keep most, if not all, of the money
 
I've got a couple of Smiths that the shops in this area wouldn't have a clue about, so, I know the offer would be low due to that. Those two should bring $1,600+, but I bet I couldn't get a $600 offer where I live.
 
Just a suggestion: There are always consignment auctions around that will sell guns for you. I know that here in Wyoming we have one about every weekend. Lots of guns get sold and you can always put a minimum bid on them or "no sale" them if they aren't bringing enough.

I have never sold any guns at auction, but I have purchased many!

Check out your local paper for auction advertisements.
 
Yes, I sold three S&Ws to one chap. He knew what they were worth and I got a fair price with no haggling. Check out local gun clubs and post a notice or place an ad in a shooters site.
 
Joe Pike said:
Has anyone ever sold 10 or more guns to one buyer? I would prefer to sell to an FFL with that many in question, but I don't think I could get a fair price at any local shop. I've bought all of the guns locally but on the few trades that I've done I thought they were a bit tight on the trade, so, an outright buy would probably be insulting. Nothing I have is worth a huge amount of money, but some of them are fairly collectable and I'm not just giving them away. I'm not in a tight spot yet, so, at this point I'm just thinking out loud.

Anyway, I'm just curious, has anyone here sold a fair number of guns to one buyer and, if so, was it locally or a shop you contacted via the internet?
Click to expand...
Don't do it.

I have two "friendly acquaintances" who run a small gun shop a couple of miles from home. Spending an hour or so in the shop to see what's new is pretty much a standard stop on my Saturday itinerary. You have to realize that any gun shop that buys guns -- be it one gun, ten guns, or a hundred guns -- is buying it/them to resell at a profit. They can't count on reselling immediately, so they have to factor in not just a fair (whatever they think that is) profit, but also the fact that they could have their money tied up for a period of days, weeks, or months. For example, I've discussed with one of them a very nice looking Spanish Mauser carbine. He's had it for sale for several months, and even had it sold once over the Internet but the buyer backed out. I think they made a bad buy -- it's a small-ring Mauser that has been rechambered in .308, and it's generally known that the small-ring Mausers aren't safe in .308. So I suspect he's going to be sitting on that baby for a long while.

Bottom line, you might (note: "MIGHT") get 50 percent of appraised (Blue Book) value for your guns if you sell to a gun shop. That's probably not a good way to approach liquidating assets to prepare for a rainy day.

JMHO.
 
I know I could find this info with some digging on Gunbroker, but does someone know off the top of their head what the total percentage Gunbroker gets when you sell a gun on the site?
 
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