Liquidated almost half of my collection

J

JimmyR

New member
It's a sad day in the JimmyR home. I just negotiated a deal to sell almost half of my collection to get some cash put aside for some future expenses. In no uncertain order:

1) My wife is expecting a baby, which is great news for us, but she is considered a high risk pregnancy (see point 2), which means MORE doctor's appointments.
2) As a diabetic, my wife's blood sugars can sometimes be a little erratic; throw in the baby, and it gets even more so. They switched her insulin, due to pregnancy concerns, and then back when her blood sugar swings got WORSE on the new insulin. Now they want to put her on the pump, which (depending on our insurance playing nicely) could be an extra grand we WEREN'T budgeting.
3) I'm switching to a new job with a new company, and found out my insurance terms on my last day at work. Cobra will be about $1200 a month, and I'm just HOPING the new job will give me good news about insurance starting on day 1.

[/spastic rant]

So, to get this back to firearms related discussion, how many of you with larger collections have planned out what circumstances would convince you to sell all or part of your collection? Will you know it when you see it? Do you see your firearms that aren't part of your EDC/HD rotation as assets that may be liquidated?

Yes, Cheapshooter, you can answer if you want, even though we know what you're probably gonna say... :cool:
 
Well . . .

Cheapshooter:
Well, I've bought guns from guys who needed the cash more than the gun. First was a Rem semi auto 12 ga from a guy who lost his job. Felt bad for him but if I didn't buy it someone else would. Gave him his asking price. Bought my Beretta 92fs from a guy who has switched jobs and needed cash to fix up his commuting car. Was at a gun auction about a year ago and the last half a dozen guns were for a guy who had medical bills on his wife. Langham auctions took no commission on that one as I recall. I think well made guns tend to hold their value. It's not like a great investment, but . . .
Live Well, Be Safe
Prof Young
 
It's been discussed a lot on the forum, and its generally accepted that guns as investments to make money are not as good as other things.

However, guns are a good way to "keep" money, in terms of value. A lot of the guns in my collection are in the category of disposable assets, should the need arise. Exceptions are the family heirlooms and a couple of my most useful pieces (if they aren't in the heirloom category, yet..).

I spent many years acquiring, when I found then, duplicates of my favorite guns, or guns I had an interest in, and now, I find that after a decade or two of having them (mostly) just sit around, I can part with them for cash, without serious regret.
 
I have reached the age where my collection has become too ponderous to keep up with. It's even gotten so bad to the point that I have bought things "that I had been looking for forever" only to find out I had already gotten that item and forgot about it. It gets to the point where the guns own you; You do not own them.

After taking care of a late friend's estate about ten years ago, I realized that when I go, it's going to be a big mess for whomever has to get rid of all my crap. It actually took 3 years out of my life, and if a very good friend of mine hadn't helped me with getting his things on Gunbroker and other sources, I'd probably still be at it. Just in parts alone, I would guesstimate that he had squirreled away close to 20 or 30K gun parts, all antique and military surplus. (Don't ask; It would make you sick to learn what he had accumulated.) So I have been liquidating my collection slowly but surely to prevent that from happening.

My cousin passed away earlier this year and he said to me;" We don't own any guns; We are just their custodians." Ironically, he left a huge collection of guns and surplus parts but, luckily, his wife went with him to just about every gun show there was and pretty much knows the "business."

Bottom line: Your family's well-being comes first. Guns are just "things" and can be replaced, if so desired.
 
Best wishes for you and your wife and a safe and uneventful birth.
(Kids are trouble even before they're born. :))

One advantage to owning only cheap (but effective) shooting irons like mine, is there's no real motivation to sell them.
I'd have to be down to scrambling for eating money for them to make a difference in our finances.
If they're still around after I'm not, they are to be given to friends, and as donations to the local club for fund raising.
 
how many of you with larger collections have planned out what circumstances would convince you to sell all or part of your collection?
Click to expand...

My firearms would be one of the last thing I would part with if I needed quick extra cash and here's why:

1. Firearms take a little more attention, cost and effort to liquidate ethically. I would either have to buy a table at a gun show; list them on gunbroker; sell them one at a time walking around gun shows (not my preferred method) or consign them with a gun dealer. Fortunately, I've got other stuff I can sell easier and faster than firearms to get cash.

2. Firearms do tend to appreciate in value, but is spits and spurts over long periods of time. The best way to liquidate firearms is gradually over time, cherry-picking the most profitable to liquidate first.

I do believe in culling the collection from time to time, but I do this to generate funds to purchase a higher end firearm to replace those I've lost interest in.
 
I consider all of my guns to be assets that I can liquidate if I need the money. It would be a little more difficult for me to sell the shotgun that was a birthday gift from my dad but if my family needs the money everything is fair game.
 
Congratulations on the new kid !

I'm not so sure selling off half of a collection of anything isn't a bad idea from time to time. Most of us have stuff in our gun safes we don't really care much for anymore, and, if you need money, you need money, not guns.

Coin collectors sell off collection chunks all the time, they call it 'upgrading', whether they buy a new coin or not.

You've got a lot of years ahead to restore your collection with some experience behind you to make it better.
 
There is no expense that could get me to justify getting rid of heirlooms or my favorite purchases (future heirlooms).
It comes down to a few things:
1. They aren't worth much. Many of my firearms (heirlooms in particular) started life as the 'budget' version of whatever firearm it is, and resale value is low; or they're a run-of-the-mill, or even off-brand, model with 10,000 of the same thing lining the used racks of gun shops across the country.

2. They aren't popular. Most people that would be interested in what I have would be looking for that model in particular; and, most likely, looking for a parts gun (to repair their own heirloom, swamp find, shed find, etc.). So, almost anything that I had to offer wouldn't sell quickly enough to really matter, and most potential buyers would be offering pennies on the dollar. And the firearms that aren't "old" are old enough that current, superior offerings render mine obsolete or undesirable. (Such as my well-worn, square-grip, slap-sided Buck Mark, to which the current models are much more desirable.)

C. Most have been brought back from the dead. They were worn out, beaten, broken, or thoroughly abused, before being repaired for normal use, or even restored. Most people wouldn't be willing to offer what I would be asking for, if they noticed the bent barrel and I told them that that shotgun was run over by a truck, if they noticed the repaired butt stock and I told them that a shell exploded in the action, if they noticed that the barrel finish doesn't match the receiver and I told them that the rifle was converted from a totally different model, or if they noticed all of the mushroomed metal and I told them that round count was well over 125k rounds.


But...
Most (perhaps all) of the ARs are fair game.
Most of the auction purchases are fair game.
And anything that isn't an heirloom, and just gives me headaches, is fair game. (Right now, there are two .22 rifles and an AR in that category. They're on deck to be sold.)
 
JimmyR, I went through the exact scenario with my twins 20 years ago. Diabetic wife and all.

I didn't have much of a collection, but I do miss that 1860 Army.

Took until last December to start my collection again.

Family is always 1st. Fortunately for me, that pistol had been a gift from a rather wealthy friend and had a low emotional value.

I would sell again if needed, I really only need 2 for EDC options.
 
I'm just HOPING the new job will give me good news about insurance starting on day 1.
Click to expand...

Good luck on that. "Pre-existing condition. We're not gonna paaaay. Nyah, nuh nuh nuh nyah nyah!"

Health coverage is a mess in the United State, and 0-care doesn't fix a thing.

So, to get this back to firearms related discussion, how many of you with larger collections have planned out what circumstances would convince you to sell all or part of your collection? Will you know it when you see it? Do you see your firearms that aren't part of your EDC/HD rotation as assets that may be liquidated?
Click to expand...

I've contemplated it. There's surgery planned in the not too distant future. Where we end up financially after that remains to be seen.

The bang stick collection all told might bring a few thousand, if I could get good dollar for them. I'm more of a "gun accumulator" than a focused collector.

"What one gun?" is a frequent topic of discussion on Interwebz gun boards. I don't like it, because it's usually poorly defined. How one gets to that deplorable state and what one needs to do with that last gun, is important to define. I could stand to liquidate everything except a decent personal defense handgun, or two.

After taking care of a late friend's estate about ten years ago, I realized that when I go, it's going to be a big mess for whomever has to get rid of all my crap.
Click to expand...

I'm dealing with an estate now. It's made me start to document what I have, so my own horde will be a bit more comprehensible to my own heirs.
 
Last edited:
I have a complete list of all my guns in my gun safe. My wife and daughter know where it is. It includes estimated retail value. I've told my wife which local gun shop will give her a fair price if she elects to sell them (of course that's in the unlikely event she outlives me).
 
As others have said, family first. I've got a mental list of what I'd get rid of first, but if it came down to having to sell part of my "real" collection of milsurp guns, I'd do it if I knew that was the only way for my family to make it through whatever hardship we might be experiencing. I do try to save for the unforeseen though and not splurge in my hobby to the point that it cuts into my savings.
 
I didn't have what I would call a large collection, but I have sold off more than half of it over the last few years for more than one reason: 1.) I don't have any heirs and didn't want to leave a bunch for my sister and mom to worry about if something were to happen to me, 2.) I lost my job at the first of the year after a slow decline in business and had to take a job with no insurance that doesn't pay anything (at a shop that sells guns oddly enough).

I kept the stuff that would sell easily if I had to and has appreciated in value quite a bit plus a few plinkers and carry guns.

I don't regret selling any of them except for the fact that I would like to have the Colt revolvers and Saiga rifles back so I could sell them again for twice what I sold them for the first time, since I basically sold them for what I had in them.
 
I will stipulate that most all of the guns I sold were ones I had picked up along the way. I still have the first autoloader I ever bought (a CZ 75BD), 2 pistols I got from my father (right around the time I joined TFL), and my grandfather's shotgun (despite my feelings about the man). I also ended up keeping all my carry guns. As I look at it objectively and rationally, I thinned the from the herd those guns that just weren't getting me going.

That said, the emotional side still hates the idea. Ah, well, c'est la vie.

And to avoid going all political, the insurance should cover her without a hitch, as it will be through my work, it's just the wait time. Honestly, I went through the healthcare.gov site, and it's referred our application to our state's Medicaid (which isn't half bad, I must admit).
 
Last edited:
JimmyR said:
So, to get this back to firearms related discussion, how many of you with larger collections have planned out what circumstances would convince you to sell all or part of your collection? Will you know it when you see it? Do you see your firearms that aren't part of your EDC/HD rotation as assets that may be liquidated?
Click to expand...
ultimately they are just material possessions and nothing is worth more than proper care of my family (relating to your situation) I would sell them all if it meant paying for the well being of my family. That said, the EDC/HD would be last on the list.

From one stranger to another, thoughts and prayers for a healthy delivery.
 
I also want to thank everyone here for the positive energy, prayers, and support. I wrote this not long after finalizing a deal to sell a substantial part of my collection, and it hit me hard. It's also been tough sometimes, as my lovely wife, who was a bit of a worryer beforehand, is now freaking out about all the potential problems that could happen. It's the fun of being part of a family sometimes, you just have to bite the bullet and take your lumps, knowing it's worth it in the end. I have to admit, I needed to hear it from some of you guys.

I put 8 guns up for sale, hoping to sell a few, raise about $1000, and keep the rest when a guy offered me $1900 for 6 of them, with a plan to meet me close to home. Cash for guns in my area has been scarce, so I bit. That said, my wife tells me that her goal is to leave some of the proceeds for me to have for "play money." God I love this woman...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top