Question about Gun Estate Sales

[fastapex]

My brother's father in law recently died. Amazing guy, huge gun collector, Vietnam Vet, and amazing artist and wood worker.

He left a huge collection of guns to his wife, she doesnt feel comfortable with them and would like to get rid of them. We went over for her sanity and unloaded them all for her.

My question is .... What is the best way for her to proceed in selling them all? Consignment at a gun shop? Aucution? Estate Auction? Probably 300+ guns. Its a mix of vintage WWII guns and modern guns, and a large amount of military memorabilia as well.


I am trying to find a solution that wont be a huge FFL headache for her.

 

[blume357]

Yep, it needs to be an estate sale.... don't know the particulars but you hire someone who does this and specifically with guns.... they have an FFL and all sales are normal gun dealer transactions..... I don't know if it is worth it to have a 3rd party to determine what the collection is possibly worth.... but I'm pretty sure this is how it is done. I would suspect with that many guns it will be a guns only or guns and gun related items sale and dealers and collectors from all over will show up. You are talking big money.

 

[pete44ru]

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One of my local FFL's regularly evaluates estate firearms (he handled one estate of 800 guns, a few weeks ago), and sells them for the estate.

You should get the best return if you sort all the guns, putting types (revolvers/autoloaders/carbines/leverguns/boltguns/etc/etc) together, so that the party/parties interested in one of the types can get down to brass tacks - ILO having to sort through the mess.

If you have no competent appraiser locally, there's a few national gun auction houses (some of which may be near you) that also regularly handle large firearm estates - a perk of which is that they include an estate's firearms in their national advertizing.

Here's a few (8) gun auction houses:

http://www.rockislandauction.com/

http://jamesdjulia.com/division/gun/

http://www.amoskeagauction.com/

http://cowanauctions.com/

http://www.montroseauction.com/

http://www.bonhams.com/departments/GUN/

http://poulinantiques.com/auctions.asp

http://www.rivertownauction.com/


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[fastapex]

Too bad you're not a little closer to western Illinois. There's 2 or 3 auction services in my area who each have 3 or 4 large quantity gun auctions each year. The guys running the auctions are also very knowledgeable about all types of guns and what the market will bear.

Sullivan Auction Service and Curless Auctions come to mind. Can't remember the name of the 3rd one.

He was from the St. Louis area.

 

[Blackmore]

If you have that many to sell and use an auction house, be sure to negotiate a better seller's premium (commission) than the off the street rate which can be 15%.

 

[CLAYPOOL]

I see a big auction house up towards Northern Illinois that has auctions fairly regular. PEROIA (SP) UPPER 2/3 OF THE STATE OR SO. My mind is blank right now..

 

[mishtub]

Here is an auction firm that does firearms in Topeka:
http://www.armsbid.com/
One in KC area:
http://auctionbymayo.com/index.php?static=contact

 

[contender]

As noted, one of the better ways is to use an auction house to handle the sale of the guns.

BUT,,,,,,,,,, PLEASE make sure it's an auction house that KNOWS firearms, AND is willing to do a lot of advertising. They need to be set up to do "online" auctions, as well as all the normal auction methods. I have bought a lot of good firearm related stuff, as well as guns from ignorant auction places, that didn't do those things. Do your research, find a good one, and by all means, with an estate that size, look for negotiations on the seller premium. Also, make sure that the auction house has restrictions on it's employees & if they can bid. I've seen auction runners that were bidding to run stuff up, and it goes down later as a "no sale" if it doesn't bring what they think it should. Plus, I prefer to see an "absolute" auction where there are no reserve prices. If the auction house is a good one, they will do the research, AND properly promote the guns with details on each one. The more details they post, the better folks can determine if they want to spend the $$$ on an item, especially on the online bids.
Look at a web site called "auctionzip.com" and see how it's done. On there, some are real good & others,,,,,,,,!
Good luck!

 

[GunnyGene]

I've been to quite a few Estate Auctions, guns and other stuff. Probably don't need to tell you this, but a professional auctioneer will take a pretty sizable chunk of the proceeds. Shop around for one that has reasonable fees.

 

[mohavesam]

My brother's father in law recently died. Amazing guy, huge gun collector, Vietnam Vet, and amazing artist and wood worker.
He left a huge collection of guns to his wife, she doesnt feel comfortable with them and would like to get rid of them. We went over for her sanity and unloaded them all for her.
I am trying to find a solution that wont be a huge FFL headache for her.

Sad in many ways, that he was all these things, but he didn't know his wife well enough (or care?) to spare her this HUGE problem for her.

I again relate that a well-thought out trust would have taken care of this very specific and common problem.

I agree a "fire-sale" auction approach is probably best, although I bet many guns will bring (net) far less than their real worth. And instead of the lower inheritance tax, she will likely need to pay income tax on the auction proceeds - as the auction house will definitely file the amounts as her income on her property. Potentially she will pay both?

If she buys a table at a local gun show and sells her private property for cash... she can name her price and avoid the potentials.

Sell the stuff before you die.

 

[speedsixman]

The auction house with the lowest rates won't get you the best price.
Hire one that has experience in firearms auctions, or specializes in collections.

There have been several good ones mentioned above, but some are a long ways to go from where you are.

Myron

 

[eveled]

Sad in many ways, that he was all these things, but he didn't know his wife well enough (or care?) to spare her this HUGE problem for her.


Sell the stuff before you die.

[/quote]

This is crap! He didn't leave her with a problem. You make it seem like he left her with a basement full of hazardous waste. It is only a problem if she makes it one. If all she did was bring them to a gun store and put them on consignment, or gave them away to his friends. Problem solved. If he was a drunk and drank all his extra money and left her with a pile of empty bottles and cans she'd just throw them away, and not get any money out of it.

There is a big difference between having your affairs in order and selling your stuff before you die. To insinuate this veteran was a bad husband because he left his wife a pile of guns is an insult.

To the OP, you are a good man to help her and I hope she gets what they are worth. Sorry for your loss. Ed

 

[mohavesam]

Not an insult at all. The op said she wasn't comfortable with the guns yet he left them to her.
Not a fan of auctioning most guns.
I think a weekend show at best prices would more than pay for itself, maybe a friend could help carry stuff?

 

[krw]

Well, I don't agree with the advice given so far. These auction houses sell mostly hi-end collectible firearms. Your topend stuff will sell good but you will take a beatin on the bottom half. I have been to several estate auctions in SW Arkansas where you put on a private auction and sell the estate with no paperwork provisions. It is my understanding this is the only time this is legal. Before you flame me, I went to one auction 2 yrs back that had 150 firearms from 50 cal Barrett rifles, FN Scars, AR's, etc etc and I know for a fact the ATF was there because of the type of weapons and number of them. High bidder got the firearm and after payment took possession and went their merry way. I would have an auction, let the auction house make +10% and sell what I wanted to. With 300+ firearms word gets around.

 

[diffy40]

Contenders advice is the best I've seen. Do some research and find an auction service that will do the advertising on auctionzip with detailed descriptions and photos of every gun. I have a similar collection of 250+ firearms that probably 50% or more came from auctions. Estate sales without much advertising attention to the guns is typically the best places to buy. I often attend gun / gun related auctions that have advertised as such and most of the time that's not a buyers sale. I'm fortunate to have such an auction service close to me. My wife and only daughter know that when I'm gone they only need to make one phone call and open the safes when they get there to pick 'em up.
You can google Reddings Auction Service in Gettysburg, PA to see how I think a gun sale should be advertised. They have 15-20 gun only sales a year, I think the next one is August 2nd.

 

[bobski]

big auction houses deal with people with deep pockets, thus the high selling prices. its a narrow market.
the draw back is the common people stop at reasonable bids. the big guys keep going. once those guns/stuff get into that camp, they just keep getting past around to other collectors and never make it back into a normal market.

being these guys are in business to make money....profit is made at the time of sale or release to them.
so that means...when you sign it over for x amount...dont look back. take it and pray you never see what it really sells for.
trust me, they arent going to take a loss. you are. thats how it works.
just watch a few car auctions on tv/cable and youll know what i mean.
and if you dont believe me, ask yourself why they created internet gun auction sites?
it eliminated all that fee/fee/fee/hidden costs/ etc.... it was cut and dry.
but now...they got just as bad and its a free for all again.

and i must say this gently, if the widow doesnt care about it...dont be cared about the cash it draws in either. if she did care, shed shown more interest.

my wife knows every gun and every blade of grass in the yard. i consider her wise.