Ever had a few guns at an auction house?

[Wakko]

Back in the day when I decided to thin the herd a bit, I'd rent a table or two at the show, have a buddy join me, and sell it all off during the weekend. These days it's just not worth the time to do that. FGT doesn't work properly and GB is a hassle. I have used Falcon auctions locally before, and I've seen guns sell on there for more than new. Gunrunner is the same boat, but of course you have to ship the guns to them. Has anyone dropped off a half dozen or so guns at an auction house before? What results?

[philasteen]

The only winner at an auction is the auctioneer. The buyer ends up paying too much and the seller gets rooked on fees. Better to sell elsewhere.

[rentprop1]

too bad you are so far away we do consignments and have for a lot of FSN guys ( if you need references ) , with all the new sales tax collection and payments rules on Gunbroker a lot of people just don't wanna deal with being a seller on there anymore, not to mention the influx of scammers and non paying bidders......we are all set up, we pretty much got it figured out when we want auctions to end for the best results, and its what we do now ......almost 90 % of the business has now evolved into consignments and estate sales and we've slowly gotten away from the repairs and gunsmithing....I hate the part of being an internet gunshop, but it works really well .....

might be worth the drive , you've only gotta drop them off, we sell em' and mail or electronically wire you the funds

feel free to message me if you want more info

[zeebaron]

The only winner at an auction is the auctioneer. The buyer ends up paying too much and the seller gets rooked on fees. Better to sell elsewhere.

Yep. As a general rule across the board no matter the item, you will typically pay at least 30% commission to the auctioneer for the stuff you bring in. Less if it's a high value item. So while they might sell for more than new sometimes, you are taking a big hit. They also hit the buyer for at least a 10% "buyer's premium" fee (often 15-20% now), so they are grossing at least 40% of the selling price on most stuff.

I assume most of the consigners to these things are families closing out estates, so they don't really care about the high fees as most local gun stores have already tried to offer them 1/3 of what the stuff is worth anyway.

[Springfield]

I consigned about a dozen guns with Rentprop1 and was very happy with the results. Several were somewhat rare items, and he was able to get much more than I would have expected to get myself from us Fuds here on FSN or on FGT. One trip to Inverness to drop off the guns, then got a check about a month later. Due to several guns selling for 3-4 times what I bought them for, and Rent's low fees, my net from the consignment was more than I think I would have gotten if I sold them myself -- without all the hassles.