Cashing in on your gun collection?

[9thchild]

I don't know how anyone could argue that from an investment standpoint the U.S. dollar is better than guns.

 

[ny32182]

The argument is to buy other things besides guns with the US dollar that make better investments. Dollars themselves and guns are approximately equal in terms of investment value.

 

[forward observer]

Would I ever get into a position where I owned hundreds of guns, but didn't have $3k cash to my name? Absolutely not.

This^^^

There was a time when I was young and foolish that I put myself in this kind of situation, but the regret of selling some of the firearms I had at the time still haunts me today.

I simply make sure that I have enough cash reserves or other similar negotiables to take care of most short term emergencies. If I am going to sell a firearm it will because I want to and not because I have to.

Cheers

 

[huntsman]

Easy enough to do. A friend sold two shotguns to buy a different one which was inn excess of $20K. High-end stuff moves quickly if it is desirable and hard to obtain. Super rich folks are buying collectible art masterpieces and the like as a hedge against currency defaults and banks crashes

yeah I was just curious as to what they were, I'm aware of the high end shotgun market even though I only played in the knockabout sandbox.

 

[Sniper66]

Another aspect of the story following my OP. My friend probably enjoys his collection more than anyone I know. He used to shoot a lot too, not so much any more. He buys good guns whenever he can afford them or buys 2 or 3 fixer-uppers and combines the good parts to build one really good one, which usually then exceeds the value of the 2-3 combined. He buys, sells, barters, trades, gifts, and all the while loves guns.....and his dog Sparky. So for him, his collection is far more valuable than a savings account. The fact that he may, from time to time, need to dip into his collection to cover an unexpected expense of some kind is just a fact if life.

 

[22-rimfire]

When I think of "old guns" I think of pre-1900 long guns and Colt and S&W revolvers for the most part. Some people say they take a loss... I rarely made any money when I was playing at gunshows (you know sign on my case or back kind of thing), but those were generally fairly recent vintage guns. I consider it a loss if I sell a $2000 Colt revolver for $1500 even though I may have only paid $500 for it in the first place years ago.

So, I would sell if I need to. A lot of my interest in Colts and old Smiths has been waning, but this has happened before if I am not actively buying new stuff. I may sell some on consignment just to see how it goes. Place locally does consignment for 15% of the sales price. I can live with that.

 

[LT.Diver]

I have purchased virtually all of my guns by trading up. For instance, I recently stumbled into a beautiful Browning 1885 High Wall in .45-70. I had no use for this rifle but it was way underpriced, so I bought it and immediately posted it on Gunbroker where it sold for twice what I paid. I used the profit to buy a rifle that I really wanted. So in that case I doubled my money. How often does that happen with other investments? I know that none of my mutual funds double in value in a month.
So to me, selling guns to fund other expenses is no different than liquidating a stock fund or a bank account, except there are no taxes paid on the profit.

 

[Reloadron]

A friend of mine is a devout collector of firearms. He owns 100s of guns. Recently his best friend, a dog named Sparky, needed surgery at a cost of $3,000. He went into his gun room, picked out a few items and sold them for enough money to pay for the surgery. Sparky is now happy and healthy. My friend believes that his collection is better than money in the bank. Do others use your collections in this manner?

No, my gun collection is just that, my gun collection and money in the bank is just that, money in the bank. Brandy and Biscuit's veterinary care comes out of household money. If I applied your friends logic I should convert all our savings and investments to guns?

Just My Take....
Ron

 

[Joe Demko]

Value is determined by what price the buyer and seller agree on nothing more. As an example,my M1 carbine cost my F-I-L exactly $17.50+ $2.50 postage to his house in 1967. It would easily fetch (if I had any inclination to sell, which I don't) between $1000-1500 on today's market. The gun hasn't changed but the market has. It has nothing to do with inflation.

You don't understand the topic.

 

[Agsalaska]

A $500 gun in 8 years will be worth $400-425.

I have safes full of guns that disagree with you.

The key is buying the right guns and keeping them in the same condition you bought them in. If you go out and buy a new Ruger 77 and take it hunting once a month, it will depreciate.

But if you bought, say, a Pre 64 Model 70 in 300 H&H ten years ago and put it in your safe, it is worth a lot more money today. So would an original Krag, any old lever, any minty Smith revolver, etc. etc. etc.

The key is condition. If you are buying guns to shoot and use then it is fair to say that the wear you put on them will negate any gain in value. But if you buy nice pieces and put them away, you will more often than not win.

 

[Bruno2]

You buy name brand stuff and it loses 10-15% maybe. In a private sale a person could get new value if they weren't picky about who bought it.

The way I see it, Apple stock , gold coins or mutual funds are worthless if society collapses. Paper money would be good for wiping your butt or starting fires. Guns and ammo will be priceless as well as food and drinking water.

However, while society is still functioning buying guns and ammo is about like burying money in a coffee can in your backyard. It doesn't go anywhere, but it doesn't appreciate either.

Buying a house is a terrible investment too just like cars. Unless you pay cash or buy property in an area where the value will go through the roof 20 years or so. Think about how much money in interest you pay on a mortgage. Then factor in homeowners ins. , property taxes and up keep. New roofs, painting , flooring, HVAC repairs and such dig the hole deeper. Then when you sell it the value may have appreciated 10%. So in a nutshell you get $110,000.00 for a house that sold for $100,000.00, but in the meantime you spent $125,000.00 to get there. You basically lost $115,000.00 to buy it and live the American dream.

 

[CWL]

You buy name brand stuff and it loses 10-15% maybe. In a private sale a person could get new value if they weren't picky about who bought it.

The way I see it, Apple stock , gold coins or mutual funds are worthless if society collapses. Paper money would be good for wiping your butt or starting fires. Guns and ammo will be priceless as well as food and drinking water.

However, while society is still functioning buying guns and ammo is about like burying money in a coffee can in your backyard. It doesn't go anywhere, but it doesn't appreciate either.

Buying a house is a terrible investment too just like cars. Unless you pay cash or buy property in an area where the value will go through the roof 20 years or so. Think about how much money in interest you pay on a mortgage. Then factor in homeowners ins. , property taxes and up keep. New roofs, painting , flooring, HVAC repairs and such dig the hole deeper. Then when you sell it the value may have appreciated 10%. So in a nutshell you get $110,000.00 for a house that sold for $100,000.00, but in the meantime you spent $125,000.00 to get there. You basically lost $115,000.00 to buy it and live the American dream.

I don't know if you own your own home, but I'm guessing that you don't because you didn't mention mortgage interest deduction in your argument.

Regarding value, your argument may be true for some areas with underwater houses, but in other locations, property does go up in real value over time. (Whether you may want to live in these areas is a separate issue.) Plenty of people retire, sell their homes, and live out their remaining years in a cheaper State/city using the proceeds of their previous home.

I also know of people who have sold their business to fund retirement, but I haven't heard of any people who have sold off their gun collection to fund retirement.

After I retire, I still plan on owning firearms.

 

[ljnowell]

It's funny you posted that story. The second love of my life was a beautiful chocolate brown 4.5lb chihuahua named Beans. I got her when she was eight weeks old, we shared a birthday. She was my best friend in the world, all the way until the day I held her as she passed.

When she was six years old she needed emergency kidney stone surgery. I didn't have enough but the vet was willing to take payments instead of putting her down(her personality was magnetic everyone loved her). When I mentioned I was going to sell a pistol to get the money he asked me what kind. I told him and we worked out the deal. He did the surgery and gave me 100 dollars back and I gave him the pistol. It was a win-win.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

You can't take things to the grave. If you have something that is valuable and need cash to protect something you value more than that something...sell.

 

[hemiram]

Last time I got caught short (taxes, yikes!) I sold some guns and made a decent profit on them. Some were NIB, some barely used, and a couple were "grizzled vets". Five guns were sold altogether, and I made about a 25% profit when it was all said and done. Previously, I had sold almost every gun I had a couple of times, and always made at least a small profit.

 

[Lex Luthier]

It's just stuff. Granted, we sometimes invest more ego than money in our toys, but in the true long run we cannot take any of it with us.

Being self supporting, regardless of any "market value loss" is paramount to hanging on to stuff like a woobie blanket.

 

[45_auto]

Buying a house is a terrible investment too just like cars.

My experiences with real estate have been MUCH different than yours!

Here's a typical rent vs buy calculator:

http://michaelbluejay.com/house/rentvsbuy.html

What values would you suggest to be changed in order to show that buying a house is a bad investment?

Only way I can see renting coming out ahead is if you have someone else (parents, sugardaddy, etc) paying for your housing.

 

[huntsman]

I own a house for living in, a car for driving, guns for shooting and money for spending.

A pile of money may not be as attractive as guns but it's the simplest solution, buying guns (or anything) for profit is a different game than just keeping a savings for emergencies.

For me it's all about balance and I guess some folk struggle with that concept but it's their life and their problems to sort out.

 

[Old Fuff]

A pile of money may not be as attractive as guns but it's the simplest solution, buying guns (or anything) for profit is a different game than just keeping a savings for emergencies.

Well gee.....

I don't buy guns to keep against possible emergencies, but when (as occasionally happens) I spot one that is up for sale at considerable less then it's true value I jump! Then I may move it for a quick profit or keep it because I expect it to move higher.

Buying guns -or anything else - with the object of making back more then you paid requires some expertise, but fortunately that's something I have.

Looking at the return on the minimum cash I have in a passbook saving account clearly shows that it's the bank, not I, who is making money; And that's exactly what current Federal Reserve Bank policy is intended to do.

I also noticed that the U.S. dollar is down yet again in the money markets. On the other hand I haven't noticed any decline in the value of my gun collection.

Yes, everybody should have some cash on hand in case of an unforeseen emergency, but this is no time to horde the stuff. Paper after all is just that - paper.

 

[huntsman]

No doubt the purchasing power of our currency is diminishing but IMHO is still better than taking the extra step of liquidating firearms, but either of those is better than Debt, which if we are to believe the numbers is the choice of far too many American citizens.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I could walk into my LGS and liquidate 2/3rds of my collection and get enough in cash to pay for some major expense. I would be losing money because most of my collection so far is modenr production guns, and I only own 14 guns total.

In a pinch though, I could do it, but it sure would leave a big hole in my heart. Losing one's best friend would leave a much bigger hole though.

 

[oneounceload]

Quote:
Originally Posted by oneounceload View Post
Easy enough to do. A friend sold two shotguns to buy a different one which was inn excess of $20K. High-end stuff moves quickly if it is desirable and hard to obtain. Super rich folks are buying collectible art masterpieces and the like as a hedge against currency defaults and banks crashes
yeah I was just curious as to what they were, I'm aware of the high end shotgun market even though I only played in the knockabout sandbox

Ljutic and Seitz in the trap singles arena; Perazzi, Bertuzzi, Piotti, Fabbri, Kreighoff, Purdey, Holland and Holland, Hofer, Ollendorf, Beretta So, Galazan, Hoenig, and on and on. many of these can go WELL in excess of $100K per gun. Both Hofer and Ollendorf make guns that can go as high as $600K. Because these are typically one of a kind with their engraving, etc., they hold their value.

Watch Barrett-Jackson auctions and see what cars that sold for $2K in the 60s and 70s go for. last auction at Pebble Beach had several go for over $11,000,000 EACH.

Tangible assets will always do well as investments when global currencies and economies are about to fail

 

[ElToro]

Yes. I have sold off a few pieces of my collection over the last year to finance a new truck without a loan. I'm up to 12k and that's about 8 guns. It's all in how you buy. I shop a lot of small gun stores and hard. Kooky CA laws help. Sold a few colts 1911 that I wasn't into 2k for for almost 5k. Sold a smith revolver I paid 500 for 1800 in 2weeks I have a few more to sell and hope to get about 6-8k more. Maybe 20 pieces of a 60-70 piece collection. Most I sold I bought solely because I knew they were seriously underpriced. Just shop carefully and don't buy junk. This is also not fire sale liquidation either I am able to take my time and get my prices. I was also fortunate to load up on colts and smiths when they were only a few hundred each within the last decade or so

 

[22-rimfire]

A lot of making the game more profitable is knowing how to sell and having the confidence to do so. The "when to sell" is the hard part unless you're a dealer and you sell everything all the time. Buy back sometimes years later and re-sell.

 

[CWL]

I see people talking about selling guns worth a few thousand and thinking they're ahead of the game.

My father was in the hospital Intensive Care Unit, at $40,000/day for several weeks. And this didn't include the multiple medical specialist's fees. Even if I could liquidate all of my firearms for top dollar, I don't know if they'd pay for just one day. Good thing he had really really good insurance because their retirement savings would have been wiped-out by medical bills.

Those of you who believe that buying guns and thinking they can use it to pay for real expenses when it come time to will be horribly mistaken. Especially as you get older and your body wears down. You need separate investments as well as insurance for real "rainy days". Guns, for most of us, should remain hobbies and be considered as such.