Liquidation of Large (100+) Firearms Collection

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drummr8

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Hey all, I've searched the forums and read some posts about suggestions for selling a large collection of firearms, but was hoping to get some advice for my unique situation. My father was a pretty avid collector but passed quite unexpectedly due to an aggressive cancer. I have compiled a list of all the firearms, which now belong to my mother. The list includes all kinds of things ranging from black powder, world war, cowboy, and modern handguns and long guns.

While my mother enjoys shooting and feels bad to sell off my dad's "legacy", they did not really have a retirement fund. Selling these off will fund her retirement and also relieve the burden of maintaining them - we've already found a couple that rusted at the metal butt plates. Unfortunately, she lives in NJ, which is like living in a communist society. That being said, here are my questions:

1. Is she better off selling from a state that is NOT NJ? She is planning to move to either SC (with me) or FL (with my brother) in the near future - is it better for her to sell in those states, or will it not make a difference? Or should she transfer all the firearms to one of us to deal with selling?

2. What kind of % difference would it be to hire someone to sell the guns vs her/me doing it ourselves on GunBroker? (I've read that GunBroker is 6% for first $250 then 3.5% after) Is there a better option?

3. She is pretty overwhelmed with the collection and the worry that they will all start rusting - what's the best we can do to protect them? She has desiccant in there, and my dad was good about oiling them so I'm not sure why we are seeing rust. They are on a crawlspace, so maybe a lot of moisture wicks up?

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
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Since she owns them in and as a resident of NJ, transferring to someone else in NJ would require pistol purchase permits for every single handgun, and an NJ firearms ID card to cover long guns. That is to say, the recipient of the transfer, if a resident of NJ, would be required to have these things. These also come with a long and irritating set of background checks, and for handguns one per month.

To transfer them to you or your brother out of NJ would require FFL transfers at the receiving end, a hassle and cost, not to mention the cost to ship from NJ.

I don't know the rules of SC, but FL when I last lived there had no restrictions on in-state transfers so long as the recipient is a FL resident and of course not prohibited. My feeling is she and you all would be far better served to wait until she has moved out of NJ.
 
It would be easier selling them outside of NJ. NJ requires all transfers to go through a FFL and NICS.

If you list on Gunbroker you and your mother will be dealing with over 100 separate transactions, getting your money and arranging for shipping. I don't think she'd want to be bothered with that.

Selling them on consignment through a FFL is one way. The FFL usually takes 20% but your mother has to do nothing but bring the guns there and collect her money when it sells.

There is a auction house in NJ with a FFL. Your mother would be having to pay a listing fee and a seller's premium when the guns are sold.

If your mother can wait for the money I'd do consignment with a FFL. If she needs the money right away I'd go to the auction house.

PM me for more info.
 
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If I was in this situation, I would place most of the guns on consignment with FFL dealers rather than try to sell them myself. Spread this around to several dealers, ones that have a good reputation as being trustworthy. This would also take care of the interstate aspects of the sales.

Try to make a record of the fair market value of each gun at your father's date of death. This will be your mother's cost basis for income tax purposes. Since the sales price will be close to this, there will be no gain and therefore no tax owed. But this needs to be documented in case of an audit.
 
I concur with finding a local FFL who will do consignments for you.

Just so you know they take 20% on average. To me, that is a small price to pay to be completely hands off with the transactions.

No meet ups. No arranging shipping. NJ of course would be complicated for both of these things. Not so with an FFL who handles it all for you.

It can be difficult to find a good FFL who will perform due diligence in the sale of each item. They may be keen to take on t collection but it is a ton of work at first and they can quickly get burned out.

What part of SC are you moving to? If it is near Hilton Head then just across the border in Pooler, GA there is a fantastic consignment seller I do business with all the time.
 
drummr8 said:
While my mother enjoys shooting and feels bad to sell off my dad's "legacy", they did not really have a retirement fund. Selling these off will fund her retirement and also relieve the burden of maintaining them - we've already found a couple that rusted at the metal butt plates. Unfortunately, she lives in NJ, which is like living in a communist society. That being said, here are my questions:
Click to expand...
NJ is a nightmare even to transfer guns within family. I was recently exposed to some of their laws. My advice would be let an FFL dealer sell them off on consignment. I can't legally suggest anything beyond that. I would start with becoming familiar with NJ gun laws which can be a nightmare. So much so the folks I helped were paranoid over just having the few guns they had around. Anyway, get a handle on NJ laws, then find an honest and fair FFL to handle everything. Here in Ohio most get about 20%.

Upon your dad's passing your mom owns everything. She can take the guns out of state if she moves out of state. Both S. Carolina and Florida have much more lax gun laws. When my sister lost her husband in W. Virginia the moving company was fine with the gun collection but they would not move the ammunition. Therefore if possible I would move the guns with your mom.

Best of Luck
Ron
 
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FFLs around Charleston SC generally charge 10% consignment fee, with a minimum of $30 or $40.

It is how I would go.
 
A NJ based FFL with an established presence on GunBroker would be a good route to go. Since there are a large number of guns, perhaps a lower consignment fee % could be negotiated. I suspect many desirable specimens would sell quickly, generating funds in just a few weeks.
 
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Sorry to hear about your Dad’s passing and your Mom’s dilemma. I have no real recommendations on a solution except getting your Mom moved to either state outside NJ then trying to sell the guns through an FFL.
 
.455_Hunter's suggestion is a good one and one you can research from your home for your mother.
Look for a GB pro.
Several of the biggies work on a reasonable commission and do ALL the work.

If you do not have selling experience on GB, you're in for a bit of a surprise. Their reasonable fees are the easy part.
It's more work than you think (real professional photos for instance) and it would take quite a while
to move all of them, especially if you have a regular job.

JT
 
Move first.
Auctions tend to make more per item, but discuss costs first. I'm not up on all local laws and rules, but I'd bet it is competitive pricing more than not. See if relatives or friends want any, but insist on market value.

Worst choice is to sell them all at once for a lump sum.
 
I also echo others, move 1st. Pick a relative to move closer to, move, THEN settle affairs. A bunch of what-ifs, but seriously, selling that many guns is going to be a chore no matter what state. She could potentially be tied up in her current home state for quite a while, just because of the firearms sales / no sales. Little alone the easier laws in just about any other state.

And my condolences on your family loss.
 
If you are in need of some suggestions for FFLs to talk to, I can provide you with a name of 2 I know of that are honest guys; one is my go-to guy for 95% of my purchases over the years.
 
Sorry about your dad. If the collection has any really nice and rare/semi-rare you might could try that auction house in Maine. Anybody will charge auction fees, etc. I agree with the advice to wait till mom moves to Florida. But I would contact the auction house in Maine. I can't remember the name. Ask Mr. Google.
 
The key to maximizing the prices that you will achieve is getting the collection exposed to the greatest number of potential buyers with the deepest pockets. Putting this all in the hands of a local dealer is not going to serve you well. A national auction house that specializes in firearms is the best way forward. For example, a couple of years ago I walked into a small local gun shop to find a collection of over 100 fine firearms and accessories on consignment. They were all way underpriced. I began calculating and soon had reached the limits of my credit cards.... but I couldn't pull the trigger. I explained to the fellow that he was way off on the prices and that an auction house would serve both his customer and him well by maximizing the sale price and giving him a finders' fee. As it turned out, the item that I wanted most sold at auction for more than I almost paid for all of the firearms I had initially picked out!

In 2005, I decided to sell a somewhat larger collection (500+) through one of the leading gun auction houses. I was very, very happy with the outcome. I simply rented a truck, loaded everything up, and drove across three states to the auction house. I didn't even have a list or inventory. I trusted them to do things properly and was not disappointed in any way. The auction house that I chose was Rock Island. You, however, are closer to Poulin, which is located in Maine (as the fellow above mentions.) Their website poulinauctions.com will explain your options. I have bought several items from these folks, but never sold anything with them. If I was to sell right now, which I might have to do because of medical bills, I would choose them and trust them with no reservations. Best of luck and keep us informed.
 
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drk1 said:
The key to maximizing the prices that you will achieve is getting the collection exposed to the greatest number of potential buyers with the deepest pockets. Putting this all in the hands of a local dealer is not going to serve you well. A national auction house that specializes in firearms is the best way forward. For example, a couple of years ago I walked into a small local gun shop to find a collection of over 100 fine firearms and accessories on consignment. They were all way underpriced. I began calculating and soon had reached the limits of my credit cards.... but I couldn't pull the trigger. I explained to the fellow that he was way off on the prices and that an auction house would serve both his customer and him well by maximizing the sale price and giving him a finders' fee. As it turned out, the item that I wanted most sold at auction for more than I almost paid for all of the firearms I had initially picked out!

In 2005, I decided to sell a somewhat larger collection (500+) through one of the leading gun auction houses. I was very, very happy with the outcome. I simply rented a truck, loaded everything up, and drove across three states to the auction house. I didn't even have a list or inventory. I trusted them to do things properly and was not disappointed in any way. The auction house that I chose was Rock Island. You, however, are closer to Poulin, which is located in Maine (as the fellow above mentions.) Their website poulinauctions.com will explain your options. I have bought several items from these folks, but never sold anything with them. If I was to sell right now, which I might have to do because of medical bills, I would choose them and trust them with no reservations. Best of luck and keep us informed.
Click to expand...

I definitely agree that taking them to "Bob's Fishin & Huntin Emporium" is not what you want. National exposure is, whether via an established auction house, or established GunBroker "auction house".
 
Find a broker who is not only knowledgable about firearms but also the firearms 'MARKET'....Trying to sell 100+ firearms will be a YUGE job, also take a LOT of time. A broker will use all the places mentioned, and do it for you.
 
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Place all of the firearms in a trust with you and your brother as trustees.
That way you can move them around and have them in your possession and sell off as you please, away from NJ.
 
Can't remember the name but Tom Gresham used to advertise and promote a gun broker on his show that handled estate sales exactly like this. He was much more reasonable with his percentage and honest as I recall.
I got screwed by a local FFL that handled the sale of some nice guns before I figured out he and his buddies were scooping them up for themselves at less than bargain prices instead of going to online auction like they were supposed to. AND he was taking the 20% for himself in addition to that!
 
I really appreciate all the responses, suggestions, and advice. I will look into these ideas. So far we've talked to a couple of gun shops but I don't think either of us feels super comfortable with that option - I feel like it will be easy to be taken advantage of, and we don't know that we can trust these people. Will definitely look into auction houses - please send more options if you know of some good ones to check out. Thanks again everyone. This forum is fantastic.
 
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