Selling the herd, consignment?

[mauser58]

That sounds ideal. As long as you have reasonable expectations and the dealer knows what he is hold in his hands, I wouldn't care what the dealer makes on the deal. As long as the gun sells, everyone is happy.

I have been off work sick in the hospital and so forth but hoping to start going through some of my collection more. I am retiring in next year or two and unloading most. May do a batch of Military surplus rifles. I will not take to same shop though as I dont see many Milsurp collectors near me. Mosins and Mausers Probably. I will let everyone know when ready. These are my retirement collection I will be letting go.

 

[h2u]

I have been off work sick in the hospital and so forth but hoping to start going through some of my collection more. I am retiring in next year or two and unloading most. May do a batch of Military surplus rifles. I will not take to same shop though as I dont see many Milsurp collectors near me. Mosins and Mausers Probably. I will let everyone know when ready. These are my retirement collection I will be letting go.

Sorry to hear and hope you feel better soon!!
Post your milsurps on MDS and I’m betting you get several hits from us C&R guys.

Especially those Mosins and Mousers ; )

 

[linkstate]

I agree with a few points here.

Tyler’s is great to work with for consignments. They will ask what you want for each item and give their opinion. I’ve consigned several guns with them.

They are also up front on the types of firearms they are willing to consign based on their clientele and current inventory.

I had a couple sporting shotguns I wanted to consign and they were straight with me and I ended up using Hafer’s for those since they move more of those types of arms. That may have changed for Tyler’s. Been a few years.

Point being, make a list of what you think each is worth, review the consignment fees and use an FFL that moves the types of arms you are looking to sell.

 

[Topher]

Not sure if it is local for you but GunRunners in Frederick had good rates on consignment.
Call them and talk to Bob. Be ready to send pictures and he can help set expectations for selling them.

 

[K31]

One thing to consider is that if you want your firearm back before, or because it didn't sell, the shop has to do a transfer back to you.

 

[The Saint]

As a dealer...I do a lot of consignments. If someone walks in and tells me they want new prices for their used Glock, it's fair to say I am not interested in consigning that item. I typically research sales of the past 60 days and rule that as a general "online premium" price...and price my consignments from there, with the consigner, to agree on a price we are both comfortable with. I explain to them and give myself $25 of leeway for negotiation if the piece sits for a few weeks without calling the consigner, and if someone makes an offer lower, I call them first. I take 20%, if someone works for 10% that is fine, I work for 20%. I know my clientele, I push my consignments, and I know what will and won't sell in my store...and I will not take in things on consignment if they will sit and sit and sit. I am a store with limited space and not a museum. Sporter milsurp rifles are something I NEVER, and i do mean never, price above $300...otherwise they will sit and pile up. They are usually $250 or less, regardless if some are 4-500 on Gunbroker; on my shelf $300 is max on a sporterized milsurp, period. I could go on and on, into depth, and beyond on why and how I do it the way I do...but the point of it all is that I get results, and my customers are never unhappy. Just perhaps another perspective from the other side of the counter...do with it what you will.

 

[FFBWMD]

We accept consignments all the time, as well as purchase large quantities from individuals and estate's. We would be happy to help you.

Brian

 

[outrider58]

I have been off work sick in the hospital and so forth but hoping to start going through some of my collection more. I am retiring in next year or two and unloading most. May do a batch of Military surplus rifles. I will not take to same shop though as I dont see many Milsurp collectors near me. Mosins and Mausers Probably. I will let everyone know when ready. These are my retirement collection I will be letting go.

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope your illness is only a temporary thing. I pray everything works out for you.

 

[mauser58]

That is a thing also , but much less common .

No disrespect to your FFL , but this method is potentially a lot sketchier .

Yes this is the only time I have seen it myself. As long as they sell. Also close to me

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope your illness is only a temporary thing. I pray everything works out for you.

I rarely get sick first of all. I have also been taking care of my youngest son as he had an operation a few weeks ago and cyst removed from in his lower back. They cut him deep and long. I have been cleaning and packing the wound each day since operation. I then made a quick one day trip also to WV to visit another son and four grandkids. Next day I am home again and working in yard. Suddenly week and sick. Went to Concentra and IV's and bloodwork. Nothing found and two days later much worse. I drag my drained sick ass back and they do more tests from lymes, covid, strep, and more. Two days later and can drag myself out of bed. Anyhow I force myself up and do sons wound cleaning and repack and cover. Get ride to Emergency room. They found blood virus and pneumonia, Did lung xrays and Cat scan to find it. Was on two strong antibiotic IV drips. Made it home next day. Getting better.

 

[cogcon]

I recently completed selling most of my Milsurps. If you are primarily selling C&R then Brian at South Carroll Sporting Goods is your guy for C&R items.

South Carroll Sporting Goods

Woodbine, MD

www.mdshooters.com

I sold off a a number of C&R and a couple modern items to Brian. I thought he offered an exceptionally fair price. I walked away satisfied.

 

[Melnic]

Think about what you are selling and what the shop brings to the table.
One may attend lots of local and PA shows (SCSG) and have LOTS of experiance with pricing a milsurp properly
One may have a lot of foot traffic during the week and weekends.
What do they charge and if they are in MoCo, there is the 3 week wait for them to even put up for sale.

 

[outrider58]

Yes this is the only time I have seen it myself. As long as they sell. Also close to me

I rarely get sick first of all. I have also been taking care of my youngest son as he had an operation a few weeks ago and cyst removed from in his lower back. They cut him deep and long. I have been cleaning and packing the wound each day since operation. I then made a quick one day trip also to WV to visit another son and four grandkids. Next day I am home again and working in yard. Suddenly week and sick. Went to Concentra and IV's and bloodwork. Nothing found and two days later much worse. I drag my drained sick ass back and they do more tests from lymes, covid, strep, and more. Two days later and can drag myself out of bed. Anyhow I force myself up and do sons wound cleaning and repack and cover. Get ride to Emergency room. They found blood virus and pneumonia, Did lung xrays and Cat scan to find it. Was on two strong antibiotic IV drips. Made it home next day. Getting better.

Get well soon. You've earned it.

 

[lazarus]

Last I did it, you tell the dealer the price you're willing to sell it and discuss the percentage the store will take. I expect the more guns you give them, the more you may be able to negotiate their take.

Could be you just tell them the price you want, and they'll add their percentage on top. I'd hope and assume they'll tell you they are doing that so you know you get the $500 you want, and they are putting it up for $715, because their cut is 30%.

Or whatever it is. Could just be they advise you what they think everything is worth and their cut is 15% (or whatever percent).

Different FFLs seem to work a little differently. Also some will advise things like "you want $500, our cut is 30%, and it is worth probably $600. So it is going to sit a long time if we put it up at $715. You might want to reconsider". Or even "do YOU have wiggle room if someone wants to negotiate price?"

I've run into stuff where it was a consignment and the FFL did have some wiggle room. Some where they told me upfront the consigner won't negotiate on price. Both stories from the same FFL and the same employee on different guns, different times. So unless for one they wanted to make the hard sell and the other they didn't...

My general experience has been, FFLs are usually not empowered to negotiate on price at all. They might (might) pass along an offer to the consigner. I suspect they almost always will when something has been sitting a long time, or it is priced well over market, because the consigner is trying to get what the gun is worth after the commission comes out. Not what the gun is worth, minus the commission. I've seen it where two identical guns are next to each other in a gun case and one is $50 more...and it is a used gun on consignment next to a brand new one.

*employee shrug* that's what they wanted for it.

 

[lazarus]

Fair dealing and knowledge doesn't mean "never wrong". Again: their incentives are not 100% aligned with yours, and they will bias pricing accordingly. Behaving as if this is not the case makes no sense.

100%.

It goes both ways. Dealers want to move it fast and most would rather make a few bucks less and get it sold. They don't want the time and effort taken up, only to have it sit for a month and the consigner change their mind and take it back.

Consigners also want to get the maximum buck. Sometimes moving it fast is more important. Both want to make as much money as possible. But one is looking at an individual sale and one is looking at all of their sales. I'd imagine dealers care more on the higher priced things or more in demand things to get them priced right, because they are likely to sell fairly quickly anyway, so long as it is fair market. Oddball stuff, less in demand stuff, or lower priced stuff, I am sure they'd rather just move it fast. 15% commission on a $300 gun is only $45. If it sits a couple of months and a staff member end ups putting 2 or 3 hours in to trying to sell that gun to different buyers is not a very good hourly rate for the shop. Versus if it went up at $250 and they only got $37.50 and put 15 minutes into a sale.

Also conversely if the seller insists on a price the FFL knows will take forever to sell, they are probably going to put little to no effort in to selling it.

 

[erwos]

I will say I've put up a few guns for consignment, and I will only overrule the FFL if I really have market comps. I'd say about 50% of the time, I'm right, and stuff doesn't sit very long in general.

 

[Mdeng]

To be very upfront we take consignments and pay 80% of the selling price to the consigner. If you would like to bring your collection to us we are open 10 am to 7 pm Monday through Saturday and 12 pm to 6 pm on Sunday's.

We will work with you to set a realistic price that is agreed on. We will list your guns on our website, MDS and VAGuntrader. Our goal is to sell your items not have them on display.

 

[RFBfromDE]

To be very upfront we take consignments and pay 80% of the selling price to the consigner. If you would like to bring your collection to us we are open 10 am to 7 pm Monday through Saturday and 12 pm to 6 pm on Sunday's.

We will work with you to set a realistic price that is agreed on. We will list your guns on our website, MDS and VAGuntrader. Our goal is to sell your items not have them on display.

20 yrs ago, I did the same with non-collectible but desirable pieces out of state with a VA dealer. He even said “if you want to consign I will charge X% and to sell to me I’ll give you Y.” I looked at his retail shelf, felt as though I was treated fairly and left with a check.

 

[Mdeng]

20 yrs ago, I did the same with non-collectible but desirable pieces out of state with a VA dealer. He even said “if you want to consign I will charge X% and to sell to me I’ll give you Y.” I looked at his retail shelf, felt as though I was treated fairly and left with a check.

To make sure there is no misunderstanding. We pay the consigner once their item has sold. Normally within 7 to 10 business days. There are exceptions depending on the circumstances.

 

[MeatGrinder]

Part of the reason why I have gone the consignment path is that the gun store is more familiar with the current market.

 

[RFBfromDE]

To make sure there is no misunderstanding. We pay the consigner once their item has sold. Normally within 7 to 10 business days. There are exceptions depending on the circumstances.

Oh yes, I have sold musical instruments and cars the same way.

Just not interested in compliance or tire kickers!

20% is reasonable.