I have reached the age where I need to start disposing of things. Specifically my double gun and historical collection. I have tried a local auctioneer with only a little success. I contacted James Julia who sent people from Poulin's Auction. They "lowballed" everything. I am only looking for a fair estimate and pricing. I would prefer to sell to individual collectors and sportsmen and sportswomen. I am looking for advice. What I have can be seen on my website at www.mylandco.com Select "Sporting, Guns, etc." Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards, George

Why would they lowball everything? Don't see the advantage in it for them unless if you get more than the estimate you feel better about the final sale price. Auctions are a fast way to sell things quickly if you have no reserve. It is a risk. Consignment would take far longer but you have almost no risk of loosing money. Maybe their lowball prices are just where they think the market is right now. I feel for your frustration in selling your collection and trying not to give them away.

I sold fifty doubles at a no reserve auction site and overall was happy with the final prices for all but a handful. I still made money but would be more careful in selecting which guns to send in the future. Nothing high condition, nothing rare or odd. Just basic doubles sold for a decent price to a little more than expected. Guns in well worn condition did bring that much but I expected that.

Sad when selling a collection off. Good luck. If it was not so far I would be interested in the Jeffery 10 bore. I also see that you have sold the George Fuller hammer gun. Not much use to me with a cross over stock but Fuller made some of the finest guns going; I have one in my collection. The reason it was of interest was the serial number 899 was my old police service number. Lagopus.....

Consign them a few at a time perhaps? Kirby Hoyt of Vintage Doubles sold a gun for me and I was happy with the outcome. I think he prices things reasonably so that they move in a timely, but not hasty, fashion.

http://www.vintagedoubles.com/consignments/

Looks like you've used Photoshop or some other enhancing software and put too much 'fizz' in your pics (way over sharpened). They don't look natural and it is difficult to really make any kind of judgment on the quality of the checkering or engraving. You might want to consider knocking the effect back a bit.

Some suggestions...

If you are selling online, much better photos than what you have will help a lot.

If you are wanting to sell period, a more accurate appraisal of % condition is needed. And also on pricing. Based on what I see, you are unrealistically high on both points.

George, you need to drop the prices until they sell. Land, cars, boats, and guns all will sell if you price them right. Good luck.
JR

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George, I thought you were going to contact a guy close to you who sells on the internet and let him market your guns through Gun Broker, etc. At least that was the way the last line you posted ended. This still sounds like the most logical way to go about it.

Email sent. Good luck to you sir!

In my experience of auctions and auctioneers, it all boils down to this. Auctioneers always want to have the reserve or guide price to be at a come and buy me level, otherwise they feel that they have gone to some trouble advertising and may be some printing costs too. If during the auction the item does not meet the reserve they have the lesson that they have done work for nothing and who would want that?
I was also coming to the age to down size my collection two years back so I sold my guns individually over the proceeding months. Though I have kept one London first liner and a couple of Birmingham offerings plus a gun that belonged to a n old friend. So when I slip of this mortal coil not a large number to dispose of.
George I do hope things go well for you.

I will take field grade to mid grade 16ga Darne made after 1964 if you have one.

George I have in the past few years sold or given about 50 sxs away. I have donated quite a few to organizations like RGS, DU for raffles at some events. I have given all nieces and nephews
That shoot or wanted one. The guns I sold I do not regret taking a small loss to give someone a good deal. A couple of months ago I gave a nice parker that had been restocked and refinished to my buddies grand nephew at a duck hunt. A great kid that was over the moon happy. I grew up poor and wish that someone had done something like that for me. Try giving a few to worthy
Causes and young folks . It takes a lot of pressure off you and you get to feel pretty good. Don't pass away with a pile of stuff
That meant something to you and someone has to get rid of. Think how good it will feel to know that a gun dealer will not be making money off your junk. Remember the sad day David passed and someone had to sell off all his guns.

gunbroker.com

I have one. Send me a check for 10k and its yours, Jan Lewan.

Le Fusil makes a good point. No one wants overpriced and worn out guns in a depressed market. End of story. I have no idea how I am going to get rid of my guns, but it isn't going to be the way George is trying to get rid of his.

It looks like I'm in the minority, but putting all the guns in one spot for us all to see isn't a bad idea. Probably won't sell them as fast as on Gunbroker or Gunsinternational. He should probably send Dave a couple $10 checks though lol

George, Ed good is right. Put them on Gun Broker. Will take some time and you will probably have to lower your "hoped for" price a few times but they will sell eventually. You will still be further ahead than dealing with an auction house after buyer and seller fees. Trying to sell them on this forum is a complete waste of time.

Selling a collection on gunbroker is not a realistic option. On the 2300 plus side by sides listed with no reserve only 72 have any bids on them. On the guns with reserves there will be almost zero which make reserve. Numbers tell you that unless you are willing to risk a loss there is almost no chance to move a single gun much less an entire collection.

Not necessarily. Over the last twenty or so years, I have acquired at least eight guns and a set of barrels from this forum. So some sellers must be doing something right. A decent gun at the right price will move.

My fairly priced doubles on GB sell after 4-8 7 day auction cycles. Good pictures, thorough descriptions and wall measurements are critical.

Everything I ever listed here sold in a day or two. I haven't listed much, but, it must have been priced fairly.
I also sold a few guns to forum people who just asked me to let them know when I had something specific they were looking for. Never would have known about those folks without the forum.

But, there are far fewer buyers for much older guns that have some wear and tear on them then when I first started buying and selling old double guns.

Best,
Ted

People wised up...

George,

I have been moving up my SxS collection for over 20 years.

Much like Parker/LCS/Fox folks, after 20-30 years of acquiring, you look for the very best.

Sadly, we haven't been very good at bringing a new generation to our hobby.

I think we can all agree a SxS starter is 12 ga, extractor, too much drop, no finish and most likely 30" bbls.

The interest in SxS starter guns is nill. I wish were not so,, but it is the current market. You might consider pricing your guns in light of the current market conditions.

Best of luck to you,

Joe in Charlotte

Well if prices for field shooters have collapsed, somebody forgot to tell people on gunbroker marketing French SxS's. I regularly look at French sites such at Naturabuy.Fr and am shocked by what I see on gunbroker. For instance, here's a Verney-Caron...but with no SN and no model number...with probably Brueil AuLaugnier barrels...with severe pitting inside and outside the barrels...and you can have it for only $10,000!
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/751994722

Gene,
You can ask anything you want. Completed auction prices tell a far different story.

Best,
Ted

Reserve is likely only $9999. I call those type of guns decade guns. It will be for sale for a decade and still never sell. The problem I have with Gunbroker is that they allow seller to list gun for free, for ever or until they sell. It would be a much better sight if you could list a gun three times and then had to pay a listing fee after that. Most of the clutter would go away and what is listed would be things new to the sight instead of these decade guns that you just have to ignore forever.

GMSC, very well said. I hope you are rewarded in some way for your generosity. There are a lot of threads on this forum that speak of guns that are cherished because they were passed down or gifted. Like you, I also wish that someone had done something like that for me. Actions such as yours are a fantastic example of how to keep the love of double guns & hunting alive.

At some point you need to really look at what you have and what is a realistic price for those guns. James Julia doesn't handle very many guns in the condition of the guns you have for sale. Not that they are junk, but being old won't sell guns, condition will.

Pictures are your best help and you need to use better pictures that show what the gun is. I am trying to be objective and not critical, but your collection has a few decent guns, but most are of moderate interest at best.

I would recommend you get help and be prepared to drop your prices and expectations of selling your collection. What suits one person, rarely suits someone else and you are looking for a bunch of individual buyers to sell those guns to, as no one would be interested in them as a lot without you taking a beating on what you want for them.

Good luck, but you really need to start over and process the descriptions and pictures to get serious buyers interested in your guns.

George,

"jackthedog" from Oregon on www.gunauction.com has 10,930 sales with a 100% positive feedback. He takes the best pictures and gives the most detailed descriptions on the Internet. He does his homework and describes in detail both the good and the bad of each firearm; and if you purchase a firearm from him you do not have any surprises. He starts all his auctions at $0 with no reserve, and people purchase from him with confidence. I have purchased from him and recommend him without hesitation. If I had a collection such as yours, I would contact "jackthedog." I sincerely believe he would be able to maximize your investment recovery over anyone or anything else you could do with them. There are many people who follow his auctions religiously.

I would like to see "jackthedog" offer more shotguns on his auctions, but it isn't going to happen. Anyone can imitate his business plan, and in a few weeks, word will get out and "anyone" will start getting fair prices for their goods. "jackthedog" presently has hundreds of bids on a small selection of guns while other sellers have no bids at all. George has a nice selection of guns, but terrible pictures and ridiculous prices keep him out of the market.

And it would help if he messaged people back who ask about one of them lol

Please keep in mind George recently lost his daughter. I think many of the comments are accurate but perhaps a little more tact is called for when responding to his post.

I'm truly sorry for his loss.

I didn't see any "tact"less replies...

if'n you don't mind could you point them out to us ?

Here's some "tact" or what I call "fact" for you...

George has a lot of cool looking English shooters/jUnkers/clunkers/parts guns...(looked at the site years ago).

George should not worry about James Julias low ball estimates and let them sell them and let the market decide the finale price.

You remind me of a friend of mine joe. He takes great pride in being an a$s too.

The truth hurts, sometimes. What goes up must come down. SxS values were up 10 years ago, not so much now. No one likes to take a discount, but George’s guns will sell if the prices are right.

With all due respect and sympathies for George, sales is sales. With guns or anything else. The product will move when presented well and priced right.

While I have not bought anything from him, I think the example of jackthedog is excellent. What's needed for online sales to happen are very good photos, detailed and honest descriptions and a sensible price. We all know what we want to see when shopping on line.....we are just somewhat lazy about doing all that prep work when it's time to sell.

George,

How about an out of the box suggestion?

Get some tables at the Southern SxS, if they are available. Have a silent auction. Folks walk up, write down what they want to pay. If it doesn't meet your needs, don't accept the offer. No auctioneer min to pay, you'll know your costs up front. Buyer can pay any transfer fees on the modern stuff.

You could make it a no reserve silent bid. It could be really interesting.

Deep River could transfer the modern guns, or what ever dealer you use.

Give Bill K. a call. I think a lot of folks want to help.

Joe