doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com SELLING MY COLLECTION

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!