doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Selling custom rifles

I would like to hear peoples suggestions and experiences with selling custom rifles, because I am not doing any good. This is the first time I have ever tried to sell one, I have reached the time of life where I want to own less, not more.

The rifle in question is an unfired custom Borchardt. It is currently listed on Gunbroker with a starting point and reserve of $4,800. I started at $6,000 and have been reducing the price $200 each time I relisted. The only nibble I have had is from some guy who wanted to argue about whether I should require shipment to an FFL.

This is my second selling attempt, the first was to consign it to Cabelas for several months. They listed it at $8,000, intended to sell it for $7,500 and to give me $6,300. After a couple of months I had them reduce both their asking price and my number. My actual documented parts and labor cost to have the rifle built 10 years ago was about $5,400 without sights. If you counted things like going to Chico, CA to choose a stock blank, that number could be significantly higher. Although I I was overcharged by the gunsmith, I bought the starting point varmint rifle right, so it all evens out.

I talked to Rock Island Auction company about putting it in one of their auctions, but without looking at it, they wanted to set a reserve price of something like $2,000 and I wasn't going to risk that.

So where and how do you get out of these rifles without taking a painful loss? Or is this going to be like fine art, only valuable after I am dead?

I think RI is nuts. They thought an english double rifle of mine was worth $1800 and they want some ridiculous percentage of the selling price. I sold on my own for over $6k.

Anyway, custom guns are tough to sell as far as I'm concerned. A Borchardt a bit more so for several reasons. But I think patience is the biggest factor, and I doubt you will really recover your money in this market. You should get close, but not a lot more.

just my opinion.

Brent
PS. I love to see pictures of custom Borchardts (but I'm definitely not in the market - you see, I have one already).

Selling most custom guns requires taking a loss. There are exceptions though. Good pictures and a detailed combined with the above mentioned patience usually pays off in the end. This is indeed a tough market. Good luck with the sale.

Is this the rifle?

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=233444706

Overcharged by the gunsmith? Please explain.
Mal

Yes Michael, that is the rifle.

Mal: Overcharged is of course a matter of personal opinion, but it is my opinion. I thought $3,300 (not including the checkering) to assemble the thing was rich in 2002. I gave him a functioning action in good shape, a Treebone Carving machined stock blank, and the barrel from Krieger. In fact, I supplied all the parts: recoil pad, sights, new extractor. I had been lulled to sleep by reasonable prices charged for some previous small jobs and expected progress billings on this one.

The project sat in his shop for a year and a half without any work being done and then was completed in something like five weeks. No progress reports or billings, just a fait accompli because he had some loan to pay off. It is a nice rifle, but not the one I ordered, and I particularly objected to having the length of pull be wrong when I had the blank specially machined to get it right.

I am afraid I am just not cut out to be a patron of the arts, I expect the people I hire to follow written instructions exactly. The length of pull was not the only thing, and the whole experience left a bitter taste in my mouth which has not diminished over time. That is why the rifle is for sale.

1878,

Would you like my opinion on selling custom rifles or would like me to comment on the one you have for sale?

Michael,

Feel free to do both. I really started this thread because I don't know anything about selling these things. I have never been much of a trader, just an accumulator. This particular rifle has been sitting in my safe since 2002. My recent selling efforts have been a voyage of discovery, unfortunately not happy discovery.

When I first left the rifle with Cabela's, I thought that if it didn't sell there I would just send it off to one of the auction firms. When I tried to do that I was shocked by their suggested reserve. I see people asking similar prices to mine for 1878 reproductions. I believe the current Borchardt Rifle company asking price for just one of their actions is $2,100, with lengthy delivery. So I don't know if the issue is just the style of my particular rifle or the market as a whole. If that is the way it is I am willing to take my medicine, but I thought I might just be doing it wrong, or in the wrong place.

'78,
Your experiences with Cabela's and the auction houses sound exactly like mine.

1878:

What are the stock dimensions? What does it weigh?

I have some experience with selling a custom single shot. In my case, it was a custom Ruger No. 1 in .270. It had a solid rib machined for the Warne QD sights, a 3 leaf rear sight, leather covered recoil pad, inletted safety button and a host of other features. I paid about $4300 for it; Hallowell took two plus years to get $2200 for the rifle 9 years later.

Based on my observations, unless the maker is a very famous name, you're looking at a about a 50% haircut coming out of the gate on resale.

By the way, I own a Greener small frame takedown in .22 Long Rifle on which the metal work was all done by Brian Burgin. It's a lovely rifle and I later traded a Martini Cadet in .218 Bee to Ken Hurst in return for his engraving the action.

Rem