doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Buying from Estates.

I reckon religion isn�t too far off topic for this thread. My guns and what happens to them are going to be the least of my worries after I die.



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Wealth won�t save your poor wicked soul. Hank Williams

I'm selling stuff now to pay for hunting trips, anything left over will go to an auction house. Nobody in the family wants my stuff.

Penny grasping is so prevalent among shotgunners it should be a requirement for ATA membership!

I had to clear out and sell my grandparents' house when they passed and went on a search to find the value of the things my step-grandmother had collected over the years. Dolls and plates, and other things I was unfamiliar with looked to be of some worth but in the end weren't really all that valuable. The majority of it wound up donated to charity. I had her extended family come through and see what they might want as mementos and got her heirloom silverware to a son's family.

A few years prior, she had foreseen her decline and asked my wife and I if we wanted anything. I gladly accepted a wooden oven rack puller shaped like a squirrel, and thought it was odd for her to be doing this, but then she showed me her will and asked me to go through it for her. A wise thing to do, and it revealed the things she thought of value, to be distributed according to her wishes, but also that she had no real care for the many small things that filled the house itself.

Their cars had been given to grandchildren, my grandfather had sold/traded/given his firearms away long before, so wrapping up their estate was fairly easy compared to what happens with folks who pass without this sort of planning in place.

Most folks think their stuff is worth more than it really is. They seem to add value to these items because of sentimentality, just human nature I guess.

John Boyd

My siblings & I are still in the disposal of our parents estate.
Dad died in November last & leading up to his death in October our Mum had a stroke & went into care.

My Dad had a saying that I remember & he used it throughout his life. "There are no pockets on a shroud".

After Mum went into care she said to me, "you know son, all that stuff is just stuff".

They had heaps & heaps of stuff & as we soon found out, if that stuff has one degrading mark on it or chip or blemish the market will not forgive it. Condition, condition, condition, be honest to yourself about its condition.

So that lovely little English 12 bore self opener with the lengthened chambers is only a knock about gun. A little pitting in the right barrel is a deal breaker. Miss matched hammers, cracked stocks & little things like worn thin bluing a tiny bit of surface rust or any dings cause the buyer to become a charity case & you his benefactor.

Hence I gave away many things & threw a lot of others in the skip bin. No guns because Dad had none. Grandpa's old Winchester was not even there. I think Dad turned it in to the cops when it came down to him.
O.M

KGB and Arrieta2 concur with your thoughts, however going back to KY�s point that in addition all the natural challenges you guys described it is only worse when people offer to help and either don�t know or deliberately undervalue.

Not sure I agree with ClapperZapper about accepting 50% of purchase as a start point, but I have to admit to only making money twice in over 50 transactions, I look at the loss as gun rent.

Run a low budget auction of your goods after telling as many of your collecting buddies as possible that the auction is going to take place. Your heirs will get their 50% without a problem and the buyers will be very happy. It's better than sending the stuff out of town to a 30% commission auction house and losing your shirt on a bad day to a bunch of strangers. Yes, the buyer's premium is part of the commission whether you realize it or not.

Has anyone thought of hiring an auctioneer and not his side kicks then setting up and holding their own auction?

Auctions take eyeballs.
Some firms generate more interest, resulting in fairer prices.

None of which (at least so far) can be coordinated successfully from beyond the grave.
I have no doubt there are trap shooters attempting it however.

Does anyone honestly want their grieving widow to have to do all that?

Most of the the advice KY Jon gives about estate pre-planning by letting kids or spouses somehow know realistically, the value of our toys helps to assure they do well should they decide to handle the sale of those assets. For example I've shown my kids one of my MMC electric checkering tools and asked them what they think it is worth. It looks like a lot of things they've seen at flea markets or garage sales for 5 or 10 bucks. Then I showed them some print-outs of E-bay sales of the same MMC tool that sold recently for $700.00 to $800.00 without the Foredom tool to drive it. I have those print-outs stored with the tools so they don't get taken. And then I taught them how to check value of things they aren't familiar with such as lathes, welders, etc. realistically, and how to use other options such as an auction service if they'd rather not deal with disposing of my stuff. Gunrunner used to be a sleepy little auction house where you could find some real bargains on guns. The word is out now, and competition is pretty keen for most items now, with some guns going much higher than they should when you factor in shipping and transfers. Handling an estate can be as easy or as difficult as your heirs wish to make it. And they can make some money, or throw it away by being stupid or careless.

All I know is that I'll have no control over any of it after I'm dead and gone.

None of us knows when or how we are going to croak. I started losing friends before I was out of high school, and the list gets longer every year. That's why I think Jagermeister's frequent advice to sell most of our guns in anticipation of death is foolish at best. Should I sell most all of my guns and go without them for the next 30 or more years just because there is also a chance I'll die or get killed tomorrow? It is both sad and pathetic to make silly excuses like that for not owning any doubles, or as many guns as we care to enjoy. What is he advising us to do???... should we all be like him???... sitting in front of a computer, tire-kicking, and worrying about dying... dreaming and lusting after guns or other toys instead of spending a few bucks to enjoy the gift of life?

I can't imaging myself on my death bed, regretting buying any of my guns, or being concerned that someone will be burdened with having to dispose of them.