doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Holts Auction Help

I have been looking at a couple of guns on the Holts Auction site. Besides the exchange rate of 1.38 US to British Pounds and the 25% juice. Does anybody know what shipping would cost or have experience shipping a gun from overseas. By the time you add all of the charges it seems to get pretty expensive. Any info would be helpful.

Thanks in advance

Steve

Holts can ship you an antique via Fedex, you may have to collect it at the nearest international airport and clear it through customs. They quote each shipment after purchase.

I import guns from the UK regularly, post 98 guns are 650$, 2% of purchase price for insurance, duty 4%, and shipping from me to your FFL. My shipments come in 2-3 times per year.

Good luck on your bidding.
Steve

Your best bet is to find someone on your side of the pond who buys regularly from Holts and ask him to bid for you and ship your guns with his when you have both been successful. That should produce some economy of scale even with whatever he would no doubt add for his services.

Even so with import and export licences, international shipping and other charges it is likely you will pay more to get a gun to you than it is worth unless it is of very good quality.

It is simpler to use an importer like SKB. Add the shipping cost given into your calculations. Also if you do a wire transfer from your bank figure another 50-75 depending on your bank. So cheap guns become fairly expensive. But you might find a gun you really want and figure total cost is not that important. I just brought in to 3” guns for duck hunting. Price was decent but not the steals they appeared from the auction winning bid. But I killed two geese and a teal with one of them last week so price does not bother me now. Another gun I bought was a left handed crossover double as a decoration oddity. Been looking for a left handed version for sometime.

Concur, use of an importer removes the risk of missing something from lack of experience.

I have used an importer several times now and always been happy with having done it.

I have imported twice with Steve. I feel like the auction prices have been creeping up and the wares have been declining in quality and condition. Seemed like there were better deals a few years ago.

Thanks everybody for your responses. SKB I will PM you with some additional questions.

Steve

I've used an importer twice on guns, one from Holt's and one from Gavin Gardiner. I use the estimate of double the GBP bid in dollars for getting it to me, a bit more on cheaper ones. It's slow, a pain, and neither auction house is very helpful. I still look, but factor all that in... I just came back from R.I.A. which was a totally better experience.

Like Steve I import as well. Best to have a pro do it, A lot more involved than you think. Especially when it comes to clearing customs.

Just wanted to thank all of you for your responses. It really is an expensive proposition especially when you add in the exchange rate and Holtz’s 25% “juice”.