Bru beware the gun dealers, they are sneaky, they will keep the guns in the safe and the cases empty to make you think its time to buy, lol...
BUT I have noticed a spike in handguns and shotguns for some reason recently (nothing crazy). I have an appointment with a local shop Saturday morning, last week he called me to see if I had anything I wanted to consign because he was having issues keeping the cases full, (there not empty but he knows when guys are leaving with out buying, the right stuff isnt there) he specifically wanted shotguns and pistols. I emailed him a list of about 28 pieces that I don't consider part of my "real" collection and was thinking about unloading, he emailed me back that he wanted them all and would only charge me 5%!!! I have been in this game a long time and a quantity that large for 5% is a first. NOW, this may not be because they are hard to get right now, vs he may not be in the position to purchase a lot right now, which is fine with me I get free insured storage, and when something sells its a bonus...
I bought a collection of almost 40 pieces recently, kind of fell into my lap, a dealer offered this women $15K for the collection, so I get a call from a relative of hers and an old customer of mine that knows I am into firearms, so I go take a look. I met my "friend/customer" at the his aunts house so he can introduce me.
So I look at the collection and WANT it, I am figuring $30K minimum and that is a steal!! After some handling and complimenting her on how nice of a gun case they had, she said "do you want them?" I said "I think I do" she said "will you pay cash?" I said "I will", she said "today?" I said "right now" (I dont go to look at something with out cash on me in most cases), she said "$15K?" I said "certainly"!!!! DONE...
To top it off, she gave me, all her late husbands old reloading equipment, all his ammo, all his tools, his reloading bench, and the case!!!! AS WELL AS SOME OLD MOBIL and SUNOKO tin signs I asked about while we were there wrapping everything up. So I had no use for the case, it is beautiful, all hand made by a local cabinet maker they contracted to do it... I keep my guns in a vault, and that case would never fit through my 30" titan door. I put the case in one of the gun clubs with a for sale best offer sign on it, and sold it in 3 days for $7500!! It had a built in fire proof safe, custom glass work, 5 different hard woods, and 2 hidden spots that you opened with a specific movement that would blow your mind, I never seen anything like it!! In total after giving the club its share I cleared $9K from selling all the NON firearm items, all the reloading gear and cabinets, etc...
SO I kept the stuff I wanted out of it and I am going to consign the rest, I have bought many collections over the years, and I am pretty good at selling when the market is right. I have been going through gun broker and some other sights trying to come up with values for the stuff I want to sell, I figure I want to clear $45K for the 28 I separated, I wish someone would just buy them all but them days have come to a screaming halt, the 5% commission makes that route a lot more appealing...
So if you got extra stuff, I would look into pushing it within the next 6 months, unless its high cap or assault style weapons, then I would wait for hillary to be in office and get rid of them then... May want to start stocking up on brass now too, lol..
Oh well...
