Auction sale vs consignment sale?

B

big bear

CGN frequent flyer
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Alas ,I have more rifles than I have tme to play wth. I'd lke to liquidate some of my collection. I have given up on CGN for selling things, way too much hassle and general unpleasantness.A large big city gun store will sell my rfles for a 20% cut, how does that compare to auction sale margins?

Lookng at turning some nice toys into a small Airstream so me and the old lady can lesurely explore Canada.

Cheers!
 
Gun store you set the price, but it can take a while to sell. If priced too high it won't sell at all.

Auction you get what you get, but its all gone in a day/few days. No real issue with stuff not selling, but you might get less than you think its worth.
 
Some stores buy guns outright.

I'm sure that op understands the mechanics, he just wants to know what cut hes going to get from the auction...

The easiest way to find that out would be calling a few auction houses.

Or he could just ask CGN and wade through the responses by people who like upping their post count.

+1
 
Auction sellers commission may vary. 30%? Auction is a guaranteed sale. You won't know your return until after the auction.
A consignment sale might work well. The store might have buyers looking for specific items. But how long the sale will take is an unknown.
If a store buys outright, they are obviously paying a wholesale price.
 
Big bear I don't know where you live, but corlanes, epps, backcountry and Prophet River buy guns outright. I assume many more do as well.

They will want to sell newer guns at 75ish % percent of their value, what percent of that you retain will vary but it won't be great.

Private sales will always get you more money and generally reach a wider audience. I guess it's a matter of what you believe your time is worth, but I've never been enthusiastic about make 50-60% of a guns value to avoid answering some questions or going to the post office. If someone is being annoying during this process you are free to tell them you're not interested in haggling etc.
 
I've used Prophet River to consign guns for store credit and they were great to deal with and the rifles sold quickly. But I wouldn't use them or other stores for cash sales. Too expensive.
 
Honestly, cgn is a better option. I understand why people dont want the hassle, but you get better results I find. I have used auctions and generally did so out of convenience and ease, drop off and be done, but its a crap shoot, prices can be low, then you loose 20-30% with some auction places. I have used consignment, but its down to the store, their traffic, how much of a fee they take etc.
I had guns sit at one store 6 months, no real advertising, not on their site etc, so ended up taking them home and selling them on here.
I honestly lean to selling to a store or consignment, but pick a store that deals in what you have to sell, or it might be there years.
 
I have bought and sold stuff on both EE and G***T. No real problems. One contact from G***T kept texting me to buy my rifle at a steep discount and with no transfer number, but other than that, no problems. I realise big bear's experience may be vastly different.
 
A consignment sale may take time but your return is generally higher. An auction is faster but there is no guarantee on what you'll get. Both are easier with less hassle than selling online or at a show but your return is lower. You are paying to have someone else do the work for you.

Stores doing consignment sales are more selective about what guns they will take because they want saleable items. Auctions will take pretty much anything regardless of condition or whether it functions.
 
Hassle is defined many ways.

Selling in CGN is fornthe most part painless and smooth.

Some peoples day is ruined if their favorite coffee mug isn't clean.

People tolerate different things differently.

Losing a big chunk of $$$ at auction or consignment is hard to swallow.
 
GP and Facebook when it was allowed seem to attract lowballers and lunatics in general. A lot less gun knowledge in general which can be advantageous to buyers and a royal pain in the ass for sellers.

I have a reasonable amount of trades, and I think I've had two issues. Only one where I was the seller, and it was just some boomer who got super pissed when I said I might have to ship on Monday instead of Friday and told me to get ####ed.

I.guess it comes down to personal tolerance but for me the juice is worth the squeeze. I've only sold very cheap guns I got in trade or ones with issues I would prefer to be looked over by potential buyers in stores.

Timing is everything, but when a friend of mine with a great collection died and his guns were auctioned I felt that his family was taken advantage of in terms of money they could really have used at the time.

For higher end guns, you are simply going to lose a lot of money if you sell them to a store.

If you're happy with divesting and getting an airstream and can do that by sending them to an auction fill your booth.

Some guys enjoy wheeling and dealing, and may be happy to serve as a middle man if you transfer the guns to them. I've done this for less internet savvy friends and colleagues.
 
It depends on what you value your effort as.
As an example. I pay people to change the oil in my truck. I feel that extra cost to me as worth saving the effort it would take me to change it personally.
you probably have a half decent idea of what your guns are worth. if you post them for $50-100 less than average going price you'll sell them fast, be done with it quick and still come out ahead.
(if you have enough guns to sell to be worth an airstream you would be saving thousands by selling yourself.)
 
kamlooky said:
$50 for a Lee crimp die?
Pretty sure I can find one at the retailers for that.
TahtahI presume you were referring to my ad. That was $50 for TWO dies not ONE,so $25@. Two calbres, both new (not as new) I bought duplicates by mistake because I forgot I had rthe same dies years ago before I retired and had time to play with them. ISome Canadian stes have same dies for $25 +tax. They did not have the calbres wanted so I pad more ($40 @+ taxes.) I try to be more than fair and am happy to break even.These are listed as part of my declutter efforts. Okedokey?
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Suther said:
Gun store you set the price, but it can take a while to sell. If priced too high it won't sell at all.

Auction you get what you get, but its all gone in a day/few days. No real issue with stuff not selling, but you might get less than you think its worth.
Click to expand...

... and a lot of shady people put their unwanted garbage in the auctions, because there is no warranty.
Very often, parts are missing, the items are incomplete, not in working order, and /or corroded.

You must be very careful, if not you end up buying an ordinary SKS for $3000.00; this happened several times.
 
Dosing said:
Honestly, cgn is a better option. I understand why people dont want the hassle, but you get better results I find. I have used auctions and generally did so out of convenience and ease, drop off and be done, but its a crap shoot, prices can be low, then you loose 20-30% with some auction places. I have used consignment, but its down to the store, their traffic, how much of a fee they take etc.
I had guns sit at one store 6 months, no real advertising, not on their site etc, so ended up taking them home and selling them on here.
I honestly lean to selling to a store or consignment, but pick a store that deals in what you have to sell, or it might be there years.
Click to expand...
CGN used to be pretty good - buying & selling, but only Several yrs ago ...

There's very few deals now - especially past few years. I have been buying mostly from stores & watching for sales when I want or need something. I have purchased from stores off CGN 95% or more as they do advertise deals - now & then ...

To each his own: sale deals at stores = you get what you want and for a reasonable price, shop around.
 
I used to enjoy going to actions but after Covid everything changed. The auctioneer charges the seller and now the buyer and on top of that you have to pay taxes. I know one auctioneer does very well with gun sales in the fall as they go fast.
 
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