selling guns... a lot of guns

[JodyH]

I'm wanting to cull the herd significantly.
I have probably 50 to 75 (maybe more) personal guns I want to sell, most of them generic polymer 9mm handguns and evil assault rifles.
I would think that's a bit much for trying to move via a forum like this one.
That's a lot of random stranger danger trying to move them via local classifieds.
Any ideas?
Word of mouth via friends/family?
Gunbroker?
Gun show table?
Consignment at a dealer?
YOLO it on Craigslist or out of the trunk of my car in the Barrio?

I don't need to sell, just want to sell.
I'll probably be moving in a year or two and don't really want to mess with multiple safes and a pile of firearms.
Any ideas for selling at market prices with as little hassle as possible?

[BehindBlueI's]

It depends on what you value more. Convenience or top dollar.

Paying a commission at a local gun shop gets a lot of eyes on the guns and somebody else takes care of all the bother. Like using a property manager for rental properties, the percentage you lose may be well worth the bother you save.

Maybe cull out the "special" ones to sell here or gunbroker, etc. and consign the commodity ones to an LGS?

[Duke]

If I had 50 things worth an average of $350 each, I’d approach it asking

“How much trouble is $17,500 worth and how many transactions am I willing to conduct to earn it ?”

Gunbroker costs fees and you have to either pay an FFL to ship or break fed ex rules (like who gives a shit) to send the guns out. That part sucks but at least the site has lookers.

I’ve done a fair bit on GB. Always do fixes price, no offers, Apple Pay or Venmo

It’s fairly painless all things considered.

I’ve done a lot of person to person - front of my car dash cam, cabelas parking lot, valid chl holder only deals to but that sort of sucks ass

Finding a dealer to buy the whole lot off you may be worth a slight loss in expected revenue for the ease.

Maybe test them with 10 at a time and see how it flows

Personal choice

[GJM]

It was hard to anticipate a pandemic, which sold many guns, but unless something changes we still have a Presidential election coming up. Late summer and early fall should be a great time to unload surplus stuff. One lesson of panic times is custom and expensive doesn’t bring a premium. Everyone wants a Glock 9mm and an AR during a panic. Other stuff can be packaged with magazines to make them more attractive. Ideally, you can find a LGS that does like ten percent consignment, and move them for you.

[Clusterfrack]

I’ve sold things on a local forum, and by posting at my private gun club. But the best luck has come from Gunbroker.

Having to meet up with some rando off the internet isn’t worth it.

[BehindBlueI's]

Having to meet up with some rando off the internet isn’t worth it.

I said I'd wear a longer kilt next time.

[WobblyPossum]

For that many guns, taking a slight loss in profit by paying a LGS a commission to move the collection for you might be worth it. I can’t imagine that 50-75 gunbroker or arms list transactions would be anything other than frustrating and time consuming. Gun broker would incur additional costs in shipping and transaction fees. Arms list would incur the FFL transfer fees at your LGS. I’m with BBI: put the cool, collectible, and interesting stuff on the forum and sell all the generic stuff through your LGS on consignment. GJM’s suggestion to wait a couple of months isn’t a bad idea either. The closer we get to the presidential election, the more desperate people will be to get their hands on things like Glocks, P320s, and ARs.

[OlongJohnson]

I had several guns that seemed cool and interesting when I got them but less so after I'd had them for awhile. The market in March and April allowed me to recover my costs selling them through consignment at the LGS. I really liked just dropping them off and doing the paperwork, then collecting a check later. No taking time out of my day to meet someone and exchange somewhere, no dealing with the cootie-breathers, the buyer having no idea who I am, etc. I have enough ammo on hand that I was able to put a couple boxes of cheep range fodder under them and I think that helped. I believe it's cooled off, but as pointed out, if it looks like Biden or some other D has good odds in November, or is elected, things will get hot again.

One wrinkle was that the shop doesn't normally handle multiple consignments, so figuring out what the amounts I was getting paid for each gun was a little bit of a hassle until I finally figured out which employee has access to the information.

[O4L]

I have plenty of time and I enjoy gun trading. Fortunately I know of a lot of trustworthy gun buyers on a local forum here.

If I was in your situation I would post them for sale on that forum to give the guys there a first chance at them. If I wanted to move them fast then I would discount them a little below what the local market value is.

Might as well let the good guys I know have an opportunity to buy one or maybe several at a discount rather than pay someone to sell them for me.

YMMV.

Good luck!

[RevolverRob]

I want the Coonan.

Otherwise, I’d say - local gunshop that does consignments. You might throw the LEMs and things here on P-F where you know people might buy them faster than the LGS.