current value of firearms

[schmart]

Sadly my very good friend and shooting buddy just lost the fight with the nasty virus. His wife never has cared for firearms and immediately asked me if I'd assist with documenting, assessing and putting a value on the guns so she can liquidate them. Given the current state of the market, I'm thinking this should be done sooner than later as the market could be completely soft by summer. I've heard of searching gunbroker for past sales, but I can't seem to do that. Of course, I've never created an account there so that may be the reason.

What are suggestions for getting current but real valuation on firearms?

Secondly, she is out of state (Illinois). Could she legally bring them to Indiana and transfer them to an Indiana resident with a single FFL or does an FFL in both states have to be involved?

Thanks for the help!
Rick

 

[srad]

Sorry for the loss of a good friend Rick, and prayers of comfort and peace for the widowed Mrs.
Gunbroker would be a good starting point for valuation. Check the "Completed" sales for the firearm(s) in question and see what the high winning bids have been. If you're looking to monetize them quickly for the Mrs., an auction will bring similar prices... sometimes even more... but you have to take auctioneer fees into account.

An IL resident selling firearms privately to another IL resident requires a FOID; I don't believe that requirement exists if the IL resident is selling the firearms out of state. I assume that if the Mrs. sells the firearms to IN residents, going through a FFL in IN to handle the transactions covers all bases for long arms and handguns.

Not a lawyer, so hopefully someone with exact legal knowledge on this forum will respond definitively.

 

[flatlander]

Sorry for your loss.
My FIL passed on 11/1/2020. My SIL had to go through her local Louisiana FFL, transfer to my local Indiana FFL where I had to fill out 4473 before picking them up. I am NOT a lawyer but those are the steps I had to go through.

Bob

 

[obijohn]

With the current market, a dealer may be inclined to pay well for the firearms. Granted, "retail" sales would likely bring more, but selling to a dealer would take care of any legal issues and facilitate a quick sale.

 

[Shoots4Fun]

With the current market, a dealer may be inclined to pay well for the firearms. Granted, "retail" sales would likely bring more, but selling to a dealer would take care of any legal issues and facilitate a quick sale.

I agree with this. I get emails from some of the shops I frequent looking for used guns to help keep their shelves stocked.

With that said, I've recently sold something on Gunbroker for the first time and it was quite easy. I have my first firearm listed on there now.

I don't see why you couldn't help if you wanted get things listed on Gunbroker and then when they sell, pay a local (to her) FFL to ship to the buyers' FFL(s).

The market will be strong for a while I believe, but the wildcard will be what happens to certain weapon categories when a new administration takes power.

I'm truly sorry for the loss of your friend and prayers to all affected by the loss.

 

[schmart]

She already suggested going to a store and seeing if they will buy them. However, I've heard too many horror stories of widows being given pennies on the dollar which is one reason why I want to know the value of them before we go that route. I don't mind a store making a profit, but I don't want it all to be from her!

Additionally some of them are pretty nice and I've thought about posting those here to give members in good standing an opportunity which is why I was asking if we would need FFLs in both states (which also means shipping costs).

It will be January before I can get over there and catalog them so I may come back with more questions about specific items. I know he had a couple old military rifles which I don't know anything about.

Rick

 

[sheepdog697]

One of the Marshals my dad worked with passed away. He didnt have any children to inherit his firearms. He was also a gunsmith. I helped the widow liquidate his collection. It was probably close to 75 guns, ammo, and accessories. I would use gunbroker for a rough guess, and adjust the price slightly under market value to get her a quick sale. I ended up selling most of the guns to close friends. She made a little over twice from me selling them vs selling them outright to a gun shop. Try to help her out as much as you can. There were a few times i came on here to ask values of guns and everyone was understanding.

The few times i sold to someone in illinois, they came to a local gun shop here and filled out paperwork.

 

[rosejm]

You don't need an FFL in both states, only in the receiving one.

But many won't just accept firearms from an unknown person. A couple phone calls to local FFLs will find out who's willing to process that kind of transfer. It's not illegal, but their shop - their rules.
Some may charge per firearm for the transfer, some may allow for a discount if there's multiple firearms to a single buyer.

 

[mike trible]

About 15 years ago, I had to help liquidate a sizable collection, I called the local Cabelas Gun Library and gave them a list of what was available. Their buyer came to the house, we went through each gun and agreed on what we felt was the retail value of each gun. He offered 80% of the retail value, I declined on a couple, and agreed on the rest. He gave me a sizable check and a bill of sale right there and left with the guns. No Fuss, No Muss, over in a couple of hours.