Consignment vs online for firearm sales?

[Martinjmpr]

I understand we have a nice "for sale" section here but I'm just wondering how many of you have consigned your firearms with a dealer and whether your experience was good or bad?

Pre-2013, online sales worked well since private, F2F transactions were legal. But since the law went into effect requiring transfers to be done at a dealer, I'm wondering if consignment might be a better way to go? After all the potential buyer is going to have to go to a dealer anyway so might as well have the firearm already at the dealer's location, right?

What percentage to consigning dealers typically take? Is there a generally agreed-upon amount or does it usually vary widely by dealer? And if anyone has had positive experiences consigning their firearms with a dealer, would you mind sharing which dealer?

Reason I'm posting is that my gun safe is getting a little crowded and I'd like to thin the herd a bit, but selling individual firearms is a bit of a PITA to me and very time consuming. I'm willing to get a bit less $$ in order to make the process go smoother and with less involvement from me.

[Linkless]

I am just guessing but I'd think consignment would be at least 10% fee and may take forever as you are limited to the people visiting that store as an audience. I have a local FFL that I can meet at and it hasn't really affected my ability to sell to individuals.

[.455_Hunter]

I generally consign everything at a local dealer who charges 20%, but has a good local clientele and puts them on GB as a high rated sellar. I can usually pick-up a check a few weeks after dropping them off. No fuss, no bother.

[Martinjmpr]

I generally consign everything at a local dealer who charges 20%, but has a good local clientele and puts them on GB as a high rated sellar. I can usually pick-up a check a few weeks after dropping them off. No fuss, no bother.

Mind sharing the name of the dealer? Either here or via PM.

Thanks!

[encorehunter]

Our local guns store in Trinidad did a lot of consignments for me before they closed. They charged me 10% on some, they did quite a few for free. Over 2 years, they sold around 350 for me. They usually marked them up a touch and made their money, and gave me all I had asked for.

[.455_Hunter]

Mind sharing the name of the dealer? Either here or via PM.

Thanks!


Gunsport of Colorado in Boulder. It would be worth a phone call just to see what they think about your items. My only caveats would be any issues they have with certain guns due to the current stupid, or if you are trying to get top dollar for something mundane like an old XD .40 cal.

[def90]

Depends on what you are selling. Milsurps go for stupid money on Gunbroker right now when you do a penny start no reserve auction. Your run of the mill bolt/deer rifle is what it is and will sell for less than it's probably worth. In the end do you want to deal with the shipping and so on or pass it off to someone else. Local.sales aren't really an issue, just meet at a local shop and do the transfer and be done with it.

[Oscar77]

I've had 10-15% as the commission..............
I've used a LGS a few times over the years and overall been happy.
BUT I did have a sour deal once........... brought a pistol in, the shop low balled it (but in fairness, I did say ok), then found out the owner of the shop bought it.
Not Cool........... again to be fair, I did ok the price, I just should have declined it and instead put what I thought was fair.

Lately it's been on line selling and done well.
(And no offense but things I put up here sat, whereas online went quick).

[Tim K]

The few times I’ve consigned a firearm locally have been great. I’ve told them what I needed and let them sell for whatever they wanted. Super easy.

[bellavite1]

I work at the Silverbullet Shooting Range.
We charge 17% for non-member and 12% for member.
Although it's against our interest we will not take on consignment unreasonably priced firearms, we will actually look them up on Gunbroker and see what they actually sell for , versus what somebody feels they should be getting for their "safe queen"...

[XJ]

I've used consignment at Springs Armory a number of times and it has been great. This includes before the great fiasco of 2020. I always ask what they think it should priced at, and once they called me as someone had made a lower offer (that turned out to be acceptable, P7 has a niche appeal).

In the old days it was fun to meet new people and chat for a bit, even if it meant a half/full drive from Springs to Denver. Mostly I sold through here and never met anyone sketchy or with a bad vibe.

But now with having to use a FFL (and the improving but still high price of gas) the convenience of consignment has to be weighed against getting every last penny that I think something may be worth.

Also, no shipping issues at all. I hate hassles and drama.