Consignment sales at a LGS

[SciFiJim]

I've never sold a gun before, I've only bought and kept. I have a pistol that I would like to get rid of and use the proceeds toward a different pistol.

How do consignment sales work? Do you get more for your firearm than just selling it to a dealer?

I've contemplated selling it on Gunbroker, but would need to find a FFL to ship it.

Any ideas or tips toward my goal would be appreciated.

[truckerdave397]

Not sure about Florida but in Michigan there is a local on line auction that you can take guns to and sell. You can put a reserve on them. Sometimes people pay stupid prices for them.

[farmbif]

on the gun broker site there is a link or section that will give you information on ffl shippers in your area that are registered with gun broker. I'm Leary of consignment sales unless you know and trust the shop owner very well. local auctions can be very good but most in my area boosted their cut from 10 or 15 percent to 25 percent the same as rock island auction. but for guns that you paid little for and know for sure will bring good money it can work out. several months ago I turned a gun I paid $79 for into a $575 sale and a $200 gun turned into a $650 sale at a local auction I was happy to give the auctioneer his 25 recent. he did a great job and the buyers got to inspect the guns in person and they paid what they thought was a fair price or they would not have bid. everyone happy with the transactions

[HWooldridge]

One of our local LGS will either do a reserve price or penny auction and let the market decide. They charge the seller a fairly hefty percentage to handle everything, with higher rates for lower sales prices. The gun shop might deduct 30% on a $600 selling price, while a $3000 final number could be a 10% commission. It’s convenient but it will cost you something.

On the other hand, you might try listing it here or independently as a seller on one of the broker sites.

[Otony]

I work in a gunshop that does consignment sales. We charge 10%, which is pretty low. Most places charge more, as much as 25%.

That is still better than simply selling it to a dealer. On average the shop will offer you 50, maybe 60% of what they think they can sell it for. There are several reasons for what seems to be a lowball offer.

In our case, Washington state law requires us to report the purchase to local law enforcement and hold the gun for 30 days before selling it. So the money spent cannot be recovered immediately, it is a slow return on the investment.

More importantly, there is a difference in perceived value. Remember, the shop buys NEW guns at wholesale, so the value of a USED gun is always going to be less than the wholesale price. And finally, the dealer is in it to make money, plain and simple.

If you can afford to wait, then consignment is always the best choice. Hope that helps.

[Winger Ed.]

Shops here do it. The going rate is 20%.
It sounds like a lot,
but they have the traffic and can usually get more than than 20% above what you could sell a gun for yourself.

There is also the convenience of just dropping it off and waiting for the check.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Why not trade it in on your desired purchase?

All of the above information is valid, but changes from shop to shop. A straight out sale to most dealers will result in a low ball offer. The dealer will resell the gun and desires to make a profit, so the old axiom about "buy low and sell high" is at work.

A Pawn Shop is usually very much the same, but often more so.

A gun placed on consignment will be charged a percentage commission by the hosting dealer, amount varying from dealer to dealer. The consignment gun may be handled by numerous prospective customers and the idly curious, some possibly damaging the firearm by improper handling like those imitating James Cagney and doing the one-handed cylinder flip of a revolver.

Gunbroker charges a fee to the seller, and as you are aware there is the FFL transfer problem, and a fee will be charged on both ends, by the shipping FFL and the receiving FFL.

But, if you make it part of the deal on your new pistol you're standing there looking the dealer in the eye, and establish a mutually agreeable price for the trade-in. If you don't like the deal, walk away and find another dealer. Most any dealer can order most any gun, unless we're talking about rare antiques.

DG

[farmbif]

I guess the reason I saw I'm Leary unless you know and trust owner. there was a gun shop not too far from me that had at least 1000 guns. it was almost like a museum but everything had a price tag then all of a sudden like overnight with no notice the place was closed and all the guns were gone. its this plus the fact that I once had dealings with a consignment place, dropped off an antique sailboat sewing machine in mint condition and the same thing happened, overnight the place was cleaned out and gone with no notice or way to find the people or merchandise.

[JoeJames]

I have sold several over the years on consignment though my local gun shop. They charge 10%. On at least three occasions I had first shown them at a local gun show without any hits. The local shop just gets a bunch of traffic of folks who normally don't go to gun shows. Once the gun shop made me an offer up front on one I was going to show in their shop on consignment. It was too good an offer to refuse when taken in conjunction with a rifle they had for sale.

[Otony]

Why not trade it in on your desired purchase?

All of the above information is valid, but changes from shop to shop. A straight out sale to most dealers will result in a low ball offer. The dealer will resell the gun and desires to make a profit, so the old axiom about "buy low and sell high" is at work.

A Pawn Shop is usually very much the same, but often more so.

A gun placed on consignment will be charged a percentage commission by the hosting dealer, amount varying from dealer to dealer. The consignment gun may be handled by numerous prospective customers and the idly curious, some possibly damaging the firearm by improper handling like those imitating James Cagney and doing the one-handed cylinder flip of a revolver.

Gunbroker charges a fee to the seller, and as you are aware there is the FFL transfer problem, and a fee will be charged on both ends, by the shipping FFL and the receiving FFL.

But, if you make it part of the deal on your new pistol you're standing there looking the dealer in the eye, and establish a mutually agreeable price for the trade-in. If you don't like the deal, walk away and find another dealer. Most any dealer can order most any gun, unless we're talking about rare antiques.

DG

Trades seldom generate a much higher offer than what the dealer would offer to simply buy it. A bit more perhaps, in the case of a very valuable or desirable firearm the dealer may offer up to 75% but typically it is only about 10% more than an outright purchase.

But you are absolutely correct, it all varies from shop to shop, cost wise. It pays to ask around.

Frankly, I shudder when someone brings in a high quality gun on consignment because I have to be extra diligent that customers don’t damage it. Yes, I’ve seen the “Cagney flip” all too often, but more commonly is the stock being banged into the counter along with a feeble “oops”.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Jim,
Read the consignment contract carefully.
If you end up being unhappy with the performance of the LGS, and want to take you gun home, there is likely a fee, as well as, NICS check paperwork.

[Otony]

Jim,
Read the consignment contract carefully.
If you end up being unhappy with the performance of the LGS, and want to take you gun home, there is likely a fee, as well as, NICS check paperwork.

Yes, that is typically the case. We have to run a NICS check to return the firearm, there has to be paperwork to justify its disposition. Our shop charges $15 to do so, but in the case of a customer who does a fair amount of business with us, that fee is oftentimes waived. No idea what other shops might charge.

We charge no other fees, and the buyer pays only the purchase price and taxes. Pretty straight forward.

Another thing to be aware of is layaway. Some shops allow layaways, we do for example. Ours are for 90 days, so no payment forthcoming until the purchase is completed. If you are hoping for a quick turnaround, that can complicate matters.

If the buyer who places a gun on layaway is a known customer with a good buying record, we may cash out the seller early, but that is not guaranteed.

I have seen consigned guns sell in a day, and others will sit for ages. It isn’t always about price, obviously it has more to do with desirability.

[JoeJames]

There are some folks who like to haggle a bit, but usually those quite a bit younger than I am who are used to Walmart will pay the tag price. But I always put in the agreement a certain amount of wiggle room for those my age. Lately what I've put on consignment has sold for the tag amount which I sho ain't against. I think it is a grand idea!

[Otony]

There are some folks who like to haggle a bit, but usually those quite a bit younger than I am who are used to Walmart will pay the tag price. But I always put in the agreement a certain amount of wiggle room for those my age. Lately what I've put on consignment has sold for the tag amount which I sho ain't against. I think it is a grand idea!

We work with the seller to get his desired price if within reason. Usually we ask to build in a lower acceptable price, typically 25 to 50 bucks less. Or we may start a bit higher to begin with, because hey, everyone wants to bargain.

And bargaining means paying in cash. Don’t think that you can dicker then offer to pay with a debit or credit card. We pay between 3 to 5% for the privilege of letting a customer pay with a card. Want to bargain? Bring cash.

One thing is firm, if it is going on layaway, it is at the posted price, no discounts for a time purchase.

[imashooter2]

Offers to sell the gun for store credit usually get better offers as the dealer gets their profit twice. If you’re going to spend the money there anyway, give it a try.

[Bmi48219]

If / before you go the consignment route look at their current stock. Are they clean and fingerprint free? I had one long gun on consignment for several months. When I stopped to see what they had in the showcase, mine had a couple tarnished spots from not being wiped down after someone ran their sweaty hands all over it. The proprietor had told me all firearms were wiped down daily, right!

[Thin Man]

All my life I have been a firearm "buyer" and extremely rare a "seller". Short summary, I have a quantity of firearms. Over the years I helped many families by evaluating their firearms for various reasons - divorce valuation, to know what insurance value to put on their homeowners policy, death of the owner (the most common of all reasons), the owner has decided to stop hunting (health and/or age limitations), and so on. The most gut-wrenching stories are the family where the firearm owner has passed and the family just wants to liquidate them quickly (even cheaply). This last example really hurts when items are sold off for half or less of the market prices. Vultures and con artists flock to these events and strip the remaining families of their value. To say that this makes me angry is a hard understatement.

I have all but hit the end of my ownership time for firearms. First I will separate out those firearms that will remain with me to the end, then to my wife and daughters. Then I will be using an on-line auction for sales. The owner of the FFL shop that will be catering the sale has stated he will not ask for any payment from the sales. Of course he will have a "first refusal" option, up to a limit. The auction house makes theirs from the "buyer's premium" they stick on every sale. My family will get the full value of the items that sell. All firearms will go to their new owner via an FFL vendor. This last is a hard rule, no questions that I want none of these in the hands of a prohibited buyer. My only challenge is in when this will all begin. Health and age have caught up with me and it is time to make firm decisions. Best of luck to you in finding a new home for your firearm. I recommend that you use a FFL vendor for the transfer for the protection that will afford you.

[anothernewb]

LGS here charges 10%. he'll put out anything shooting related you bring in. He'll suggest a shelf price, but will put firearms at whatever price you set. Never had anything take more than a few days to find a new home. didn't even make it a block away once.

[FISH4BUGS]

My LGS charges 20%. Put it on the shelf, sell it, and you get 80%.
The problem is that few of these guns sell.
The owners think they are worth way too much. The LGS doesn't set the price - the seller does.
I wish they would set the prices - at least they wouldn't be like the Buy Now prices on the auction sites.

[kerplode]

The process is generally this:
- Take your thing to a shop that does consignments.
- Set your price and sign their consignment contract.
- Wait
- Go collect your cut when it sells. (House fee is generally 15-30%)
- If you want it back before it sells, you'll need to do a 4473 and a NICS check.

The shop where I work part time doesn't do consignments anymore. People invariably think their junky old junk is worth a fortune and set the prices WAY too high. If you try to suggest otherwise, they get all offended. So their junky junk sits there taking up space we could use for stuff that will actually sell and make us money. 'Cause 20% of "that ****'s never going to sell" is $0.

And the culture here is very much a layaway culture...Every gun we sell outright, two go on layaway. So we also don't want our layaway safe full of consignment **** that's going to cause us a bunch work tracking payments and such but not make us any money for 9 months or more.

And finally if doesn't sell for a long time, and you get tired of it stinking up your display case, then call them to come get it, they get super mad that they have to pay a transfer fee and do a 4473 with a background check. Some number of these people will then go on to get denied by NICS, which causes a whole other level of drama and generally would force us to buy said junky junk for some low-ball offer then try to figure out what the hell to do with it. This step ALWAYS came with an argument and idle threats of calling lawyers and taking us to court. It's just not worth the ass ache.