Your sage advice appreciated

[tbickle]

First, I apologize if this is in the wrong section.

And second I apologize if the picture sizes are annoying.

Ok, here goes: A beloved family member recently passed away unexpectedly. I've been tasked with going through his things and creating an inventory for estate valuation purposes. He was an avid sportsman and collector of all things related to that...to a fault (you can barely walk in his house). I was directed to this community for a rough estimate of what he has and how I should value it/other considerations. I wish I would have spent more time with him and learned about reloading, but, alas, life seems to work out that way. Any help is greatly appreciated.

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[tbickle]

Continued:

106295106296106297106298106299106300

Again, thanks for any direction you may offer.

[Sweetpea]

Wow...

You've got your work cut out for you!

First, let's get a location, see if there is a member nearby that may be willing to help sort and price items.

Pretty much everything shown could be sold here pretty easily, if the price is reasonable. Powder and Primers will be much easier face to face only, and the powder may only be good for fertilizer.

To sell on this forum, you will need at least 30 days membership, and at least 25 relevant posts. (Me too) doesn't count.

The dies and other tools could be sold on Ebay, or maybe gunbroker or similar, as well as the components.

Feel free to ask any more questions.

Brandon

[tbickle]

Thanks, Brandon, that's the kind of info I'm after! That, and if anyone has a gut-feeling, rough ballpark (enough qualifiers?) estimate of what I should put on the inventory as a value for his reloading supplies.

Location is a couple hours east of Pittsburgh PA.

[Zymurgy50]

The best I could help you with would be;
$20 for steel die sets, $30 for carbide die sets
The bullets you are gonna have to inventory and maybe check an online retailer to get an idea.
I dont know of too many people who would buy opened cans of powder, but any sealed powder would sell fast at $20/lb. Just remember that shipping powder or primers is ONE BIG HASSLE!!!

Sorry but I can not see the pics in your second post, no idea what you have there.

[Sweetpea]

Gosh...

Putting a value on it, Lock, Stock, and Barrel, would need a detailed inventory list, as many of those component boxes are probably only partials, and the dies and other equipment may be superb, or partially rusty?

If you need to put a value on the whole thing for the family, that's quite a chore.

My advice would be the same as eating an elephant... One sandwich at a time.

Start with one end, and slowly list items, and as they sell, keep moving down the line.

Trying to make a complete inventory and sell it all at the same time can be done with a proper spreadsheet setup, but IMHO, you're probably going to want to pull your hair out just keeping track of it, not to mention sending out 5000 packages all at once.

Brandon

[tbickle]

The best I could help you with would be
$20 for steel die sets, $30 for carbide die sets
The bullets you are gonna have to inventory and maybe check an online retailer to get an idea.
I dont know of too many people who would buy opened cans of powder, but any sealed powder would sell fast at $20/lb. Just remember that shipping powder or primers is ONE BIG HASSLE!!!

Thanks. Yeah, from the few other people I've asked about it it seems that the open powder is probably not worth anything. I've heard some people collect the old empty cans, though. Are they worth keeping?

[Sweetpea]

Yes, the empty cans are probably worth a couple bucks each.

[starmac]

If you do not know what you are looking at, you really need to get someone that does to make sure die sets are comeplete and value them, all dies are not created equal as far as price goes. The powder, primers and loaded ammo, will likely sell quick and easy through what ever local classifieds you have available. The rest could be sold here with decent pictures, and you could even sell it auction style if you don't know what it is worth.

[tbickle]

Gosh...

Putting a value on it, Lock, Stock, and Barrel, would need a detailed inventory list, as many of those component boxes are probably only partials, and the dies and other equipment may be superb, or partially rusty?

If you need to put a value on the whole thing for the family, that's quite a chore.

My advice would be the same as eating an elephant... One sandwich at a time.

Start with one end, and slowly list items, and as they sell, keep moving down the line.

Trying to make a complete inventory and sell it all at the same time can be done with a proper spreadsheet setup, but IMHO, you're probably going to want to pull your hair out just keeping track of it, not to mention sending out 5000 packages all at once.

Brandon

Yeah, I apologize for my over-zealousness. I actually wish I was at the point where I could just inventory and sell things. All I'm doing now is trying to estimate rough values for estate tax purposes since there is a short window to file those. It would take years to go through everything sufficiently on my weekends off. And the reloading was only a small part of his "collecting" habit.

[Uncle Jimbo]

First, let's get a location, see if there is a member nearby that may be willing to help sort and price items.

I agree with sweetpea, there are a lot of members here that would probably help you out if we knew where you are located.

[David2011]

Estate taxes are immoral. Every item your friend had was paid for with money that had already been taxed. Now the government wants to tax it again. There's no reason to value things at top dollar for the tax man. I've bought plenty of dies sets at $10-$15 at gun shows. Opened powder would only have value to someone who knew your friend as a gift. Most people won't buy opened powder because they can't know 100% that the contents match the label. Sealed powder, I agree, would be worth about $20. Individuals cannot ship powder or primers so local face-to-face is the only outlet. Primers are usually found in cases of 5,000 which is 5 sleeves of 1,000 which is 10 individual packages of 100 each. Prices on primers have come back down to the new normal of about $3.00/hundred. I've bought primers as low as $2.00/hundred recently at a gun show. These aren't the average price; they're the low end price but at the same time the tax man would have trouble arguing about them. Anything that's incomplete should have a very low value or no value. Tools- $2-$3 as far as the tax man is concerned unless they're cheap tools that were only a dollar new. Those will garage sale for $0.25. You can look at www.midwayusa.com for the value of bullets, prorate to the actual eyeballed quantity in the box and then value them at 60% of that for less popular sizes and 80% for popular calibers like 9mm (.355), .40 (.401), .44 (.429), .45 (.451), .224 and .308. By no means is that list perfect but it's a start.

You might try posting the second set of pictures again since they don't open. If there are reloading presses they sell pretty easily if the prices are right. I don't mean giveaway but so much of what's in E-bay right now is just overpriced and therefore no bids are made. I regularly see RCBS "JR" series presses for $70 and up for a press that wasn't that much new. It's not "vintage;" it's an old used press. I have one and figure that it's worth $35-$40 if I decided to sell it.

My two cents worth. . .
David

[oldfart1956]

tbickle if you're a coupl'a hours from Pittsburg I should be able to see your house from here! HAW!HAW!HAW! I'm in Greencastle, Pa. by the way. Anyways, I read your post before going to work last night and pondered on it all night. As posted, the tax man already got his bite once and I wouldn't over-value the items because unless you want to make 50,000 trips to the post office and spend months packaging before that the actual value isn't that high. I'd love to see the other items(attachments won't open) just to peek in. But...it all comes down to how much time do you want to spend on it? Time (and aggravation) is money. What you need is someone who deals in bulk/estate purchases of this nature. And I know a guy! Ed Kennedy is the owner of Ed's Sport Shop Inc. up in Tamaqua Pa. His kids are running the shop now and Ed travels to gun shows selling (literally tons) of stuff he bought at estate sales. The shop by the way is just a bit north of the Cabela's store in Hamburg, Pa. if that helps. Give him a call. Phone number is (570) 668-1080 and their hours on his card read Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m. till 7 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. They have a website at www.edssportshop.com as well. Let whoever answers the phone know you need to talk to Ed, and why. Send them an e-mail with an attachment of the photos you posted. Be sure and note in the subject line...estate reloading items for sale. Ed and his family are great folks. Audie...the Oldfart.

[LeadRecycler]

Depending on which direction you are calling "east," I may be able to lend a hand as well. My mother lives in Altoona, and I will be in that area for a good bit to do some work on her house.

[brassrat]

tbickle lol

[tbickle]

Depending on which direction you are calling "east," I may be able to lend a hand as well. My mother lives in Altoona, and I will be in that area for a good bit to do some work on her house.

Northeast of Pittsburgh would have been a more accurate description on my part. About 30 miles north of Altoona.

Thanks again for the tips. You have a great community here. I'll be sure to keep posting and engage the locals when it comes time to sort things.

[Wayne Smith]

Oldfart has the right idea. Let a professional handle it. He will low ball you, but he handles all the work and has to make a profit, too. Just hauling all that stuff out of there will be a job! If there are some large items, like reloading presses, that you want to handle you may maximize the profit you get from those for the family. If you know nothing about them post pics of them here and a lot of us can give you some reality based value.

[DR Owl Creek]

You do have your work cut out for you. You've been given a lot of good advise so far too.

I would add that in order to make sure you (or your friends) don't take too big of a hit on the values, you need to have an accurate inventory of what you have. Microsoft Excel is your friend. If you haven't used it before, don't worry. Its easy to use. If you can type, you can use it. It would help if you had a lap-top you could take to where the stuff is located. If not, box the stuff up and take it where you have a computer.

Do a separate spread sheet for each category of items: one for dies, one for components, one for factory ammo, etc. Don't worry about alphabetizing the items. Excel will do that for you.

For example, with the dies, list the manufacturer in column one, list the calibers in column two, give a brief description in column three, list its condition in column four, leave column five blank for pricing. You can put anything else you want in there too. For factory ammo, etc, you should also have quantities. Once you have everything entered into Excel, sort column one (manufacturers) alphabetically, and column two (calibers) in ascending value. You can then use that spreadsheet to add pricing. As said above, go to Midway (www.midwayusa.com) or Mid South Shooters Supply (www.midsouthshooters.com) for current market values. You'll have to factor these prices later based on condition, etc.

This may sound like a lot of work, but it will have to be done. If you don't do it, the attorney for the executor of the estate or his paralegal will do it. They charge an hourly rate based upon the number of MINUTES they work on it, in most jurisdictions. You should also keep a written record of what you do, AND how much time you spend on it. When you're done, you can submit a bill to the estate, and be paid a reasonable rate for your time by the executor. In the long run, you'll save them a lot of money.

Dave

[shooter93]

I'm near State College Pa. probably the closest to you. Let me know if I can be of any help.

[dbosman]

If there are taxes due, remember everything steel and iron depreciates tremendously. Rust. It's just terrible how fast it can ruin things.
Some of those die sets might bring $1.
Bullets are bad news. Some of us will help you dispose of them and probably pay the postage just to help out.

If there are no taxes due, we'll help out with valuations.
;)

[tbickle]

Thanks a ton guys. I'll be checking back in soon.

Shooter93. His house is around a half hour from State College. I may take you up on that offer.

By the way, these were the pics that didn't work on the first page:

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[MaryB]

I would take the offer of a local to help inventory and price it all, pay him by letting him pick a few items for his time. Or give him the primers that can't be shipped, and the powder.

[dh2]

value it very cheap, it is only worth what you can get out of it , and some one is going to have a lot of time finding out what is there and selling it of piece by peace, and any one who buys the whole lot is going to stay cheap enough to know there money is safe.

[MtGun44]

I did one of these estimates a few years back. Big PITA, the guy wanted "retail, current prices"
so I gave him that, even though I pointed out that most of the stuff should really bring 10-20% of
new or at best 40% for some items. I offered him a lowball price to take the whole thing - it would
have been months of work to sell it all, so I offered about half of what I though I might eventually
get. He seemed insulted and never called back - did pay me $50 for the two days work to
do the inventory, what I asked and too cheap, I finally realized.

I would recommend that you have to paths that are reasonable: 1. getting someone that knows
what it all is to give you a single price for all of it. This will probably be about 1/3 to 1/2 of what
you may eventually get selling it by the piece. 2. Sell it here or other online places a few pieces
or one set (like a set of reloading dies) at a time. This maximizes your return, and will take
months of work and lots of trips to the post office.

Your choice, how much is your time worth? How bad to you need the money? Only you can
work out this equation for yourself.

Bill

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

Good advice. Been there and done this...successfully. PM me if you have any specific questions.

[loaded303]

I will buy it all for $250. Dave has a good point.

[Uncle Jimbo]

I too would be willing to buy it all as a lot if the price was reasonable. Just saying.

[dbosman]

I think most of us would drive cross country, and perhaps fording rivers, if that was the asking price. ;)


I will buy it all for $250. Dave has a good point.

[loaded303]

Nah. I'd pay for shipping. Wink

[bedbugbilly]

Having settled several estates, I would not get too carried away as far as trying to determine a value on each individual item. Say he had 200 die sets - yes, if you put them on Ebay, etc., you might get $15 to $25 a set for them - BUT - you have the time to photograph them, list them, sell them and ship them - that is going to take a lot of time for someone to do. To liquidate the assets, you might hold an auction. Tjose same die sets are only worth what some willing buyer is willing to pay on the day of the auction. No sportsmen there - they might not even get a bid.

In doing an estate inventory - you want to put a reasonable and moderate value on the items - the total will determine the estate tax. If an item is valued at $100, but when it is sold at auction it only brings $50 - (and this often happens) - you have overvalued the item. On the other hand, it could bring $150 but in the long run, it will usually average out as other items will sell high and some low.

It looks like he had a big collection of items - but I would not get too carried away in "itemizing" each item. It is going to have to be sorted through but if you take it a step at a time and divide the items up - i.e. - put all loading dies in one spot - he had a total of 200 die sets - I'd put it as one lot of 200 die sets @$5.00/ea. Yes, they could be sold for more if a person takes the time but time is money and an administrator usually gets paid for that time. Loading dies are a "speciality item". Yes, we here know what they are but I can guarantee you that if you put them in a general household auction, the auctioneer is going to lay them out - start out by selling them at "so much" - your choice - and after the selling slows down, they will be sold off in lots - probably at a very cheap price.

Some items will have "no value" and won't even be listed. Handtools - do it by the toolbox - ie. 1 box misc. hand tools @ so much. It might include a hammer, hacksaw, screwdrivers, etc. but they really don't have a lot of value.

Powders & primers - you are not a hand loader - you are afraid they might fall into the hands of someone who will misuse them so you "dispose" of them in a safe manner. You don't want to have them in the house (if it is an estate and unoccupied) where someone could break in and have access to them . . .

Some items will have "no value". They just aren't worth even worrying about. Another trap not to fall in to is "sentimental value". You may have known the man and worked with him - you saw him use his hammer all the time and it reminds you of him so you tend to think it is "worth something". It isn't. It's a hammer. You can get one anywhere.

A professional appraiser would come in and take a look at what you have pictured. His job is to put a blue on the personal property. He may look at what you are showing us, sort through a few things, and then, knowing that some folks re-load, know that there is some value to it. But, he'll probably do a very general overview of it and then list it as one lot of reloading supplies - $500.00. If it all goes to auction, it might bring more - or - it could all sell for $200.

On some things, you just have to look at it this way. If you are an administrator who is being paid to settle an estate (this might not be your case but your time is worth something - whether you are charging or not) how much is a die set that might sell for $20 really worth? If you take the time to sell it on eBay - you photograph it, you list it, you ship it, you pay the eBay fees and PayPal fees . . . have you made any money? If you are getting $20 and hour to Administrate - have you made anything on the die set? Nope.

I'm not advocating trying to "pull something" and get out of paying taxes, but you don't want to have to pay more than you are required. In some circumstances, some folks would consider all of "grump's reloading stuff" as worthless and it could end up in a dumpster and not be listed at all on an inventory - the same as a fork with a broken tine, a box of plumbing parts in a box in the bottom of a sink cabinet or a pile of scrap wood out in the barn.

In the long run, you really need to get some advice from the attorney handling the estate and probably employ the services of a professional certified appraiser. They cost money - I think I paid about $900 on my mother's estate for an appraisal which was a lot of stuff. In the long run though, it's money well spent and can save having problems down the road in terms of the estate tax or a disgruntled heir.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

To get full value of the stuff you have, take a look at what the same item is selling for on midwayusa. Then multiply midway's asking price by .80 and let that be your starting price. Note: That's for stuff in like new, excellent condition cleaned and lubed. Adjust appropriately and add money for shipping or give your price as: "$XX.XX shipped." I've found you can always go down, but it's tough raising a price if you're priced low.

All that said, you should seriously consider taking up reloading before you sell off all that nice stuff. You can get lots of help on this forum and your shooting will improve. Nice thing is, you won't have to invest much in equipment. :drinks: