A couple of years ago I inherited my father-in-law's collection. It consists of 110+ firearms. I have made the decision to sell them. I considered the various options.

1) Take to local gun dealer. I ruled this out due to the low offers that are typical.

2) Sell individually. This would likely maximize the amount I get but I have no interest in taking the amount of time necessary to do this.

3) Take to gun show. As with selling individually, this could take quite a bit of time and effort to sell them.

4) Auction. This is what I have chosen and I have been in contact with Rock Island. I realize they take 25% and I am OK with this. I have been very impressed with them in my discussions so far. I am ready to pull the trigger on this option but I have a remaining concern. It is that my FIL's collection is quantity not quality. Most of his firearms praise for $300 or so. Many less, a few higher. My concern is that RIA seems to auction collector firearms and not run-of-the-mill firearms. They said they would bundle items together into about $1,000 lots. I worry that the people that might be interested in my items do not participate in RIA auctions and they would go for very low amounts or not sell at all. I guess I am wondering if RIA is the right auction company or are there others out there that are better suited for my items.

You could always try putting a few on Gunbroker.com with no reserve and see how it goes.

The auctions around here get stupid with guns and they go way higher than normal.  Shit this weekend 1000 rds of 9mm went for $345 at an action. It's stupid

You could also consign them with a dealer. Dealer will still take a percentage, but it's not an all-or-nothing one-shot deal, they either sell at an acceptable price to you, or you eventually get them back when you or the dealer get sick of sitting on them.

I have been watching Rock Island auctions for years, the low end stuff does go for very little. As another member above mention the small local auctions do much better. I was at one here in CT a few weeks ago intending to buy a small .22 rifle for my 4 year old nephew and the 3 that were there went for more then I could buy theme at a gun store. I dont know what state your in but I would think you would do better at a small auction.

Are these local auction companies specific to firearms or are they typically just the general small local auction companies?

Not sure what part of the county you are in but here are a couple of local (FL) places that you can check out their recent prices gained at auction.

They handle smaller dollar items.

Affiliated

Centurion

I used to work there. They will lot things together how they "think" will bring good money. Sometimes you are left with a few very different types of guns and stick them together at the end. I always thought the prices they got were crazy high. They will take 25% and it will be awhile before your items are sold. Your items will be moved around the warehouse multiple times and could be smacked around/dropped. I have also seen items go for really low prices with the house winning in the end. I heard some horror stories about the early online auctions but don't know how well they do nowadays. Good luck!

They one I attend most Thursday nights have guns twice a year, they hold guns and other hunting/fishing stuff for one or two specific Saturday auctions. There is a specific auction in Vermont that is well known to bring even better prices that dealers bring their low end stuff to get even a better price across the board. I dont know how often they do guns but I have only been there a few times. What state are you in?

Do it yourself on Gunbroker.

Always ship long guns in a proper box.

Proper boxes may be purchased from Fulton Armory.
I think the current price delivered for a proper long gun box is $25.

Take good pics.

Write good desriptions.

Use Photobucket (or similar) to host unlimited number of photos for each auction.
This is the HTML code you use to get Photobucket pics to show up in the text portion of a Gunbroker auction (replace the asterisk with the URL for the pic): <img src="*">

Use the <br> code to create hard line breaks so you don't inflict wall-of-text on buyers.

The process is time consuming. But, if done competently, and deliberately, you will probably be satisfied with the outcome.
Gunbroker doesn't rape you on fees.

Guns always bring good prices at the local auctions here.  Winning bid always seems to be over the "I can buy that somewhere today" price.  Some are estate sales.  Others take place at the auction house.  I believe the transaction is handled like a private face to face sale.  Find a local auctioneer and ask.  I would suggest only doing a handful of guns at a time to keep from saturating the market on that given day.

I would take them to a local store.  Put them on Consignment.  15-20% and lower priced items can sell pretty fast.  You do this for a few months, collect a bunch of checks, maybe have a few left over that didn't sell, then drop the price and give it another couple months.  Someone will buy them when you hit that magic price.

Went to see an auction of a large collection by a gun educated local auctioneer. Although he auctions all kinds of things and he personally invited me, I lasted about 30 minutes. All the auctioned guns went at least 30% higher than I would have thought a fair value and it was clear there would be no bargains. He knew how to draw his customers by targeted advertising and was knowledgeable about the items. So don't necessarily rule out a local guy. 

I live about 30 minutes from rock Island, small town here we have an auction service here that has gun auctions every once and a while, I've seen 200-300 plus people at them. and I've never bought anything cause I think shit goes HI

I guess I'm saying check with another auction house

In for info.

Sell some in the EE.

There's a local auctioneer that's does a once a month consignment auction.

He also does regular auction services including estate auctions.

You might try finding an auctioneer near you to do a "firearms estate auction."  They would typically print up fliers and I'd expect you would get decent prices.  Most auctions around here end up selling guns for a good bit more than retail.  

And the good auctioneers know this and how to promote and encourage it.   Percentage money in their pocket.

Don't use Rock Island. Use a local auction company. You want the good old boys bidding on your stuff, not serious collectors who are going to turn their nose up at common guns.

With 110 guns you've got about the right number to have a good local sale. I didn't see where you're from but here in Missouri, especially outside the big cities, a gun auction is a big deal and sometimes the guns bring really good prices. Between ordinary auction fever, prohibited buyers picking up non-papered guns and the Amish/Mennonite buyers guns often go for more than they're worth.

Yes, I said unpapered. If an auctioneer is selling guns for ONE CLIENT he's simply acting as an agent and does not have to be a licensed gun dealer. These sorts of auctions are cash and carry, no 4473, no NICS. THese are the sales that bring the most money for guns. A true consignment auction where the auctioneer takes possession of guns from multiple owners requires an FFL and all the associated paperwork. You want the good old fashioned single source gun auction. Get the old men in bib overalls, the Mennonites and the toothless rednecks with criminal records bidding on your dad's guns and you'll do great.

ETA: Some states have their own gun laws so a good ole redneck auction may not be possible where you are. In free America it happens all the time. The local gun nuts know which auctioneers have the good auctions. Ask around.

I agree with this.

I have consigned three or four of my guns at a local gun store.  They took 15% and all I had to do was drop them off with some basic contact info and an asking price.

For 110 firearms? That would be a ridiculous amount of time and work. While that would likely net the largest amount you have to offset that with what you think your time and effort is worth.

I recently used a local auctioneer to liquidate a little more than half of my accumulation, around 40 rifles, shotguns and handguns. He got 25% and in the end I did not make a killing, but I got a lot more than I thought I would. Even factoring in inflation I more than broke even over what I had paid for everything.

Thanks for all the good ideas. I do not have the time or desire to try to sell them individually even if it increases what I will get.

I really like the idea of trying to find a local auction company to sell them. I am in western ohio. If anyone knows of an auction company in the Dayton/Cincinnati area I would be interested in hearing about them.

Thanks again.

If you have anything related to a Winchester 1300 12 ga or something that I can rebarrel into a 308 scout rifle, I would be interested.

Hey OP - any chance of having a M1 carbine in the mix - if so please send me a IM

Thanks,

Red

If you haven't done so already, you might ask in the Ohio Hometown Forum.

Not in your area of the state but I would definitely contact Apple Tree auction in Newark, OH. They have firearm auctions 3-4 times a year. Usually 2-300 guns and they will auction accessories, reloading, ammo, etc also.
I have been to several. I've got a couple deals but most stuff goes for typical gunbroker or classified prices in my opinion.

Maybe you can give me first look at some of them for the recommendation if it works out for you.  

If your local auction house uses an online link like Proxybid, the guns will be seen by a lot more bidders.

Place a list on the Equipment Exchange and see what happens.

If you are not in a hurry Gunbroker is the place.

I would post an itemized list here in the EE, no pics and with prices you want then accept offers as they come in.

That is what I did after my divorce. Made a lot more that way.  I found an FFL that would ship anything for me for $35.  

With 100 guns that would be what I would do.

25% is a huge chunk unless you have some really rare and exotic guns.

Op put an ad up on this site and set a price. I bet you make several thousand more if you put in a little time and very likely the firearms will go to some very good new owners!

OP, put u a list of what you have and sell it as a package deal here. (All 110 or 2 -3 lots) what is the lot worth in your opinion? 25k?  75k?

I've been doing basically exactly what you're doing. I ended up going the Gunbroker route for a couple of reasons: 

1) If your description is more than a copy/paste of your listing title, and your prices aren't crazy, you'll get bids. 
2) The bids often surprise you. I generally have a pretty good idea of gun values and I've been (pleasantly) surprised FAR more often than the opposite. 
3) It's not actually very hard. A few photos, especially of the key concerns with a given gun (e.g. bore condition on milsurps, finish on newer items, and weak spots for specific designs) go a long way. 
4) The fees are extremely reasonable, especially compared to e.g. Ebay. 

If you find a local dealer willing to ship for you, it's even better. A local FFL has handled all of my handgun shipping and some of the rifle business. He charges more for a rifle than it costs me to do it myself, but the difference is about $20--well worth the expense most of the time. Dealers are often drowning in boxes, so no need to buy any (although a cheap hard case goes a long way for expensive items). 

unsure if you have much interest in guns, but getting a couple gun show tables may let you trade up into something you like.

If your up to it put a list of the guns here, you'll probably get a good idea of what they're really worth and definitely get some offers.

If it's really good/interesting military guns, Simpson Ltd may take some of it as well.  They don't normally do single guns but I had an unusual Mauser they sold for me.  Got about 20% more than I was asking on Gunbroker with no bids and sold it in 48 hours.  RIA estimated me about what I had it listed for on Gunbroker on the high end and it would have been about 4 months before they could have sold it.  RIA is probably great if you have something really high value/Forgotten Weapons tier or a10-20 guns at $1000+/per unit collection but not for run of the mill stuff.  I find on Gunbroker that unless you have a lot of feedback or a following it can be hard to sell - the aforementioned gun is one example, the other was an unusual Arisaka I only got about 60% of what I wanted.  The problem with cosigning at a a lot of local gun stores near me is they don't get a lot of new/random traffic, it's mostly regulars (and I'm a regular at a few places) so that means typically if their normal clientele doesn't grab it the first week it is there, it could be sitting for a long time, especially now with the market really slowing up so if you want cash sooner rather than later I would not go this route.

I buy at local auctions all the time, and sell too on occasion.  My favorite is a little place that gives you a few lines about the gun in the catalog and leaves it up to you to look it over and decide what you've got in your hands.  Nothing fancy, but I've typically done pretty well selling common stuff there when I needed money fast, while they can be a good place for deals on stuff Elmer Fudd doesn't have more than guncounter level knowledge of which may not work out well if you're trying to sell say a Walther Model 4 with WWI era military proofs, which has a really specific buyer.  I've found these can be really sensitive though to events- for instance, you want to buy at tax time or around Christmas, not sell.

On the other hand this one local place puts out a real nice catalog and does tons of advertising, and the prices are just insane.  Not just "I could buy it off the internet today" prices, often they go straight to "you're a sucker" prices.  Good for the seller though, as I find at these places even the low end stuff brings goofy money - guy gets outbid a few times, decides he isn't leaving empty handed, and suddenly your Remington 700 is valued like a custom built Mauser.  If you don't go to sales, the best way to find these places is to see if they post their results and cross reference with gunbroker or someone knowledgeable.

Some other tips - find out when consignments open and end for the auction you're at.  I find stuff at the end will typically bring less as people are leaving or have blown their cash, while if it's the first lot everyone might not quite be settled in and ready to bid yet, leading to stuff going a bit low.  So if you have say a 3 week window to consign, either hit them week 1 if you have awesome stuff so they can get the word out, or week 2 so it will be midpack.  Of course I second putting up a listing in EE - sell what you can and take the rest to auction.

If the guns are in a low value range, talk to a local auctioneer that has an FFL.
Auction them locally.
There are gun auctions 3-5 times a year in my locale.
Guns range from run of the mill to somewhat collectable.
The auction fees will likely be lower.
People seeing the gun in person sometimes will loosen the wallets of the bidders.

A local guy just bought a collection of 100+ guns and paid $500 each, some worth less some worth more.  $62K to the seller, buyer has to deal with the liquidation.  I am sure you can find a buyer like that as well.