Armory Sponsor
Posted: 5/12/2014 6:22:27 PM EDT
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I had a customer call me today and ask me if I would be willing to do an appraisal of his collection for his insurance company. I had never considered this as a service that I could provide so have not put much thought into it.
-Has anyone ever provided an appraisal of a gun collection for a customer? -Do I need to have any special credentials to provide an estimate? -What process would you recommend for evaluating these firearms? -Any idea on a fee structure? $ for modern firearms, $$$$$ for antique or collectible firearms that would need more research? -Anything else I haven't thought of? Thanks for the help! |
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Quoted:
I had a customer call me today and ask me if I would be willing to do an appraisal of his collection for his insurance company. I had never considered this as a service that I could provide so have not put much thought into it. -Has anyone ever provided an appraisal of a gun collection for a customer? -Do I need to have any special credentials to provide an estimate? -What process would you recommend for evaluating these firearms? -Any idea on a fee structure? $ for modern firearms, $$$$$ for antique or collectible firearms that would need more research? -Anything else I haven't thought of? Thanks for the help! Sell him a copy of the Blue Book. 
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Appraisals can be a head ache. I handle each one by a case by case basis to see if I even want to mess with it.
Things to consider... How big of a collection? What type of firearms are they mainly? What's your time worth? Ego aside, what is your level of expertise? Sometimes it's best to do as Tom said. |
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I do them and it's per firearm so it could get pricey!!
The last one I did was for an officer with an individually owned tactical rifle. He sunk a huge chunk of change into this thing and wanted to have his a$$ covered in case of something happening to it. No credentials needed in MO to do this. I research each item, scope, base, mounts, rings, rifle, stock, trigger, case, all equipment, etc and find the price/cost it would be to "replace" each item. I write up a description of each item on a business letter head with cost of each item and then a total amount. I use new prices because that is what it take to replace these items. Old or antique firearms I research on line auctions, sale sites, blue book prices, etc to get a good ball park figure of the value. I usually use selling prices for more common collectible firearms and blue book prices for not so common or rare firearms. I then keep a copy and give the customer a copy. Depending on the equipment depends on how much time you'll spend doing this. I usually get $25.00 per firearm to do this. If they are insuring high dollar collections or tactical equipment they are glad to pay that for this service. |
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