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Taking a collection Inventory ~Need Advice
KarenL7777
Member Posts: 60 ✭✭
Okay gentlemen.. I feel like the lone woman poster here but that's okay.
I am going to be doing an inventory this week of approximately 30 or so (don't have an exact count) firearms and I'm not that knowledgeable about some of the firearms I'll be putting on my inventory list. I'm hoping some of you who are more worldly than me on this subject will be able to give me some pointers on this. Here's a list I came up with I came up of items I think are important to put on my inventory list for each piece:
Manufacturer & Model
Caliber
Serial Number
Country of Origin
If Mag is included & how many rounds
If Paperwork is included any any extras
If its in original box
Any blemishes on firearm and basic overall condition
I know that some of the things on my list may not apply to each piece or that some of these things may not be evident as some of these pieces are in soft cases which I know aren't the original packaging. Is there anything else I should add to my list for my inventory.
Thank you in advance for posting to my thread.
I am going to be doing an inventory this week of approximately 30 or so (don't have an exact count) firearms and I'm not that knowledgeable about some of the firearms I'll be putting on my inventory list. I'm hoping some of you who are more worldly than me on this subject will be able to give me some pointers on this. Here's a list I came up with I came up of items I think are important to put on my inventory list for each piece:
Manufacturer & Model
Caliber
Serial Number
Country of Origin
If Mag is included & how many rounds
If Paperwork is included any any extras
If its in original box
Any blemishes on firearm and basic overall condition
I know that some of the things on my list may not apply to each piece or that some of these things may not be evident as some of these pieces are in soft cases which I know aren't the original packaging. Is there anything else I should add to my list for my inventory.
Thank you in advance for posting to my thread.
Comments
The most difficult task will be to identify each gun. THEN you will see all the unique characteristics that must be identified, & they will vary for many of the guns. For example, many guns should be identified by variation, type of finish, style of wood, barrel length, etc.
Let me suggest that you first buy a copy of The Blue Book of Gun Values by S. Fjestad. It's available at most gun stores & on the Internet. If any gun is not listed there, you will have to do additional research. Start with the first gun, then add headings as need with subsequent guns.
Incidentally, guns should never be stored in soft cases, as they retain the moisture in the air, & the guns will rust.
Neal
Karen, don't be upset if this post gets "frozen" at 10 responses; that's normal. To edit YOUR post, look for the icon of a pencil/pad & click on it; that will allow you more responses.
The problems you ran into are common. I have some shooting friends who could help my wife & children to some extent with evaluating my guns, but that may be asking a lot with some of the guns. That's why I have a file cabinet with a separate folder for each gun; I keep a complete description, & periodically update the value.
Like the guys said, the best way to sell those you don't want is to post them on this site. If you have a digital camera & can follow instructions, it's not difficult. There is a Sellers Tutorial that you can follow through the process.
Neal
I understand what you mean Neal and I'll look for a copy of the book that you've mentioned as I definitely need all of the knowledge that I can get. I do have some knowledge as to some of the things that you mentioned and your post is very helpful.
Here's my situation in a nutshell. Maybe I shouldn't be posting this but here goes. My husband passed away and this is his collection I'm referring to, so here I sit with a collection that he always told me to keep the pieces I'd like to have and liquidate the rest. He was going to do a complete inventory and teach me more about each piece but he passed away so unexpectedly that we didn't have the chance to do this. This is very painful for me to do but something I need to do. And I'm under no duress to sell anything. I just need to find out what I have so I have a place to start.
I did call several gun shops to try to hire someone who was knowledgeable to do an inventory with me and go over each piece so that I know what I have and I can decide what to do with it. Unfortunately, most people who are interested in something like this are dealers and they basically aren't interested in doing an inventory with me - they're interested in buying. They just want to come, look, write me a check and take the stuff which is basically the answer I get from everyone I've called. Please don't take this as me bashing dealers as that's not the case. Like every other person in business, I know that dealers need to buy things at a decent price so they can make money on their end. But, in my beloved husband's words, it would be "Stupid with a Capital S" of me to allow someone to come in, look and write me a check, without knowing what I have to begin with.
I assume you will all agree with me here. Again you dealers out there, please don't take my post as offensive as that's not what I intended. I totally understand that me asking a gun dealer to help me with an inventory is a conflict of interest for them since they buy and sell firearms, and they need to put food on their table just like I do.
I'd be open to any suggestions that anyone has as to if hiring someone knowledgeable might be the better choice, and if so, how do I go about hiring someone who will help me.
Combined Posts since I found the edit button. Ty
I can't find where to edit a post but I wanted to say thank you to Neal for mentioning about the soft cases. I had a few pieces here at the house which I put with the rest of the collection and the soft cases aren't zipped but I will remove them completely from the soft cases. These pieces weren't originally stored in soft cases. I just laid them in the soft cases so they wouldn't get scratched. All of the pieces are stored together with moisture protection.
Another Post to combine:
Thank you Peary for the post. I did see some paperwork with the transfers but unfortunately, I know I won't have that info on each piece but I will look through the paperwork and see if I can find it. I don't have the luxury of knowing what was paid for each piece in this situation so I'm mostly going to have to go by fair market value.
******
Edited to Conserve Posts:
Thank you all for your condolences and your kindness. Sorry for the edit but as I said in my other thread I started in this section, I didn't realize that I get a limited amount of posts. So sorry. Maybe a moderator can move these threads to general discussion or they can instruct me on how to continue my threads in general discussion so the kind people posting don't use up their posts. Am I allowed to post in general discussion with a link to this thread or is that a no no??
Thank you all also for your great info and replies. My husband recently passed away and for me, this is a way of dealing with my grief and keeping myself busy. He would be proud of me that I took the bull by the horns and dove in because he was that kind of guy.
Gee.. Excellent suggestion on alot of pics which was what I planned on doing and about asking one of my husband's friends to help. Honestly, I dont know that any of them are anywhere near as knowledgeable as he was. Rhmc24.. TY for the excellent info and I will look for those things you mention and record them. CHGOT.. TY for the heads up on the software. I did search and find the thread with links. Henry.. TY for the user names of people who may be able to help me in my area and for the dibs idea. I would have no problem with that. And awesome of you to offer the nice cleaning kit to GB members. Competent.. TY for the great info and good advice. I'm not in a rush at all and even if I were, you can't really rush things without knowing what you have and what you're doing.
I deeply appreciate all of your posts. Ya know.. I read this board before I posted and I had a feeling that this was a good group of people here.. and I see I was right. Thank you all. I'll come back and check for edited posts so you all aren't using up your minimum 10 posts.. and hopefully edited posts don't count towards post count.
Sorry for your loss. I have been involved with these more then I'd like latley, and it's a tough situation.
Check with a shooting friend that your late husband had, maybe he belonged to a club, and someone would be willing to help in the evaluation. That and the Blue Book may help since it is difficult to estimate the difference between 70% & 90% unless you know a little about guns. There are many people willing to help that don't have interest in buying the guns, but have interest in guns. And the book is your "check" to make sure they are a friend.
If you take pictures & post them here the group at GB is normally knowledgeable. If you deside to sell the gun(s)you will get the top price here.
Best of luck, let the group know how they can help, and I'm confident they will.
I think ruger270man, deerslayer 270, and some of the Boogers are from PA. They might know someone willing to assist with a simple ID and evaluate. It might be an incentive to someone to help you if you offered dibs on buying at least one of the guns that will be sold, if any.
As long as your going through them get lots of digital photos of the visible markings on all of them, can't hurt. With plenty of photos you can expect reasonbly educated estimates from folks here.
http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=259735
Manufacturer & Model
Caliber
Serial Number
Country of Origin
If Mag is included & how many rounds
If Paperwork is included any any extras
If its in original box
Any blemishes on firearm and basic overall condition
is an excellent start.
I'll also add, the firearm business is somewhat "seasonal." Now, at the end of Summer, people can be recovering (financially) from Summer spending (vacations) and are focused in getting children back in school.
Once the Fall sets in, sales of firearms will increase until about Christmas. After Christmas, demand drops (people have spent their discretionary money) until after tax season in the Spring.
If you are not in any "rush" to sell -- as you mention -- just be aware of these seasonal effects, and be patient with the sales.
Along with the idea of being patient -- I do not know how long it has been since your husband passed, but most psychologists would probably tell you to not make any significant financial/personal decisions for at least a year -- it has to do with the stages of grief. If your husband has passed just this past Summer, I would suggest not making and decisions about selling until next Fall. Of course the primary reason for that advice is to avoid being "victimized" when you are vulnerable -- and from your posts it sounds like you have a good handle on the situation in doing research before selling.
This forum and the auction can be good sources to help you in determining the value of what you have.
Edit for clarification about the "10 posts": The moderators can (and do) lock the thread after about 10 replies (I think they should let some posts run longer, but it is their board, they can make what rules they like).
You can start a post on the General Discussion board and link to this post. They can move a thread too; maybe they will if they read your comments.
If a thread gets locked, you can start another one if you are still looking for more input, but that can get confusing if people are commenting about posts in a previous thread. The better thing is to just start a thread in General Discussion -- though the discussion can sometimes waiver waaaay off topic there.