inherited vintage air rifles and spares help needed

[harvey_s]

As this is a rather unique collection of spares and difficult to value accurately even by the serious enthuaiast, never mind the 'armchair' ones - why not allow a one-off unique listing of all the parts and allow PM offers only for individual parts or 'lots'.
That way the BBS membership has access to a rarely offered hoard and the seller can get a true reflection of the worth of the inheritance...he also doesn't HAVE to sell them if he doesn't want to....

It's win, win for everyone and the poor chap at least gets the chance of a decent return....C'mon Mods you know it makes sense

[Josie & John]

I agree with much that has been said so far, in that the top end prices quoted may only be realised over a period of time and would require a great deal of time and effort invested to properly illustrate each item prior to sale. A fair bit of all round knowledge would be required too. Then there is the danger of saturating the market. Some of the more desirable items are likely to see fierce competition between collectors but others may not attract any immediate interest at all. A collective of collectors (do you like that expression????) may work but could result in unwarranted conflict if one particularly desirable item is wanted by several people within.

If a quick disposal is wanted by the seller, then the trade is probably the way to go, rather than auctions with their inevitable delay and commission. There is one business I would recommend as a possible source and that is Protek Supplies of Bognor (they have a website). Easy to deal with and they do turnover lots of vintage items. Not saying they will definitely be interested or offer the highest price, as remember they are in business to make a profit and may end up sitting on the less desirable items for years but selling to Protek would at least keep the parts accessible to collectors if they are subsequently offered for resale. I would add that I have no business relationship with this company, just years of satisfactory transactions.

John

[bat7x64]

please can i say thank you all very much for the help and advice , what i am going to do is have a think now for a couple of days and see where i go from there..


regards

[Garvin]

Just in the interest of balance to what John has said above, I had one extremely unsatisfactory transaction with Protek Supplies of Bognor, although it seems that was an occasion when their usual high standards of customer service slipped.

[antar]

i for one would love to make an offer on a lot , just wish i could afford it all .
im sure selling in lots would be the quickest and most rewarding for everybody concerned .
that would keep it in air gun community . And if anyone needed a spare part then we could sell them
one at a reasonable price .

[Gareth W-B]

Hmmmm. My final take on this is contact member mojohn on here, and ask about selling everything you have as separate lots at one of Holts Auctioneers specialist collectable air gun sales? That way you will get EXACTLY what someone is prepared to pay for each given lot/item, without any grey areas, and that way, people can then put their money where their mouth is, and register to bid by phone, post, internet, or in person?

[johnbaz]

How about booking a few tables at the Sutton Coldfield collectors bash later in the year


Failing that, I would agree that fleabay would return the maximum returns



Cheers, John

[Troubledshooter]

I too would endorse John's recommendation, and approach Vic Turner at 'Protek', on 01243 827500. As a long time collector, Vic knows his stuff.
I've sold surplus to requirement spares to him in the past, and expect to do so again in the future, and he always pays a fair price.
I've also bought items from him, and always had a satisfactory transaction.
Like John, I have no connection with the business, just good deals.
Even though there appears to be little of interest to me, I would love to be able to catalogue and try to value this treasure trove of spares, as I have the time to do it, but, unfortunately, it's too far away.
As has been pointed out, some items will fly off the shelves, but a significant quantity may languish unwanted for years, so this would have to be taken into account should anyone think of purchasing the lot.

[magicesperanto]

please can i say thank you all very much for the help and advice , what i am going to do is have a think now for a couple of days and see where i go from there..


regards

Yes, good plan for now.

Some very good points made on here, it certainly is a quandary what to do with them.

Points which I haven’t seen raised is the following:

Do you have experience of selling on Fleabay?

Are you aware that anything “Gun related” can sometimes get pulled from the Bay? Hassle you don't need.

Edbear made excellent points about how time consuming selling on the Bay can be, but these could be compounded by the above and make it a complete non-starter.

Anyway, you now have a rough idea that your inheritance is certainly worth having, even with the puzzlement, so the best of luck with whatever route you choose.

[CHJF177]

How about booking a few tables at the Sutton Coldfield collectors bash later in the year


Failing that, I would agree that fleabay would return the maximum returns



Cheers, John

Whilst reading the latest posts, the idea of taking a table at one or two arms fairs had formulated in my mind, then I noticed this post.

After taking advice, cataloguing and setting prices for the items, this could be a good and possibly also an enjoyable way of selling some of them.

As there would be sure to be several interested parties in one place.

I don't know where your 'Richmond' is, but if it's the southern one then there is an arms fair at Bisley in I think March.

If it's the northern one, then there are I am sure fairs closer.

Good luck Chris.

[Powderfinger]

You are very welcome to book a table at the Sutton Coldfield fayre for just £20.00. Looking at the excellent collection that you have, I am confident that you would cover your booking and petrol costs within the first ten minutes.

[bat7x64]

i might just start selling the parts myself as i have had a offer of 1 dealer well all i can is it was more of a insult than offer.

regards

[MattyBoy]

i might just start selling the parts myself as i have had a offer of 1 dealer well all i can is it was more of a insult than offer.

regards

All I would say is PLEASE do not sell to a dealer as a job lot

They will simply rip you off as you have already found out from the "insult" of an offer you received from who-ever it was.

Perhaps you would be willing to name them and their offer as it would let the seemingly naeive individuals on here who think that you will get a "decent and honest price" see just how far from the mark they are!!!

I am sorry, but I don't care who has done "good deals" with commercial spares sellers in the past etc. that's all very well but the people who often are the source of the "spares" for sales have, like so many inheritors of "collections" been mercillesly ripped off for the gain of no-one except the business at the "retail outlet"

You only have to watch ARS and hear of the derisory offers people have been made by dealers for items only to find out from the ARS expert that it's worth 5 to 10 times that at auction.

Protect your assets!!!

All the very best

Matty

[air-tech]

There's a lot of stuff there.

I agree fully with edbear that selling the lot individually on the bay, while this will maximise the income, will also maximise the hassle, in a big way - when you take into consideration your time, unless you have a lot of it to spare, well, you may not really be making as much as you thought you would be.

May I suggest a simpler method?

Take decent photos of the lot, with items spread out nicely. Not all in one photo of course, but as you have already taken, a pic with a number of items in it, but now with a bit more effort to properly display the items.

With any photo editing software, just overwrite on the items, say, "£10 - 001" or "£10 each 023" or "£10 / box - 077" or maybe even "£10 / six - 029" all pricing being examples of course, the second number being a reference number for you and the buyer/s. It won't take longer than 5 min per pic to do this, and it is very simple as all you are doing is "marking" the items themselves. An alternative, if you are not handy with photo editing software, and just as simple - pieces of paper next to the items, with the same info on them, and take the photo inclusive.

You then offer up one "photo" up for sale at a time, on here, with the many items in the photo, marked as above.

If you are unsure of the values of certain items, you just put a slightly higher price and make all pricing open to offers. Or offer a "photo" up for valuation prior to pricing, and still open to offers on the asking.

Any buyer will just say they want "ref. 023" and that is sorted. You would then be selling the items to the right people at a fair price. You do need a bit of organisation in maintaining track of what has and has not been sold, and if these have been paid for/sent out, etc, but this is really no big deal. Also the more numerous items are small - so a stock of small jiffys is all you will need. Set a fixed postage price allowing for the cost of these bags, too.

No listing hassles, no commissions, no waiting for auctions to close, no nothing, and you do everything at your own pace, releasing one photo with items on, at a time. Rather than a chore, it could be great fun!

[Troubledshooter]

i might just start selling the parts myself as i have had a offer of 1 dealer well all i can is it was more of a insult than offer.

regards

How do you know it's an insult if you haven't done a proper valuation ?

You will be very lucky if you get an offer of even 50% retail, but more likely to be less for uncatalogued spares, as the dealer has to list and store every single item, then quite possibly keep some of the items for years before selling them, or even writing them off as unsaleable stock, and storage space costs money.

There are some items in your pictures that, as others have already said, are worth a fair bit and will probably sell quite quickly, but the quotes of 'your spares are worth thousands' is pie in the sky until a proper valuation has been done, and you initially said you didn't want the hassle of selling items individually.

My statement that I'd had good selling deals with 'Protek' was from personal experience, as I priced the items I was selling at a sensible level. I have heard of others complaining about allegedly being offered derisory amounts for surplus spares offered as 'Job Lots', but when someone is offered a 'job lot' of uncatalogued spares at guestimated prices, what else do they expect.
The only way you will obtain maximum value is to retail all the spares yourself, but if you don't want the hassle, then you'll have to catalogue and price every single item if you don't want to accept 'job lot' prices.