Death and collections....

[harvey_s]

Perhaps a slightly morbid subject, but recently the thought has occurred that a fair few of us must have potentially large sums of money sitting in collections up & down the country.
I suppose some people have made arrangements for a friend to dispose of their collections for the family on their demise and some perhaps may just expect the family to put their guns into auction.

There may be some would might not like their family to realise just how much money is sitting there at this precise moment and some who have no-one with any interest in guns in their family and perhaps some who don't fancy the idea of the family gambling on an auction entry and subsequent fees.

I am also aware of the many valuation threads on here and these are from airgunners who are not sure of values of some mainstream guns never mind the more rare and esoteric ones.

So i was wondering if there was the potential for some form of registration scheme we could perhaps organise that would allow forum members to perhaps list their guns within the forum somewhere and we could leave details pointing those left behind toward the forum for some practical advice in the event of suddenly being left with a potentially valuable airgun collection to dispose of.

Silly idea or not?

[Garvin]

Not at all a silly idea to want to arrange things ahead of time IMO. But I think a registration scheme would be hard to administer. Perhaps better to put together rough valuations yourself, mention the BBS and your user name, and leave in a prominent place, or put with your will etc?

[deejayuu]

Interesting thought. I leave brief notes with my stuff with some notion of "desirability" and pointers to Forum etc

[Midasi1]

Perish the thought that my partner sells my rifles & pistols for what I said they cost.......

M.

[45flint]

We just saw a demonstration in the US with one of the founders of the Benjamin Rifle Co. and quite a few of his collectable guns. They sold them over a couple weeks on the bay and got really very high valuations. I have seen large collections recently being sold on Gunbroker auction site. Since these site virtually reach everyone one in the world it's hard for me to see fair values not being realized if an estate needs to liquidate. I will probably let my son know he can keep them or sell them via one of these sites. The trouble with a static record is that values can change a lot in 10 years. The collectables we love and bid up may be of less interest to a internet world interested in the latest and greatest? For me I'm 65 and having a lot of fun with this hobby. There are a lot worse investments issues I can leave to my hires. Maybe someone in the family will get interested in the hobby.

[I. J.]

Listed and valued.

[harvey_s]

We just saw a demonstration in the US with one of the founders of the Benjamin Rifle Co. and quite a few of his collectable guns. They sold them over a couple weeks on the bay and got really very high valuations. I have seen large collections recently being sold on Gunbroker auction site. Since these site virtually reach everyone one in the world it's hard for me to see fair values not being realized if an estate needs to liquidate. I will probably let my son know he can keep them or sell them via one of these sites. The trouble with a static record is that values can change a lot in 10 years. The collectables we love and bid up may be of less interest to a internet world interested in the latest and greatest? For me I'm 65 and having a lot of fun with this hobby. There are a lot worse investments issues I can leave to my hires. Maybe someone in the family will get interested in the hobby.

Interesting thoughts from others thanks...in the case above, I assume your location is Wooster, Ohio in which case Yes, you have access to the bay and Gunbroker, but here we have nothing like that only the established physical auction houses
Hell, according to one recent thread on here its even almost impossible to send an airgun to the US!

[johnbaz]

My wife made me a spreadsheet so I listed them but also put tags on to the guns so they can be matched to the ones in the spreadsheet, I told my lads to come on the forums and ask for valuations as I may be a mile wide of the mark either way!!

Also, I've thought of just starting to sell them now and put the money away somewhere safe to save them the trouble



John

[45flint]

Interesting thoughts from others thanks...in the case above, I assume your location is Wooster, Ohio in which case Yes, you have access to the bay and Gunbroker, but here we have nothing like that only the established physical auction houses
Hell, according to one recent thread on here its even almost impossible to send an airgun to the US!

You are so right, situation in the U.K. is unique and certainly a situation that this board may help you with.

[mrgeoff]

Mine all are listed for what I bought them for on a sheet I keep updated in the top of the gun cupboard. Maybe one day some maybe worth in excess of what I bought them for, but at the moment, that will be fine.

[PAXIL]

I'm single. I don't even think about it.

[Benelli B76]

Just watched a U.S. program on TV, Chasing Classic Cars where an old collector of automobile related jumble died, and he had sheds full of junk. As the auction got underway his partner watched herself become a multi millionaire in a few hours, got huge prices for items. Some guys on here have huge collections , take a lot of work to catalogue. Best if you have offspring to just leave everything to, especially lads, they can sort it out. My very small collection I have photographed and put current prices on, but I have already started thinning out on things I do not regularly shoot.

Baz

[gingernut]

Sell them all.
Put the money in a 3 year account at 1%.
Be miserable.

!% on £1000 is £10 per annum.
Two pints at your funeral for a relative who gets on your nerves and you havent seen for 4 years.

[Muskett]

Do a list with what they might be worth, with a note that its fine to take 20% less for a fast sale. Spell out several methods to how to shift them. Note to which ones would be worth keeping in the family just for the fun of it.
Do enough so they don't get thrown in a skip, handed to the police to be chopped, or for some dealer to steal them giving the widow 10p in the pound.

When you are gone you are gone. Family, non shooting members, have no idea what so ever. Leave them something to help them clear your mess out.

Anyhow, enjoy them while you can.

[angrybear]

Put a note in your will as to who or how you want them disposed of along with a sealed letter containing safe combination or key location.

And make sure the executor(s) knows it's in there.