Guns: On Selling Firearms

Some people trade and sell guns like baseball cards. I'm not quite that bad, but I do tend to part with non-essential guns fairly easily. Firearms, as a commodity, can be more difficult to sell than other things, but, fortunately, well-made firearms hold their value quite well compared to most other consumer goods (the prices for current HDTVs for someone who adopted early in 2004 are enough to make a grown man cry). The Internet has revolutionized the buying and selling of gun-related stuff, so it's best to start there.

I've never sold a firearm on auction sites like GunBroker or Auction Arms, but my experience with eBay in my younger years has convinced me it's not worth the trouble except for fairly big-ticket items. The hassles involved seem too great here - getting people to bid on the auction, finding a buyer who's responsible enough to send in an FFL if it's across state lines, shipping the darn thing...then again, I've never tried it.

I've had a lot more luck selling guns through Web forums like THR. With the message boards, it's easy to get in touch with the people in your area who are interested in firearms, and a face-to-face transfer, depending on the laws of your area, is almost always easier than shipping to a sight-unseen buyer. Read Xavier's excellent "Bill of Sale" for a nice little form you can bring to the proceedings to formalize everything.

A final option is putting a gun on consignment at a local gun shop. This is an excellent way to get rid of guns that may not have an immediate draw and thus might be difficult to sell on the fast-moving Internet. I've had guns sit for weeks and even months waiting to be sold. Depending on your local shop's policies (how much money they charge for consignment) and their traffic, this might be the easiest way to sell a gun.