- Joined
- Jan 12, 2009
- Messages
- 3,198
Not to ruin the wife angle this thread has taken, but I learned a great lesson in what a "collection" is worth when I was heavily into guns. WORTH A FRICKIN' FORTUNE, I was. SITTING ON A GOLDMINE, I was. Then I needed to sell some of them to buy equipment for my business. Wow... what a lesson. In a perfect world where someone would have been ready to shell out for a '72 6" Python with less than a box of ammo through it, in the original box and papers, I would have been fine. Same with an all original, 1943 manufacture Remington 1911A1 with all matching parts and 85% original finish. Should have done well selling those. Along with some of my Smiths.
Worth a lot to me, but had value only to the right audience. How do you find those people? EVERYONE lusts after those types of things until it comes time to actually write the check. Kids need braces, college expenses, just bought a boat/truck/car, wife would kill me, etc.
So my Dad took his handmade SAKO rifle (with the smith's signature that finished the bolt fit and the trigger mechanism engraved on the bolt) to the gun shop for sale after he could not find anyone to buy it. Decked out with custom rings and a high powered Leupold double gold ring scope. The same gun shop had appraised it for insurance purposes at $1800 (about mid 2007) and told him that if he found the "right" buyer it would likely go for more since SAKO quit most of the hand finishing procedures. Dad thought about it and said he never used it so he wanted to sell it. He tried for about a year, toting it to gun shows, taking it to gun smiths, even to a chain store that used to be here that bought used firearms. No offers over $1200.
He decided to go back to the local store (big store!) that appraised the gun since there were people in and out of the store all the time and that would make it easier to sell. Best offer there? $975. (This is when he/I got the lesson in "appraised value for insurance" vs. "real time market value".) So $975 less the commission of 40% = $585. He had to pay a transfer fee of $50 on top of that, so he got $535, net. I helped him get that gun, the mounts, the scope etc., in 1972 about 35 years prior to the sale. Then, in '72, he paid about $1500 for it.
You can use one of those calculators to compare relative dollar values that calculate inflation only for cash value. It will really hurt your feelings if you think you have something in your hands that turned out to be a good investment. For example, I bought a Colt 1911 Mark IV in 1972 for $125. So if I wanted to sell it, how much would I have to sell it for to break even? See >> https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1972?amount=125
So to break even, I would have to find someone that would buy that gun (IF new) for $900. Never, ever, would that gun sell for $900 unless I tossed in $500 to go with it. So really, what is your knife collection worth in cash (not sentimental value, not "it doesn't matter, I'll never sell", etc.) today? These days, I collect nothing. I have too many knives, but I don't look at them for cash value. I buy them simply because I like them.
All of that completely changed my minds on investing and saving my nicest guns and knives to preserve the new. For the last 15 years, no safe queens, no investments (only) and no unusable guns/knives or any other collectables. ESpecially with knives, if they just keep up with inflation (no accounting for changing tastes) I think you are doing great.
Worth a lot to me, but had value only to the right audience. How do you find those people? EVERYONE lusts after those types of things until it comes time to actually write the check. Kids need braces, college expenses, just bought a boat/truck/car, wife would kill me, etc.
So my Dad took his handmade SAKO rifle (with the smith's signature that finished the bolt fit and the trigger mechanism engraved on the bolt) to the gun shop for sale after he could not find anyone to buy it. Decked out with custom rings and a high powered Leupold double gold ring scope. The same gun shop had appraised it for insurance purposes at $1800 (about mid 2007) and told him that if he found the "right" buyer it would likely go for more since SAKO quit most of the hand finishing procedures. Dad thought about it and said he never used it so he wanted to sell it. He tried for about a year, toting it to gun shows, taking it to gun smiths, even to a chain store that used to be here that bought used firearms. No offers over $1200.
He decided to go back to the local store (big store!) that appraised the gun since there were people in and out of the store all the time and that would make it easier to sell. Best offer there? $975. (This is when he/I got the lesson in "appraised value for insurance" vs. "real time market value".) So $975 less the commission of 40% = $585. He had to pay a transfer fee of $50 on top of that, so he got $535, net. I helped him get that gun, the mounts, the scope etc., in 1972 about 35 years prior to the sale. Then, in '72, he paid about $1500 for it.
You can use one of those calculators to compare relative dollar values that calculate inflation only for cash value. It will really hurt your feelings if you think you have something in your hands that turned out to be a good investment. For example, I bought a Colt 1911 Mark IV in 1972 for $125. So if I wanted to sell it, how much would I have to sell it for to break even? See >> https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1972?amount=125
So to break even, I would have to find someone that would buy that gun (IF new) for $900. Never, ever, would that gun sell for $900 unless I tossed in $500 to go with it. So really, what is your knife collection worth in cash (not sentimental value, not "it doesn't matter, I'll never sell", etc.) today? These days, I collect nothing. I have too many knives, but I don't look at them for cash value. I buy them simply because I like them.
All of that completely changed my minds on investing and saving my nicest guns and knives to preserve the new. For the last 15 years, no safe queens, no investments (only) and no unusable guns/knives or any other collectables. ESpecially with knives, if they just keep up with inflation (no accounting for changing tastes) I think you are doing great.
