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Apprasals, good idea? Also couple of random ?'s

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13 comments

  • nononsense
    O.K., let's try this again without the recriminations...

    Best.
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  • skyshadows74
    Thank you so much!! That means a lot to me for you doing that for me Sir!
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  • MIKE WISKEY
    welome SKY, I think appraisals are just paying someone else for an educated guess. Unless you have something truely rare you can do any researce online with a couple of mouse clicks. as for auctioning something here, just state in your auction you will only take a usps money order, this you can 'cash' or at least have verified as 'good' at the post office. as for starting prices, some here start at $.01 and let the market deside final value. if you arn't comfortable with this start at the VERY least you will sell it for (be realistic), if you don't get any bids you are A. over priced, and B. out nothing.
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  • perry shooter
    IMHO appraisals are worthless unless the appraiser is willing to give you that amount on the spot. Then the appraiser most likely will under appraise your item.[V] Look at it this way if you post an Item that has interest to more then one person on this web sight. "Thousands of bidders here" and your post has clear in focus close up pictures with a good valid description and you start the bid at $1.00 and no reserve " most of the true collectors will not even look at reserve auction" Then you will have many potential buyers and each and every one of these potential buyers will APPRAISE your item "FOR FREE" based on these pictures and description. if their appraisal is higher then the current bid then they will bid higher . ETC ETC because of the very large number of buyers on this site you will get MANY appraisals for free and you WILL get bids that WILL determine the TRUE value of your item . I know this sounds like a gamble on your part but this is how the system works. If you do NOT really want to sell your item but want to know what yours is worth then again for free look at closed auctions on this site and the guns that are sold like yours will give you a very good idea of value . If you put your gun up for auction with the starting price of what other guns have sold for and put a reserve on it most likely you will get ZERO bids. Again this is my opinion your mileage may vary.
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  • skyshadows74
    Ok, cool..That sounds like a pretty good way of doing it. I didn't think the apraisals were going to do much anyway. I was just thinking if someone had a paper from an expert apprassor then it might carry more weight. But from what you said, and I believe you are most likely right on the money, the market will appraise it for me.

    I didn't know about the USPS money order either. So that is very good to know. Does anyone on here use PayPal? With it you can, as a user, put money into it with a credit card or back account and it is all verified and very safe, but I didn't know if anyone uses it cause I have never seen it in a post before.

    Some really good advice. Thank you very much guys!
    L
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  • Bert H.
    quote:Originally posted by skyshadows74
    Also for Bert, I know I posted here about my Winchester Model 1886 .38-56 and I kind of got hammered in my post cause I didn't put up good photos of it and I didn't listen to the experts like I should have, I apologize. I am wanting to put mine here on auction and if it is a good idea to have it appraised at Gun Appraisals then I will do that first. I aplologize for my last post Bert and being difficult about my opinions. You gave me a lot of good advice and I appreciate it a lot. My seriel number on my 1886 is 93055. I have better photos now that show it well. Thanks if you could help me date when this thing was actually made cause I want to put it for auction here and I agree with you about the price you told me. Thank you for your previous advice and anymore you might have would be great! I will listen this time!
    Thank you!!
    L.



    Hello Luke,

    Welcome back to the "Ask the Experts" forum. I realize that you may have viewed it as "being hammered", but that was never my intent. I simply stated the facts very frankly and bluntly (which is my usual modus operandi).

    On to the topic at hand... I believe that it would be a total waste of time and money to have either of your Winchester rifles professionally appraised just so that you can list them for auction. You will be much better off simply listing each of them with a full set of very clear pictures showing the rifles from all angles.

    Your Model 1886 serial 93055 is an genuine "Antique" per federal regulations (manufactured circa 1895), and as such, it can be shipped directly from you to the buyer without going through any type of FFL. My advice is to start the bid at $1400 (10-day auction), no reserve, and let the market decide what it is ultimately worth. The better your pictures are, the easier it will be to sell it for its true value.

    Your Model 03 serial number 120027 is a late 1920s vintage rifle, and it must be shipped to either a Type 01 or a Type 03 (C&R) FFL. The Model 1903/03 is a tough Winchester to sell unless it is in pristine (original) condition. The biggest issue with this model is the lack of a reasonably priced supply of ammo, as it uses a long ago obselete cartridge. I have seen lots of them sit on the tables at gunshows for years without selling because they are over-priced. Based on your description, the one you have will be tough to sell for any amount above $250. Again, clear pictures are a must, and start the bid at $200 with no reserve.
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  • skyshadows74
    Thank you so much Bert! I really appreciate you dropping by to lend a hand to me and help me sell these rifles. I am very happy that the 1886 doesn't have to go through a FFL dealer, I had known that and was super happy that I could just ship it on my own, with making sure to get the proper documentation from the buyer.
    The starting price you mentioned was exactly what I was thinking. I have much better photos now and that should help a lot. I really took my time and detail in doing it.
    For someone like me that hasn't done this before and the only payments I could recieve would be a Cashiers Check, and the USPS money order like the other gentleman talked about, and PayPal, or a Regular Money order, are those really my only options to put up there? So many auctions I see there are so many ways to pay, but me just being an individual, I can't run a visa if you know what I mean. So as a question, the safest things to put up as far as payment for the rifle would be the things I mentioned above? Have them verified and then ship the rifle off?

    Thank you so much for your help Bert and I do again apologize for that one post. I respect very much your knowledge and opinions and really appreciate you dropping in to help me out again!
    Luke
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  • Bert H.
    You are quite welcome.

    A Cashiers Check or USPS money order is your safest bet. Most of the buyers understand that you are an individual and not a business.

    I personally do not, nor will I ever, support or do business with PayPal (due to their stated and blatant anti 2nd Amendment position[V]).
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  • skyshadows74
    Wow, I had no idea about PayPal having a stance on that. Then I am with you there!! :)
    Great then, I will put up those 2 options for the sale. Should see it up withen a day! Have a great day Bert and thanks for dating my rifle for me, that will help in my description! Well, looks like its time to give this a shot and hope for the best!

    Luke
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  • He Dog
    Hey Luke, welcome back, you have earned some respect here today. Stick around.[:)]
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  • skyshadows74
    Thank you He Dog, That means a whole lot to me! I want to thank everyone for making me feel at home and a lot more at ease with listing my rifle! I appreciate everyone's comments and advice here, its been really invalube and put me really at ease and ready to list my Rifle! Thank you all for your help! This is what good fourms are meant to be like! [:)]
    Some really good people that can share their knowlege with new guys like me and also share our glorious 2nd ammendment right!!
    Good day to all of you and thank you for welcoming me back!!

    Luke.
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  • BaseJumper
    I am not sure how much of a fee they charge, but I have seen a lot of people using the Google CheckOut and accept credit cards. If you plan on using it like most vendors and adding the 3% (or more) CC processing fee to the price of the auction, it really should not matter too much what the fee is. If you are selling a lot might as well not limit yourself to jsut a few methods of payment.
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  • givette
    Paypal has been known to freeze merchants accounts for selling via a TOS violation. Bottom line: if you accept payment for a firearm via PayPal, you have to be discreet. You can't have a PayPal payment page constructed using the Gunbroker site.

    I've seen sellers say they will accept discreet paypal. By that I mean, the buyer gets your PayPal E-mail payment address, and, under "Item Description" the buyer has to use his imagination. Below is a "ferinstance"

    Rifle: "Antique plains tool"
    Pistol: "Pocket Heater"
    Any gunpart: "Finished Machine Tools".......you get the idea.

    Paypal computer will "red flag" these keywords: Rifle/Pistol/Ammo/Clip/Magazine/and anything else that will draw attention to a firearms sale. Instruct the buyer to not leave the description blank, and don't use XXXX's. That will red-flag also.

    You must instruct the buyer to use "Antique Plains Tool", or sumsuch to avoid causing an alert at Paypal.

    Oh, and one more thing..Transfer your money out of your PayPal account, and into a normal bank account. If they freeze it, you're not out any serious money. Best, Joe

    And, oh, I almost forgot. Welcome back, Prodigal Son[:D]
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