Value of inherited guns in Oregon

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They are only priceless if the person who inherited them thinks that way.
I have seen young kids inherit dad's classic S&W and trade it straight across for a used Glock; simply because they had zero interest in revolvers.
 
I buy and sell guns to help support the cost of the hobby, and that way I get to experience way more pieces of history than I can afford to keep at a given moment. It’s almost like free rentals. I’d say I’ve flipped about 100 guns in the last four years.

That being said, people’s biggest mistake is pricing their guns based on what people are asking on gunbroker vs. what people are getting on gunbroker, armslist, gunsamerica etc.
 
That being said, people’s biggest mistake is pricing their guns based on what people are asking on gunbroker vs. what people are getting on gunbroker, armslist, gunsamerica etc.
Nope, the biggest "mistake" is when the wife sells the guns for what her,now late, husband told her that he paid for them... ;)
 
OP welcome to the forum. There are a LOT of members here that can help with ID and estimate the honest price in your general region. Or give the advice that you need to talk to an auction house. Appraisals are different for local resale or insurance purposes as well.
 
They are only priceless if the person who inherited them thinks that way.
I have seen young kids inherit dad's classic S&W and trade it straight across for a used Glock; simply because they had zero interest in revolvers.

Really this is so true....and I really found this all out after my mother passed.

She was into "old lady" collectibles.....and the thing is when she bought the stuff it cost money....LOTS of money.....but that side of collecting is kinda going away.....as the people that are really interested in this stuff pass on, the next generation really does not have the same attachment to things. My mother had dolls, china....fancy dresses....I think you know what I am talking here.....and at one time they went for some pretty big bucks....now just not so much....and they are just not worth anything to me.....being a boy, only child....I have a son, my wife is a tom boy, we really just don't have interest in really this type of stuff. I sold some, gave some to different groups to auction off (I am big into animal shelters) so the shelters around got some nice things that they could auction off.....I had appraisals so I just took it off my taxes.

Some things really will hold their value, some things have really no value but are very expensive. You will find just what a scam jewelry is when you try to sell...unless it is from someone special, designer....you will find diamonds are really worthless....you can have an appraised value of 20k, but in selling it you can find no one will give you over 2k....really.....not kidding here. Other things seem to hold value over the years, Rolex/Omega, as long as it is a male item, female watches are again worth about 1/3-1/2 what a like male watch is worth.

As to guns.....I think it is getting to be a very gray area......and I do really think it is going to be more difficult, perhaps not in my lifetime (mid 50's) but likely in my kid's lifetime (just turned 21 yesterday)....there are going to be more hoops to jump through to own a gun.

Eh I rample....sorry folks.
 
I recommend pics and a list of all of them if you want to be doubley sure you have reasonable numbers.

Keep in mind that condition determines if any item being sold is worth 60, 40 or 20% of what the new unused price would be. Boxes and papers are a surprising factor in total value of firearms, just like toys, games and electronics.

Take a "family photo" of them if the collection isn't too large and then individual left and right side pictures. No flash and if you don't have a camera with bounce lighting preferably outside under overcast skies or in the shadow of the house so there's little chance of glare. Try to mount the camera on something to stabilize it and don't get too close (leave little space around the firearm). Try for a bland neutral background like a tan or light grey fabric.
 
To add to the above, not only condition, but where it is being sold. With some states having greater restrictions on certain things, some are more valuable in some locations over others.
 
Aside from the internet, there are also gun pricing guides in your bookstores or cheaply available through Amazon etc. Gun Traders Guide is one, The Bluebook of Gun Values is another, etc. Even a slightly older edition can still give relatively good pricing information in one place plus ways to identify the firearm and establish condition enough to determine if you are being lowballed in offers. Also, if there are a lot of firearms to go through, the pictures in the book can help narrow down what you have and give you ball park figures. It would be less tedious to do that then countless internet searches of images, etc. The internet is great if you know what you are looking for and what you are looking at--but there is a lot of misinformation out there like inflated prices, inflated condition examples, etc.

Where most gun value guides fall down is if you have something off the beaten track as firearms have been around for centuries by a large number of mfgs. and not all of those variants make it into the price manuals. The market in such items is also shallow which makes pricing an item more difficult. Specialist collectors, if they are aware of an oddball variation of a common firearm, might well pay far beyond a std. guide's pricing for that common firearm.

Easy example is a Smith and Wesson No. 15 revolver (1957+) with a five inch barrel. This would be a special order from S&W and would constitute something that a collector might pay more for than a std. 4 or 6 inch barrelled one which price is reflected in the std. manuals.
 
The last Gun Trader's Guide I looked at was clueless on the value of guns.It's what some would show the owner of a gun they wanted to buy.
 
The cumulative knowledge about guns and gun values here will be your best bet to find out what you have and what you should get should you sell anything. There will, no doubt, be more than ravenous buyers here if you have anything great. This is a good community of fellows and ladies who look after each other. If you can, post pictures and list whatever it is you have. Anything gun related will be evaluated for you.
Also, the suspense is killing me! WHAT DO YOU HAVE?!?!?;);)
 
Completed auctions on GB are a much better way to ballpark than asking prices.

And yes sometimes a rare variant pops up. Detailed photos of all markings and a good overall pic to show the condition are important. Display the serial blocked of with a piece of tape and written out as 123XXX.
 
If the inheritor of the "family" guns isn't interested in them (to keep/use/hand down), then selling them is the best way to go. By "shopping" online you can get a good idea of not what the gun is worth but what people are willing to pay. My Dad's 1927 Savage 99 is worth 10 times the "market value" to me. A few years ago I got a TC Hawken in 54 caliber with a carved stock from a lady selling her late husband's guns. I gave her "better than mid-value" money for it. The rest went to a gun shop on consignment.
 
Nothing new, people come here asking about gun values, members give good advise and they are never heard from again. Although I often wonder what they had, I am curios by nature.
 
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