How and Where to Sell Antique Guns in the US

Step 1: Antique Gun Appraisal

The goal of this stage is to figure out what your asking price should be before you try to sell your antique gun. For this part, you can get the gun appraised by experts or try to do it yourself.

Generally, that means doing the following:

• Determining which type of antique gun it is and what model
• Assessing the condition of the gun
• Confirming that it’s an antique gun (as noted earlier, it has to be pre-1899)
• Checking its current market value based on type, condition, and demand

So how do you figure those things out? Here are the options:

Option 1: Get an Expert Antique Gun Appraisal

If you’d want the certainty of a valuation from experts, this is the best route to take. You can have this done in person or online.

If you want to do it online, you have both free and paid versions.

• FREE: You can submit your gun's details here to Cash for Arms for a free appraisal. We usually reply within hours.
• PAID: Bluebook Publications (the publisher of the Blue Book of Antique American Firearms and Values) offers an online $50 appraisal. It can take up to 3 weeks.

If you’d rather get the appraisal done in person, remember to seek gun shops or gun dealers who specialize in antique firearms. Others won’t be knowledgeable enough to give you a fair value for your gun.

Option 2. Use the “Blue Book of Antique American Firearms and Values”

This reference has long been used for antique gun valuation. It covers more than 2,100 firearm models manufactured prior to 1 January 1899.

The hundreds of high-resolution color images in this book should make identifying your gun easier, although it obviously won't help much for condition-based appraisal. You can grab it here.

Option 3. Check Gun Marketplace Data for Similar Models

Specifically, you should start by going to gun marketplaces like Firearmland or Gunbroker. From there, run a search on their completed auctions or sales.

You can usually find this in their advanced search options. Look up similar listings, whether by name or through photos.

This will not only help you find the going price for the antique gun but also the model if you don’t already know it. It’s a great way to do some DIY appraisal, though you should consider all the factors affecting prices (like gun condition).

As an aside, this also lets you see listings that never sold on some platforms. It’s worth looking at them too because they can help you identify what prices may be too high for the model.

Step 2: Where to Sell - Who Buys Antique Guns?

Once you’ve had it appraised, it’s time to sell! There are at least 5 ways to sell an antique gun in the US, with each one having its pros and cons.

Here are the steps for all five antique gun buyers.

1. Sell to Cash for Arms

This is one of the fastest and easiest options for selling an antique gun in the US. As mentioned earlier, the process of selling guns to us even includes a free appraisal on which we base our offer.

If you’re not satisfied with our offer, you can also consign your gun to us. We’ll use our contacts to sell it on a marketplace where it can still get top-dollar for you.

2. Auction Online

There are several options for this, but Gunbroker is the usual choice here. As one of the biggest gun auction sites, it lets you access a big pool of buyers. The auction format also means you can get a good price if there’s a lot of interest in your gun.

4. Sell It on a Forum

Some gun forums, like TheFiringLine.com and Calguns.net, have marketplaces for private gun sales. They’re an alternative to gun auction sites if you still want to do private person-to-person sales.

5. Sell at a Gun Show, Auction, or Local  Shop

Most gun shows, gun auctions, and shops will have people (usually dealers) who’ll consider buying antique guns. That said, there’s no guarantee of that, so it may sometimes take time to find a potential buyer at these locations.

6. Sell to a Pawn Shop

Selling to a pawn shop should be your last resort if you want to sell an antique gun for profit. Pawn shops are ubiquitous, sure, but they’re also not known for gun expertise.

Antique guns require even more specialized expertise than regular ones for appraisal, so you’ll already be losing there. Pawn shops generally don’t base their offers on your appraised value but on theirs, after all.

Sell an Antique Gun Online Today

This tells you that selling an antique gun can involve a lot of effort or hardly any, depending on which route you take.

If you want the smoothest path to profit, it’s clear that Cash for Arms is superior to all the other options. It’s the most convenient choice, combines free appraisal with sale, is legally safest, and in most cases, also nets you the best prices!

To have us make an offer on your antique gun, simply submit it to us. It can take as little as two minutes and we’ll have an offer ready for you in 24 hours! You can call us at (904) 977-5477.