Selling firearms can be a challenging process, especially if you have unique or antique guns that may have a smaller audience of buyers. Online gun auctions offer a simpler way for firearm owners to sell their guns to interested parties, cutting out the middleman and his cut of the profits.

First off, good for you. You’ve already made one decision that makes you more money, but what other decisions can you make to help you earn more for your collectible firearm? Perhaps the best way to sell a gun is online. Selling a gun online has become increasingly popular. You can sell through any of the numerous websites for such a purpose, or you can sell with Rock Island Auction Company. Here are some of the pros of each.

Advantages of Selling Through Online Gun Auctions

1. Less waiting.

These auctions are literally going on all the time. Some auctions can be as long as 15 days, but others can be as short as three. If you utilize a “Buy It Now” option, you item could sell even more quickly, though you may wonder if you earned the most possible money for your gun.

2.  Some offer a lower percentage to sellers.

Many popular online retailers offer a sliding scale with low percentages, a minimum charged fee, as well as fees for “optional services.” These lower fees make sense since you, the seller, are doing all the work except for hosting the listing on a website. However, some sites still assess a fee to list your item regardless if it sells or not. Online gun auctions specialize in connecting firearm sellers with interested buyers, cutting out some of the risk and associated fees.

Another example of a classic Colt wheelgun genre making waves at RIAC, Colt Second and Third Generation SAA prices have exploded over the last few years, demonstrated by examples like this Michael Dubber Master Wells Fargo theme engraved Colt Third Generation SAA that more than quadrupled its price estimate and hauled in $55,813.

Selling Your Guns Online With Rock Island Auction Company Advantages

There is a lot of work selling guns online. We do all the work.

This is a huge consideration if you’re selling lots of guns and other items. Listing one item online might not seem like such a big deal. What if you’ve inherited 20? Or 500? Can you imagine taking detailed photos for all those items, creating a listing for each individual item, answering buyers’ questions, and then packing and shipping them with insurance, lest anything happen to the gun.

The best way to sell a gun online is to put it in front of the widest possible audience. RIAC’s online auction catalogs allow a firearm to be viewed in detail from any computer or wireless device.

Make sure you know the laws where you are shipping your guns. If you do not take good photographs and provide a good detailed description on an online gun auction site, you will not provide confidence to others to bid up your guns. Dealing with disputes after the sale when your buyer finds an undisclosed fault you may not be aware of. Let us do the work for you.

Rock Island Auction Company offers a free, secure, and easy to use live bidding option over their website.

The Best Way to Sell a Gun is Great Photography

As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Good photos give buyers confidence to bid more. Compare the following two photos of guns for sale. The photo on the left is of a Colt 1911 taken randomly from an online gun listing at another company. The adjacent photo below is another 1911. Which photo represents the gun better? Which photo will give the bidder more confidence to bid more money?

Offering high quality photographs is the best way to get a gun noticed online.

When you consign with Rock Island Auction Company, you “Ship the gun, and then you’re done.” For larger collections, we can even come pick them up. After that, there’s nothing left to do but wait for your check. We securely house the gun, as well as professionally photograph and describe the gun – things that make a big difference when enticing buyers.

With RIAC, your guns appear in both a physical and online catalog for buyers to search. We spread these catalogs far and wide to tens of thousands of qualified buyers and collectors, reaching even those collectors who choose not to shop online. We also market in numerous publications and websites – exposure a simple online listing could never hope to have.

We know the gun laws. You must follow all the laws when selling guns.

Rock Island Auction Company fully complies with all Federal and state laws. Do you know your buyer’s state laws? Have they changed recently? Is your buyer eligible to purchase the item you’re selling? Are you completing a legal transaction? For example, California and other states have some very strict and different laws. Violation of these laws can be a very serious problem for you. Are the guns you’re selling part of a trust or estate? We can help you with how to ship your guns. We have mountains of experience with all these scenarios and more.

The best way to sell a gun with no legal hassle is to consign with an expert.

We know what guns are worth. Find out what your gun might be worth.

A question we get more than any other is “What is my gun worth?” We have heard many stories of how people with rare guns (sometimes they don’t know they have rare guns) were taken advantage of by buyers.

The best way to sell your gun for a worthy value is to get it appraised and described by a professional.

RIAC has been the #1 firearms auction house in the world since 2003 and which gives us a lot of data and first-hand knowledge about what prices guns bring from real buyers. Our experience keeps us well-informed on the current values in any genre of firearm, and our thousands of registered bidders are knowledgeable as well. Don’t guess on a value and lose out on money. Let our expertise and passionate collecting clientele get you top dollar for your collectibles. We have thousands of qualified buyers waiting for each online gun auction we build.

Do you have a very rare antique firearm? Look at our top selling guns:

No scams

When you sell your guns with Rock Island Auction Company, you never have to worry about the “other guy.” Will he pay? Will his method of payment be good? Do we have to meet in person? RIAC pays you via check or ACH 35 days after your gun sells at our physical or online gun auction.

Selling guns online and Earning the most possible money

We know collectors. We have an army of loyal, repeat buyers who know where to come to find the guns they want. Not only that, but we’re constantly advertising and aggressively marketing for new buyers. We advertise in major newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Chicago Tribune, as well as dozens of industry publications and websites. RIAC also attends the nations’ largest gun shows and events. We do things the online gun auctions simply can’t match.

Rock Island Auction Company gets you the most for your gun.

If you were selling a $250,000 collector firearm, would you still sell through an online gun auction? How about a machine gun?  No? Why not? Because more money is at stake and you would want your firearm to get the most possible attention. Why would you settle anything less with the guns you own?

No “extended user verification” fees. Or any fees!

If you try to sell on some online gun auction , they want a credit card number and a fee so they can perform an “extended user verification.”  When you sell with Rock Island Auction Company, there are no fees, no hidden charges, and no surprises when you get your check. We take our flat percentage that was agreed upon prior to receiving the gun and that’s it. You will never see a separate charge for photography, insurance, storage, bold type for your item’s headline, placement on our homepage, or for “extended user verification.”

Some online auction services also assess their charge to list your item whether it sells or not! Unfortunately, this is not uncommon as online listings must sit out there until the item sells. The more times you have to list it, the more charges you will be assessed.

This law enforcement shipped Colt Model 1921 Thompson submachine gun found a price of $94,000 in August of 2022.

These are just a couple of the benefits of selling your collector firearms online with Rock Island Auction Company when you choose to sell online. We do the work, market your gun to hundreds of thousands of qualified buyers around the world, and ensure a legal, scam-free experience. We also deal with trusts, estates, interstate and international transactions, and the world’s top collectible firearms. Let the world’s #1 firearms auction house do the work, while you sit back, relax, and rest assured knowing that you’re seeing the highest possible return on your collectibles.

The average M1 Garand price at Rock Island Auction Company since 2010.

Ready to sell your firearms online with Rock Island Auction Company?

Start by finding out an estimate of what your guns are worth , or might bring at auction.

We also attend many gun shows.

Rock Island Auction Company displays guns at dozens of annual gun shows, including the widely attended NRA Annual Meeting & Exhibits.

Check our events page for gun shows we attend. Bring your guns to our booth for a free review and estimate.

Take advantage of the benefits of online gun auctions when you’re ready to sell some of your firearms. Rock Island Auction Company is one of the top auction sites for firearms, so it’s the site to trust.

The fine arms market is booming right now, and consigning with the world's number one auction house, Rock Island Auction Company, is the best way to sell a gun for the most money.

Rock Island Auction
7819 – 42 Street West
Rock Island, Illinois 61201
USA

1-309-797-1500